This month's book review.

Ben Macintyre’s “Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal,” is a gripping work of nonfiction that reads more like a spy thriller than a history book. It tells the story of Eddie Chapman, an unlikely World War II double agent whose life was as chaotic as it was extraordinary.

Chapman was a career criminal before the war, specializing in safecracking and con artistry. In 1939, he was jailed by the British on Jersey, which was captured by the Germans. To get out of prison, and perhaps to relieve boredom, he offered his services to the Germans as a spy—only to turn around and volunteer himself to the British as a double agent. What followed was a dizzying career of deception, code-names, and shifting loyalties. Codenamed Zigzag by MI5 for his unpredictable nature, Chapman managed to fool the Abwehr (German intelligence) while providing critical information to Britain. His missions included faking sabotage, delivering false intelligence, and balancing the delicate act of being trusted by both sides.

The story’s portrait of Chapman is both fascinating and troubling: he is brave, reckless, charming, selfish, loyal, and duplicitous all at once. Macintyre neither glorifies nor condemns him outright, instead letting readers wrestle with the contradictions of a man who was at once a patriot and an opportunist.

The book also offers a vivid glimpse into the world of wartime espionage—full of eccentric handlers, ingenious deceptions, and high-stakes gambits that shaped the larger course of the war. While Chapman’s personal motives may remain ambiguous, Agent Zigzag leaves no doubt that he played a pivotal role in the shadowy intelligence battle between Britain and Germany.

If you are an avid reader of all things World War II, there is much here that you may not have known. Chapman’s connection with the German and British war efforts are amazing. The V2 rocket, the Vergeltungswaffe 2, “Retribution Weapon,” for example. The German’s sent the rocket to London where the ranging depended on how much fuel was put in the rocket. The rockets were falling short and the British used Chapman to fool them into thinking they were spot on. So many rockets destined for London city, were falling short on farmland, it isn’t hyperbole to say Chapman’s efforts saved lives. You will also find mention of the fabulous de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito bomber, Liberty Ships, and the Enigma code machine.

Perhaps Major Robin “Tin Eye” Stephens summed Chapman up best. Stephens was the commandant of MI5’s secret interrogation center in London. Stephens wrote:

In short, Macintyre delivers a history book that entertains like a novel while deepening our understanding of human complexity in wartime.

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