A thoroughly readable book about a character whose life truly was stranger than fiction. A great read even if you are not a fan of War-time histories or intelligence/espionage stories. Macintyre describes a complex, talented, and unconventional person with compassion and clarity. He avoids over-analyzing the personality -- no armchair psychoanalysis -- and simply tells the story, letting the reader muse on the motivations and demons. Macintyre has a knack for finding unusual and compelling slices of history, which he offers to us with infectious curiosity and enthusiasm. Reading one Macintyre book will, inevitably, lead the reader to another.

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Great, true story of a handsome, charming man who makes his living as a thief who becomes a double agent during WWII.

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Agent Zigzag is a story of an unwitting two-bit con man turned double agent who manages to turn the worst of times into a profitable and adventurous experience. But, in the telling of his story, the more interesting back story of just how little the Nazi and British intelligence agencies actually knew about each other's secrets comes to light.

Well written and fantastic, yet believable, this is a history book that reads like--you guessed it--a spy novel.

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