Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 07, 2007 Kay rated it really liked it

Shelves: espionage, world_war_ii, nonfiction

Strangely enough, there were two books published in September 2007 about Eddie Chapman, which may have something to do with information having become available to researchers about his wartime role as double agent, but it was an odd coincidence nonetheless. After reading Amazon reviews of both books, however, I opted to read this one, and I think I made the right choice.

If tales of real-life spies are your bag, then you'll eat this up. Nothing sensational other than the facts themselves here, w ...more

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Mar 16, 2014 Ken rated it it was amazing

I heard an NPR interview with the author of an intriguing biography of English double-agent Eddie Chapman. Oddly enough, the book I read was not that book. It turns out that 2007 saw the publication of two biographies of the same double-agent Eddie Chapman. British intelligence had recently declassified the information about his missions, and evidently this separately piqued the interest of two different authors.

In any case, Ben Macintyre’s book, which is the one I read, is a breezy and fascinat ...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Nancy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2014-read, wwii, spies

A ripping yarn.

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Mar 08, 2008 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, world-war-ii, spy

One of the things that makes reading non-fiction about World War II so engaging is just how much was hidden and hushed up for years afterwards, and the stories are so amazing you'd almost think someone made them up. This one is no exception - MacIntyre does a great job bringing this complex and unusual man to life while keeping him human and letting the recounting of his derring-do stand for itself. I just plain love this kind of stuff. ...more

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