Agent Zigzag

Ben Macintyre’s rollicking, spellbinding Agent Zigzag blends the spy-versus- spy machinations of John le Carré with the high farce of Evelyn Waugh.”—William Grimes, The New York Times. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A Washington Post Best Book of 2007. One of the Top 10 Best Books of 2007 (Entertainment Weekly). New York Times Best of the Year Round-Up. New York Times Editors’ Choice.

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. Based on recently declassified files, Agent Zigzag tells Chapman’s full story for the first time. It’s a gripping tale of loyalty, love, treachery, espionage, and the thin and shifting line between fidelity and betrayal.

ISBN-13: 9780307353412
Author : Ben MacIntyre
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Publication date: 08/12/2008

Editorial Reviews - From Barnes & Noble

When you have John le Carré singing your praises, you must be doing something right. And Ben Macintyre has done it right indeed with a true spy story that is so gripping you'll have to keep reminding yourself isn't one of le Carré's great Smiley novels. Making use of newly declassified documents, Macintyre revisits the exploits of Eddie Chapman, a World War II rogue, criminal, and double agent for the Nazis and the British. It's a roller-coaster ride of adventure that's filled with romance, intrigue, and betrayal -- told by a author who captures it all with vivid imagery, deep psychological insight, and a verve that keeps the pages turning. A gem of a book.

Patrick Anderson

Agent Zigzag is the amazing but true story of Eddie Chapman, a professional criminal who became a highly effective double agent during World War II, winning the trust of German intelligence services even as he reported back to the spymasters of MI5…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…Chapman is an endlessly fascinating figure, a man who would save your life one day and steal your watch the next. It's amusing, at this point, to see how the more aristocratic Brits couldn't quite believe that this degenerate, this criminal, could be a patriot. But Eddie Chapman was a patriot, in his fashion, and this excellent book finally does him justice. - The Washington Post

Meet the Author

Ben MacIntyre is writer-at-large and associate editor of the London Times. He is the author of The Man Who Would Be King, the Englishman’s Daughter, The Napoleon of Crime, and Forgotten Fatherland. He lives in London with his wife, the novelist Kate Muir, and their three children.