Agent Zigzag

A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

By: Ben MacIntyre

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Eddie Chapman was a charming criminal, a con man, and a philanderer. He was also one of the most remarkable double agents Britain has ever produced. Inside the traitor was a man of loyalty; inside the villain was a hero. The problem for Chapman, his spymasters, and his lovers was to know where one persona ended and the other began. In 1941, after training as a German spy in occupied France, Chapman was parachuted into Britain with a revolver, a wireless, and a cyanide pill, with orders from the Abwehr to blow up an airplane factory. Instead, he contacted MI5, the British Secret Service.

For the next four years, Chapman worked as a double agent, a lone British spy at the heart of the German Secret Service who at one time volunteered to assassinate Hitler for his countrymen. Crisscrossing Europe under different names, all the while weaving plans, spreading disinformation, and, miraculously, keeping his stories straight under intense interrogation, he even managed to gain some profit and seduce beautiful women along the way. The Nazis feted Chapman as a hero and awarded him the Iron Cross. In Britain, he was pardoned for his crimes, becoming the only wartime agent to be thus rewarded. Both countries provided for the mother of his child and his mistress.

Sixty years after the end of the war, and ten years after Chapman’s death, MI5 has now declassified all of Chapman’s files, releasing more than 1,800 pages of top secret material and allowing the full story of Agent Zigzag to be told for the first time.

A gripping story of loyalty, love, and treachery, Agent Zigzag offers a unique glimpse into the psychology of espionage, with its thin and shifting line between fidelity and betrayal.

©2007 Ben MacIntyre (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Macintyre is the more graceful writer; Agent Zigzag has a clarity and shape that make it the more fluid account… I would give a personal nod to Macintyre’s as the better book… A review cannot possibly convey the sheer fun of this story… or the fascinating moral complexities.”—New York Times Book Review

“[Agent Zigzag’s] incredible wartime adventures, recounted in Ben Macintyre’s rollicking, spellbinding Agent Zigzag blend the spy-versus-spy machinations of John le Carré with the high farce of Evelyn Waugh.” —The New York Times

“Chapman’s story has been told in fragments in the past, but only when MI5 declassified his files was it possible to present it in all its richness and complexity. Macintyre tells it to perfection, with endless insights into the horror and absurdity of war….Eddie Chapman was a patriot, in his fashion, and this excellent book finally does him justice.” —The Washington Post Book World

Great story

I listened to this after having been blown away by The Amateur Spy, which is probably fhe best espionage story I ever read, fiction or nonfiction. This book is absolutely worthwhile, but I was disappointed to learn at the end that I had just heard an abridged version. I wanted the full book!

Fascinating look at espionage in Word War II

The story provided a fascinating insight into the workings of the spy agencies of England and Germany during WWII. A cast of interesting characters, written in a very engaging manner and well presented. Highly recommend.

Why is this book abridged?

This is a very good story and I am baffled - and disappointed - that Audible saw fit to abridge. Had I known it was abridged, I wouldn’t have bought the book, but I did fully enjoy the story.

Is it a novel? Is it a newspaper article? No, its

MacIntyre has been criticized for rehashing a story previously told by others (both here and in Operation Mincemeat) and while this is technically true I doubt anyone has written these most intriguing stories with as much style as MacIntyre. His writing flits from reportage to crime novel to historical document to romance in the space of a single page. The narrator, John Lee is superb, maintaining a good pace which enhances the tension of the story. Definitely worth buying, but you'll struggle to turn it off - make sure you have lots of vacation time.

Behind the headlines

So much to learn from the history of how we won WWII. So many different fronts. So many different tactics and strategies. Read this and also Ken Follett's book Flight of the Hornet and also Operation Mincemeat. Several non fiction books can provide a new level of understanding of war. Follow these with Bill O'Reilly's history accounts of Killing the Rising Sun, Killing Patton and overnight your knowledge and view of history elevates.

From conman, thief & jailbird to a double agent.

Agent Zigzag starts out life as a conman, thief and jailbird. The beginning of the book starts out with a bang, literally out the window of fancy resort running from the cops. Eddie Chapman is Zig Zag and he becomes a key British double agent.

Zig Zag is recruited by the Germans, who occupied the Channel Islands where he was jailed. Chapman is trained by the Nazis and deploys on his first mission into England where he promptly surrenders to the Brits, who put him to work deceiving the Nazis with false intelligence.

Chapman’s true story is similar to page-turning fiction: charming multiple women, close calls with the law and spying.

I could not keep up with the Double spying codes and directions given to Eddie. I would have screwed up in the first interview with the Nazis and sent to the camps. Eddie was gifted with his craftiness.

One last point, technology was so primitive in WWII compared to how information was shared today. Memorizing codes was so key to being successful.

Very informative story.