The Secret Lives of Codebreakers: The Men and Women Who Cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park

by Sinclair McKay Narrated by Walter Dixon

Overview

A remarkable look at day-to-day life of the codebreakers whose clandestine efforts helped win World War II

Bletchley Park looked like any other sprawling country estate. In reality, however, it was the top-secret headquarters of Britain's Government Code and Cypher School-and the site where Germany's legendary Enigma code was finally cracked. There, the nation's most brilliant mathematical minds-including Alan Turing, whose discoveries at Bletchley would fuel the birth of modern computing-toiled alongside debutantes, factory workers, and students on projects of international importance. Until now, little has been revealed about ordinary life at this extraordinary facility. Drawing on remarkable first-hand interviews, The Secret Lives of Codebreakers reveals the entertainments, pastimes, and furtive romances that helped ease the incredible pressures faced by these covert operatives as they worked to turn the tide of World War II.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"An eloquent tribute to a quite remarkable group of men and women, whose like we will not see again."—Mail On Sunday

"Five stars."—Sunday Telegraph

“A stunning plunge into the social and political complexities surrounding the men and women who broke the Enigma code. A gripping read.”—Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila, authors of Code Talker

“Re-create[s] the unique atmosphere of this extraordinary place… remarkable.”—Daily Telegraph (London)
 
“A portrait of one of the most remarkable brain factories the world has ever seen.”—Max Hastings, author of The Secret War: Spies, Codes and Guerrillas, 1939–45
 
“This very readable and competent book captures well the extraordinary atmosphere of eccentrics working hard together in almost complete secrecy.”—The Guardian
 
“Amazingly, this is the first oral history of life at the Buckinghamshire country house.”—Oldie
 
“A fitting tribute to a very British kind of genius.”—Waterstones Books Quarterly
 
“An interesting and amusing book.”—Britain at War

Kirkus Reviews

A detailed, well-researched account of the people who ran the top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, whose work helped the Allies win World War II. President Eisenhower once said that the work of the British codebreakers "shortened the war by two years." But as Daily Telegraph journalist McKay (Ramble On, 2012, etc) reveals, official recognition has been slow in coming. Some of the participants--e.g., celebrated Cambridge mathematician Alan Turing, would go on to earn notoriety, including official, but always muted, recognition by the British monarchy. Most would go on to lead more or less anonymous lives. McKay notes that a large part of the problem had to do with the fact that, unlike those who had actually fought on the front lines, no one from GC&CS "was allowed to say a single word" about the years they spent deciphering the infamous German Enigma codes. Only after RAF officer and MI6 operative Frederick Winterbotham published a controversial book about the project in 1974, The Ultra Secret, did the veil begin to lift. Rather than attempt to glamorize what the codebreakers did, however, McKay attempts to demystify their world by highlighting the day-to-day realities they faced. With few exceptions, aristocrats mixed with academics, students and factory workers shared the same hardships: small, cramped billets, tasteless food and jobs that were as tedious as they were physically and mentally taxing. Interviews with surviving Bletchley Park veterans offer especially good insight into the remarkably vibrant culture and the ways they survived an invisible, hyperconfined existence on the edge of a world at war. A well-deserved, long-overdue celebration of some unsung heroes of WWII.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171417079
Publisher:	Ascent Audio
Publication date:	07/02/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged

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