Agent Zigzag
by Ben Macintyre · first published 2001
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
True story of Eddie Chapman, a British double agent in WWII whose deceptions with German intelligence read like a thriller; recommended for fans of espionage, double agents and wartime deception history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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
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All of Ben's books are amazing. Check Agent ZigZag out. I've read it like 4 times. Such an amazing fun story. http://www.amazon.com/Agent-Zigzag-Story-Espionage-Betrayal-...
on “Kim Philby, Lecturing in East Berlin, Bragged of How Easy It Was to Fool MI6” ↗MacIntyre also wrote Agent Zigzag about Eddie Chapman [1]. Recommended if you like WWII espionage, double agents etc. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Chapman
on “Operation Mincemeat: How a dead tramp fooled Hitler (2010)” ↗…Cowen[1]). I was not a big Beatles fan when I read it (but I'm a bit more of a fan now), but I found the book very interesting, especially on the impact they had. Other good ones I've read recently: Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre - the true story of a British double agent during WWII. Like someone said - it wouldn't have worked if it was fiction, because it is too unbelievable. Nomad by Alan Partridge - hilarious…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗I think a couple of Macintyre's other works even top The Spy and the Traitor in terms of "craziness". Particularly Agent Zigzag and Operation Mincemeat (out of those I've read). They're both thoroughly worth a read if you enjoyed this one.
on “Good Books for a Lousy Year” ↗Writer Ben Macintyre has written extensively, and lucidly, about deception campaigns of WWI. Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat, and Double Cross all capture the efforts made by the British and its allies. No individual operation swung it but there was an amalgamation of disinformation on various fronts. It’s…
on “Operation Dissimulation: WW2'S Biggest Deception Campaigns” ↗…Harrison, the man who solved the longitude problem (and probably thereby made the success of the British Empire) X, Y & Z - a brilliant biography of all the French, English and Polish codebreakers of WW2 Agent Zigzag - the story of the man who betrayed everyone and could possibly have killed Hitler if he was allowed William Pitt the Younger (Robin Reilly) - possibly one of the most difficult periods in British History…
on “Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner” ↗…the south east of London. There's considerably more detail about this in Most Secret War by R V Jones, who was involved in all sorts of ruses to confuse the enemy. Well worth a read. Eddie Chapman (Agent ZigZag) was played by Christopher Plummer in the film Triple Cross. It seems to be on YouTube.
on “What does randomness look like?” ↗