Zigzag - The Incredible Wartime Exploits of Double Agent Eddie Chapman
by Nicholas Booth
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 12)
Read in April, 2008
This is the second book that I read about Eddie Chapman and this one was quite sympathetic to him, seeing him as a lone warrior against hypocrisy and the establishment. I'm sure that most of the authority figures in Chapman's life (including his masters at MI-5) were skeptical of his motives and his way of life. After all, Chapman had been an army deserter and a thief before he became a Nazi spy and then a double agent. However, Chapman was self centered and adapted circumstances to his adven...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
history / war buffs
I thought this book was very well written and very interesting. I don't read a lot of war books, but this was more about the behind the scenes double-agent aspect of war. Which is really riveting. Although I did get lost when they concentrated to much on the technical aspects of the war, I was able to follow it enough to get to the good parts. Eddie Chapman lived an amazing life, you wouldn't be able to believe it without the MI-5 files to back it up.
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Read in May, 2008
Dreadful story about a thief who becomes a double agent. He was portrayed as an opportunist who played both sides to his own personal advantage, and perhaps was seeking some reward from his country. However, at the time nobody new what the outcome of the war would be so perhaps he was just hedging his bets so that he would end up on the side that won the war.
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Read in August, 2008
the promise of espionage certainly drew me in, but by the end of it i felt like i was reading some sort of paperback or extended news article. the author certainly substantiates the book with extensive end-noting but there seems to be a lot of liberty taken to make the story seem more exciting than it is.
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This was an interesting factual, if subjective, story of a successful double agent for Britain. His personality and endless self-preoccupation get tireless in the end. But it is worth reading for the historical, plucky nature of the story.
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone that likes James Bond
This is a fascinating true story of a double agent during the Second World War. Completely addictive and much better than Spycatcher style books. You learn a lot about the methods used in espionage and the people behind MI5 at the time.
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Read in November, 2007
The story of an interesting English character/criminal who becomes a spy during World War Two. Could have been really good but it seemed like the author was padding out the facts which made the story telling choppy.
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Read in December, 2007
Very interesting real life read - went on a bit too long in parts but had good feel of really being there
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