Particularize Books Concering Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
| Original Title: | Agent Zigzag The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Betrayer, Hero, Spy |
| ISBN: | 0307353400 (ISBN13: 9780307353405) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Ben Macintyre
Hardcover | Pages: 364 pages Rating: 4.09 | 11620 Users | 1136 Reviews
Describe Appertaining To Books Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
| Title | : | Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal |
| Author | : | Ben Macintyre |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 364 pages |
| Published | : | September 4th 2007 by Crown |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. History. Biography. War. World War II. Spy Thriller. Espionage |
Explanation During Books Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
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.Rating Appertaining To Books Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
Ratings: 4.09 From 11620 Users | 1136 ReviewsWrite-Up Appertaining To Books Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
15/10 - A fascinating tale of British and German espionage during WWII. The quote from John Le Carre on the front cover, describing the book as"Superb. Meticulously researched, splendidly told, immensely entertaining and often very moving."is absolutely correct. I did find the story 'moving', but mostly only in that the treatment of Chapman by his second handler, after Reed was sent to France, was atrocious and mostly inspired by what I see as Ryde's jealousy over Chapman's success with womenRating Clarification: 3.5 StarsWhile not as interesting a read as Macintyre's Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory, the true story of double agent Eddie Chapman still had its moments. Chapman was a thief, a con-man, a ladies man (with a girl in every port, so to speak) and a hustler.I liked him immensely.What a charming rogue. The kind of guy you'd like to have drinks with, but not the kind you'd "take home to mother" (thanks, Rick
War was coming, everyone said so, but the dining room of the Hotel de la Plage was a place of pure peace that sunny Sunday. Beyond the golden beach, the waves flickered among a scatter of tiny islands, as Eddie and Betty ate trifle off plates with smart blue crests. Eddie was halfway through telling another funny story when he froze. A group of men in overcoats and brown hats had entered the restaurant and one was now in urgent conversations with the headwaiter. Before Betty could speak, Eddie
One of those nonfiction books that would not be believable as fiction, this is the story of Eddie Chapman, a criminal who became one of Britain's best double agents. He was a hero using the traits that made him so successful a rogue and scoundrel. Trained by the Third Reich in occupied France to parachute into his home country to blow up a warplane factory, Chapman instead contacted MI5, the British Secret Service. For the rest of the war he worked for Britain, traveling across Europe spreading
An interesting tale about a British double agent in WWII. Although the agent, Eddie Chapman, was thief and criminal low-life, he nevertheless charmed many people, including people in German and British intelligence.I listened to this book on Audible, so the numerous digressions and backstories, didn't bother me. Not Macintyre's best book in this vein--I thought A Spy Among Friends (Kim Philby) and Operation Mincemeat (D-Day deception) were better, but it is definitely worth a read/listen if you
This agent was masterful at being himself. Sounds confusing? He was. And his story is too. Primarily because he was such an actor and so much a chameleon by nature that the core man was never "fake".It's sounds impossible to have the verve and the bad boy nature to this extent over such a constantly transient life. But Chapman lived it and in such a way that a decent goal in wartime became the real, rather than endless prison sentences.My own experience of enjoying this one? It was good and the
Five stars is perhaps a little generous for how I usually review books myself, it is perhaps closer to an 8.5 or a 9/10, but Im marking it as five just for what this book truly did for me. With this book, I am finally back into reading again, even if it did take me a while to finish this one (simply due to time constraints).Ben Macintyre also may be fast becoming one of my new favourite authors for his style of writing. When I hit the epilogue chapter of the book it really connected to me just
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