The Lost World of Bletchley Park: The Illustrated History of the Wartime Codebreaking Centre

by Sinclair McKay

Overview

The first comprehensive illustrated history of a remarkable Victorian mansion in Buckinghamshire that played such an important role in British history. From its prewar heyday as a country estate under the Liberal MP Sir Herbert Leon, through its wartime requisition with the addition of the famous huts within the grounds, to become the place where modern computing was invented and the German Enigma code was cracked, its post-war dereliction and then rescue towards the end of the twentieth century as an engrossing museum of wartime codebreaking whose visitor numbers have more than doubled in the last five years. Featuring over 200 photographs, some previously unseen, this is a complete and comprehensive guide to a country estate that played in pivotal role in winning the war against the Nazis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781311912
Publisher:	Aurum Press
Publication date:	11/01/2013
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	965,269
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

SINCLAIR MCKAY is the bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bletchley Park, The Lost World of Bletchley Park, The Secret Life of Fighter Command and The Secret Listeners for Aurum, as well as histories of Hammer films, the James Bond films and the pastime of rambling. He lives in London. 

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

1 The House and Grounds 15

2 Conversion to Codebreaking Factory 31

3 The Cryptologists 45

4 The Girls, the Pearls and the Musical Sergeants 57

5 The Machines that Changed the Future 68

6 Off-Duty Hours and the Pressure Valves 83

7 Bletchley the Wartime Town 97

8 The Worldwide Listeners 109

9 Bletchley Park's Famous Faces 120

10 Broken Codes and the Course of History 133

11 What the Codebreakers did Next 146

12 Bletchley After the War 159

13 Rescue and Renovation 169

14 Royals, Dignitaries - and James Bond 178

Acknowledgements 192

Editorial Reviews

"Featuring vintage black-and-white as well as full-color photography throughout - over 200 photographs total, including many previously unpublished images from Bletchley Park's archives - The Lost World of Bletchley Park: An Illustrated History of the Wartime Codebreaking Centre lives up to its title as the definitive history of the Buckinghamshire codebreaking centre that achieved the nigh-unimaginable accomplishment of cracking the German Enigma codes. Their achievement had a crucial, possibly even decisive impact on the course of World War Two. Even before the war, Bletchley Park was a fashionable location for intellectuals, engineers, and the noblest of aristocratic traditions, as the holding of Liberal MP Sir Herbert Leon. After the war, Bletchley Park was first abandoned, then eventually transformed into a thriving museum and testament to British ingenuity and resilience. The Lost World of Bletchley Park not only covers the famous personages and codebreakers of the park, but also day-to-day life in Bletchley as a wartime town. An extensively researched visual as well as informational treasury, The Lost World of Bletchley Park is highly recommended, particularly for public and college library world history collections." - Midwest Book Review
"...absolutely riveting... I found myself reading late into the night, unable to put it down." - Lost Past Remembered

From the Publisher