NICHOLAS BOOTH

The most remarkable double agent of World War II, Eddie Chapman was witty, handsome, and charming. Too bad he was also a con man, womanizer, and safe-cracker. To the British, though, he was known as ZigZag, one of MI5s most valuable agents. To the AbwehrGerman military intelligencehe was known as Fritzchen (Little Fritz), and was believed to be one of their most valued and trusted spies. For three long years, Eddie played this dangerous double game, daily risking life and limb to help the Allies win the war. He was so charming that his German handler, Baron Stefan von Groning, thought of Fritzchen as the son he never had. The Germans even awarded him the Iron Cross for spying for the Reich! They sent him to Britain, with the mission to blow up the De Havilland aircraft factory. How he and MI5 convinced the Germans that he had accomplished his mission stands as one of historys greatest acts of counterintelligence.Until now, Eddie Chapmans extraordinary double life has never been told, thwarted by the Official Secrets Act. Now all the evidenceincluding Eddies MI5 filehas finally been released, paving the way for Nicholas Booths enthralling account of Eddies long and extraordinary life. A film of ZigZag is in the works with Tom Hanks producing and Mike Newell directing.

Eddie Chapman was a womaniser, blackmailer and safecracker. He was also a great hero - the most remarkable double agent of the Second World War. Chapman became the only British national ever to be awarded an Iron Cross for his work for the Reich. He was also the only German spy ever to be parachuted into Britain twice. But it was all an illusion: Eddie fooled the Germans in the same way he conned his victims in civilian life. He was working for the British all along. Until now, the full story of Eddie Chapmans extraordinary exploits has never been told, thwarted by the Official Secrets Act. Now at last all the evidence has been released, including Eddies M15 files, and a complete account of what he achieved is told in this enthralling book.

Summer 1940. In the desperate fight against Nazi Germany, nothing is considered too outlandish, so the British secret services turn to figures from the occult world to help turn the tide of war. What begins as a mission to understand Hitlers supposed astrological advice soon becomes more bizarre, with often hilarious, unintended consequences. It is a story of misinformation, false predictions and some of the most surreal secret operations of the Second World War. Incredibly, it is all true. Featuring an eccentric cast of characters, including the creator of James Bond, a cross-dressing astrologer, a spymaster who walked around in public with his pet bear and the self-proclaimed wickedest man in the world, best-selling author Nicholas Booth weaves together an amazing narrative of spying, sabotage and black propaganda. Using hitherto secret files many only released in the last few years Lucifer Rising unravels for the first time the myths surrounding these operations, culminating with perhaps the most curious of all: the arrival by parachute of Rudolf Hess in Scotland in May 1941.

With a focus of the Perseverance rover mission, here is the "Quintessential account of one of humanitys most intriguing quests" (Pail Halpern, Medium), "A remarkable, timely, and up-to-date account of Mars exploration" (Leonard David, "Space Insider," Space.com). From The War of the Worlds to The Martian and to the amazing photographs sent back by the robotic rovers Curiosity and Opportunity, Mars has excited our imaginations as the most likely other habitat for life in the solar system. Now the Red Planet is coming under scrutiny as never before. As new missions are scheduled to launch this year from the United States and China, and with the European Space Agencys ExoMars mission now scheduled for 2022, this book recounts in full the greatest scientific detective story ever. For the first time in forty years, the missions heading to Mars will look for signs of ancient life on the world next door. It is the latest chapter in an ageold quest that encompasses myth, false starts, red herrings, and bizarre coincidencesas well as triumphs and heartbreaking failures. This book, by two journalists with deep experience covering space exploration, is the definitive story of how lifes discovery has eluded us to date, and how it will be found somewhere and sometime this century. The Search for Life on Mars is based on more than a hundred interviews with experts at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere, who share their insights and stories. While it looks back to the early Mars missions such as Viking 1 and 2, the books focus is on the experiments and revelations from the most recent onesincluding Curiosity, which continues to explore potentially habitable sites where water was once present, and the Mars Insight lander, which has recorded more than 450 marsquakes since its deployment in late 2018as well as on the Perseverance and ExoMars rover missions ahead. And the book looks forward to the newest, most exciting frontier of all: the day, not too far away, when humans will land, make the Red Planet their home, and look for life directly.