This is my best read of the year. Its hard to believe that Eddie Chapman ever got away with his exploits during the war. if this was a film it would be James Bond and far fetched. Its therefore not surprising that Ian Fleming makes an appearance during the latter stages of this spy thriller.Any person who can convince two governments to pay for the upkeep of two different girlfriends whilst he goes to war on behalf of each opposing side derserves to have his story told and Macintyre has managed this surperbly.

This mesmerising story of larger-than-life double agent Eddie Chapman exceeded my expectations. Agent Zigzag’s wartime exploits and his friendships and rivalries are enthralling (MacIntyre recreates entire conversations to bring him alive on the page), but the dedication and sheer brilliance of the British intelligence operation steals the show for me. Fascinating from first to last.

Interesting reading to find out what also went on behind the horror of ground troops, ground war machines and aeroplanes of WWII.

I've read quite a few war spy biographies, but this one stands out as the most extraordinary of them all. It is not merely about a British European person surviving in an occupied country, often France. It is the story of a British baddie, imprisoned by the British for blowing up safes. When war broke out, Chapman was encarcerated in the German occupied Channel Islands. The Germans invade, 'turn' him to work for them, and then in turn he turns his information to work for the British! On both sides of the channel, Eddie Chapman, could be himself, talk and act British, and never be suspected. Read his life, it's like nothing else.

Couldn't put this book down! Fascinating true story of how the war really made someone into some semblance of a "good" person. Really interesting and well written.