Talk to Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal like its author wrote you back.
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What it argues
Eddie Chapman was a safecracker, con man, and professional criminal who became Britain's most remarkable double agent during World War II. Agent Zigzag is Ben Macintyre's account of Chapman's extraordinary career: trained by German intelligence as a saboteur, parachuted into Britain to blow up a de Havilland aircraft factory, and immediately turned by MI5 to feed false intelligence back to the Abwehr. The Germans thought they had an asset; the British had a double agent codenamed Zigzag.
What makes Chapman's story unusual even among wartime espionage is his character. He was not an ideological convert, not a patriot, not a professional soldier. He was a criminal who charmed his way into the confidence of both sides while remaining loyal to nothing and no one except the moment. Macintyre traces this with careful enjoyment — Chapman was magnetic, unreliable, genuinely brave, and incapable of staying still. He also genuinely seems to have found the war the most satisfying period of his life.
What it gets right
- 1.
Eddie Chapman's value as a double agent came precisely from his criminal background: he was genuinely trusted by the Abwehr because he was demonstrably self-interested rather than ideologically motivated.
- 2.
The faked sabotage of the de Havilland factory was a major MI5 operation requiring theatrical skill, engineering knowledge, and the successful manipulation of German aerial reconnaissance.
- 3.
The Abwehr's eagerness to believe Chapman's reports reflected a systematic problem in German intelligence: they saw what they wanted to see rather than verifying through independent sources.
What it covers
Who wrote it
Ben Macintyre is a journalist and author at The Times of London who has specialized in the history of espionage and World War II intelligence operations. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including Operation Mincemeat, The Spy and the Traitor, and A Spy Among Friends, several of which have been adapted for television. His approach combines rigorous archival research with propulsive narrative style, making classified intelligence history accessible to general readers. He has also served as a foreign correspondent in New York, Paris, and Washington.
