Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy - Ben Macintyre

Advantages: An outstandingly good read
Disadvantages: May cause lack of sleep!

...This is the true story of Eddie Chapman, “lover, traitor, hero and spy” whose extraordinary exploits during the second world war make an totally absorbing read. In 1943, talking of Chapman’s story, Colonel Tim Stephens of MI5 said, “ in fiction it would be rejected as improbable” and any reader of this work would be bound to agree with this assessment. Ben Macintyre has meticulous researched his subject using recently released MI5 records and Chapman’s own manuscripts letters and photos and weaves the facts into a fast moving narrative which is as gripping as any thriller. Chapman was a larger than life character by any criteria. Charming and intelligent, he was most at home on the streets of Soho, where he mixed with all types of individuals -criminals, authors, actors, gamblers and dodgy politicians - with excessive ease, numbering... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Powerful, moving true story of war
Disadvantages: None

..., clothed and protected by the villagers, including local tradesmen and the matriarch Madame Eugenie Dessenne, living under the noses of the German occupiers and masquerading as villagers. Close bonds soon formed between the soldiers and their benefactors, and none closer than that between Digby and Madame Dessenne’s 19-year-old daughter Claire. In November 1915 she gave birth to their daughter Helene, and six months later somebody in Villeret betrayed the men to the Germans. Digby and three others were captured, tried as spies and executed by firing squad. For many years, nobody knew who shopped the men. In 1997 Macintyre went to investigate what happened. With the recollections (albeit very blurred) of Helene, now in her 80s, plus other villagers, archive material and a few surviving letters, he has produced a stark, atmospheric... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Interesting, True
Disadvantages: Bit hero-worshipping

...This is the story of former RAF pilot, Jonathan Moyle, who worked for the British Government, and who was murdered investigating an arms dealer in Chile, in 1990. Moyle was found in a hotel room hanging in his wardrobe, and the local police rote the case off as a suicide. Pressure from his family however, lead to the case being reopened, and Clarkson's book details the following investigation and conclusions. The style is a touch on the hero-worshipping, boys-own stuff, almost admiring someone, and wishing to be like them. However, the book does also provide a fascinating insight into the work of a freelance undercover agent, and if anyone deserves the hero treatment, a man like Moyle does. An interesting read.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful