An intriguing story about Eddie Chapman, a British criminal turned Nazi spy, turned British double-agent (which explains his codename, Zigzag). The writing, while not stellar, is solid, providing a detailed account of his exploits. I find Eddie's life to be extremely interesting, and yet, at the end, there is a lack of connection between him and me. He is no paragon of virtue, not by any means, but rather than appearing human, he comes across as a more devious and dishonest (and just as honourable) James Bond. Or maybe, I simply can't empathise with him because his story is really *that* extraordinary. Still, it's a book worth reading especially if you are interested in tales of espionage or less-known aspects of WWII.

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 women and the importance of his role in the British war effort compared with Ryde's own.

If you want to read the true stories of the previously classified details of the exploits of MI5 agents and spies during WWII then Ben Macintyre is the author to go to. This is the second of his books that I've read, and I have pretty much every other one on my to read list.

I wish like hell there had been no war—I begin to wish I had never started this affair. To spy and cheat on one's friends it's not nice it's dirty. However, I started this affair and I will finish it.

I haven't read a book by Ben Macintyre that I didn't enjoy. When I picked this out of my tbr jar I knew I was in for a true story so odd that it would make a great spy novel/movie. Eddie Chapman was quite the character and it was a pleasure reading about him.

 

At times it is hard to believe that a man like Eddie could and would become a double agent for England during WWII. You wouldn't expect a criminal to have been allowed such an important and dangerous role but besides being a criminal Eddie was also loyal and had a charisma that would draw others to him. I grew to really like Eddie while reading this and felt horrible for him towards the end with all that Ryde threw against him, even though I knew most of it was Eddie's fault.

 

Reading one of Macintyre's books is always an experience. With this book, and the others by Macintyre that I have read, I didn't get a dry telling of history but rather a colorful telling of the events and the people behind them. There are always these wonderfully quirky people highlighted and some hilarious events discussed throughout Macintyre's books.

 

I would highly recommend this book if you want to read about a double agent unlike no other.

If you're looking for an even-handed recounting and reflections on this book, you should probably check out Jeffrey Keeten's stellar review (it has lots of pictures and everything). However, if you're looking for my favorite moments of skullduggery (along with the occasional pop culture parallel), then you're in the right spot. 

 

Eddie Chapman (codename: ZigZag) was, among other things, the head of the "Jelly Gang" (they used gelignite to break into safes), a bit of a lady's man living in "the world of pimps and racecourse touts, pickpockets and con artists; late nights at Smokey Joe's and early champagne breakfasts at Quaglino's." Much like my personal favorite and the world's greatest secret agent (albeit fictional), Sterling Archer (codename: Duchess), Eddie's silver tongue had a way of getting him out of quagmires and back into the good graces of those who he'd wronged in the past. 

 

 

Unfortunately, the jig was up, and he landed himself in jail on Jersey Island (almost as bad as being imprisoned on the Jersey Shore, but with far less hair gel and fake tanning cream). I'll skip a lot of important information here and just tell you he ends up being recruited/courted as an agent for the Abwehr (one of those dastardly Nazi intelligence agencies). As a smooth-talking con man who has exhibited few moral compunctions even as a thief, he was a pretty great candidate to become a British spy (but for the Germans- so German spy?). I mean everyone knows that, as a spy:

 

 

So he luftwaffles or 99 red luftbaloons himself into Britain where he, promptly, double crosses (or triple crosses- it's hard to follow) as he cozies up with MI-5 and has to deal with quite a crew, including Robin "TinEye" Stephens who rocks a monocle like nobody's business. As well as Jasper Maskelyne, a magician in the employ of MI-5 who helps them engineer an illusion (yes, they actually do refer to it as such, so Gob Bluth can rest easy) to make it look like ZigZag is carrying out his subterfuge as promised to his Nazi pals.  

 

 

The thing about Eddie Chapman was that he basically thrived in the worst of circumstances. He liked to keep things loose and (another shoutout to Archer) couldn't necessarily be relied upon to keep his mouth shut when it came to being a secret agent, especially when ladies were involved. Really, he was kind of a loose canon- unless, of course, he wasn't. That's the thing about being a great double agent, it has to be hard for people to get a pulse on you. That being said, it was probably a good call on the part of MI-5 to try to sever ties. That being said, his life made one heck of an interesting story. 

 

 

If you're looking for an even-handed recounting and reflections on this book, you should probably check out Jeffrey Keeten's stellar review (it has lots of pictures and everything). However, if you're looking for my favorite moments of skullduggery(along with the occasional pop culture parallel), then you're in the right spot.

Eddie Chapman (codename: ZigZag) was, among other things, the head of the "Jelly Gang" (they used gelignite to break into safes), a bit of a lady's man living in "the world of pimps and racecourse touts, pickpockets and con artists; late nights at Smokey Joe's and early champagne breakfasts at Quaglino's." Much like my personal favorite and the world's greatest secret agent (albeit fictional), Sterling Archer (codename: Duchess), Eddie's silver tongue had a way of getting him out of quagmires and back into the good graces of those who he'd wronged in the past.



Unfortunately, the jig was up, and he landed himself in jail on Jersey Island (almost as bad as being imprisoned on the Jersey Shore, but with far less hair gel and fake tanning cream). I'll skip a lot of important information here and just tell you he ends up being recruited/courted as an agent for the Abwehr (one of those dastardly Nazi intelligence agencies). As a smooth-talking con man who has exhibited few moral compunctions even as a thief, he was a pretty great candidate to become a British spy (but for the Germans- so German spy?). I mean everyone knows that, as a spy:



So he luftwaffles or 99 red luftbaloons himself into Britain where he promptly double crosses (or triple crosses- it's hard to follow) the Germans and cozies up with MI-5 where he has to deal with quite a crew, including Robin "TinEye" Stephens who rocks a monocle like nobody's business. There's also Jasper Maskelyne, a magician in the employ of MI-5 who helps them engineer an illusion (yes, they actually do refer to it as such, so Gob Bluth can rest easy) to make it look like ZigZag is carrying out his subterfuge as promised to his Nazi pals.



The thing about Eddie Chapman was that he basically thrived in the worst of circumstances. He liked to keep things loose and (another shoutout to Archer) couldn't necessarily be relied upon to keep his mouth shut when it came to being a secret agent, especially when ladies were involved. Really, he was kind of a loose canon- unless, of course, he wasn't. That's the thing about being a great double agent, it has to be hard for people to get a pulse on you. That being said, it was probably a good call on the part of MI-5 to try to sever ties. In the end, though, it's undeniable that his life made one heck of an interesting story.