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Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
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Overview
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"Prodigiously researched and engrossing."---New York Times Book Review
"Fascinating.... Addictively readable."---Boston Globe
"Code Girls reveals a hidden army of female cryptographers, whose work played a crucial role in ending World War II.... Mundy has rescued a piece of forgotten history, and given these American heroes the recognition they deserve."---Nathalia Holt, bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls
Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780316352536 |
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Publisher: | Hachette Books |
Publication date: | 10/10/2017 |
Pages: | 432 |
Sales rank: | 166,241 |
Product dimensions: | 6.30(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.40(d) |
About the Author

Table of Contents
Author's Note xiii
The Secret Letters 1
Introduction: "Your Country Needs You, Young Ladies" 17
Part I "In the Event of Total War Women Will Be Needed"
Chapter 1 Twenty-Eight Acres of Girls 53
Chapter 2 "This Is a Man's Size Job, but I Seem to Be Getting Away with It" 86
Chapter 3 The Most Difficult Problem 130
Chapter 4 "So Many Girls in One Place" 169
Part II "Over All This Vast Expanse of Waters Japan Was Supreme"
Chapter 5 "It Was Heart-Rending" 201
Chapter 6 "Q for Communications" 244
Chapter 7 The Forlorn Shoe 311
Chapter 8 "Hell's Half-Acre" 318
Chapter 9 "It Was Only Human to Complain" 356
Chapter 10 Pencil-Pushing Mamas Sink the Shipping of Japan 375
Part III The Tide Turns
Chapter 11 Sugar Camp 401
Chapter 12 "All My Love, Jim" 448
Chapter 13 "Enemy Landing at the Mouth of the Seine" 460
Chapter 14 Teedy 487
Chapter 15 The Surrender Message 499
Chapter 16 Good-Bye to Crow 513
Epilogue The Mitten 522
Acknowledgments 551
Notes 559
Bibliography 609
What People are Saying About This
"Code Girls is a riveting account of the thousands of young coeds who flooded into Washington to help America win World War II. Liza Mundy has written a thrilling page-turner that illuminates the patriotism, rivalry and sexism of the code-breakers' world."
"Code Girls is an extraordinary book by an extraordinary author. Liza Mundy's portraits of World War II codebreakers are so skillfully and vividly drawn that I felt as if I were right there with themmastering ciphers, outwitting the Japanese army, sinking ships, breaking hearts, and even accidentally insulting Eleanor Roosevelt. I am an evangelist for this book: You must read it."
"Liza Mundy's Code Girls reveals one of World War Two's last remaining secrets: the true tale of the young American women who helped shorten the war and saved thousands of lives by breaking the codes of the German and Japanese armed forces. But it's also a superbly researched and stirringly written social history of a pivotal chapter in the struggle for women's rights, told through the powerful and poignant stories of the individuals involved. In exploring the vast, obscure and makeshift offices of wartime Washington where these women performed seemingly impossible deeds, Mundy has discovered a birthplace of modern America.
"Code Girls is a riveting account of the thousands of young coeds who flooded into Washington to help America win World War II. Liza Mundy has written a thrilling page-turner that illuminates the patriotism, rivalry and sexism of the code-breakers' world."
"Code Girls reveals a hidden army of female cryptographers, whose work played a crucial role in ending World War II. With clarity and insight, Mundy exposes the intertwined narratives of the women who broke codes and the burgeoning field of military intelligence in the 1940s. I cannot overstate the importance of this book; Mundy has rescued a piece of forgotten history, and given these American heroes the recognition they deserve."