ENIGMA

[Feraud]

( I suggest that Josef Garlinski's The Enigma War is essential reading.)

For those who like to play "what if" :

Without the major head start provided by the Polish mathematicians and Polish intelligence, Enigma might have remained opaque for many additional months, tipping the balance in the North Atlantic naval war in favor of the Kriegsmarine.

The world would be a different place !

I thought Garlinski's book was very good.

 

[W4ASZ]

Back to the Park

I think it's time to revive this thread in light of the following :


http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/12/leonardo-dicaprio-codebreaker-alan-turing?newsfeed=true


Will we see diCaprio as Alan Turing ? Can Hollywood ruin another great true story ?


I actually have high expectations.

 

[TraditionalFrog]

I recently purchased ENIGMA The Battle For The Code by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore. His great great grandfather (Sir Herbert Leon) owned Bletchley Park, and it remained in the family until the late 1930s. This is a very comprehensive book as it tells not just about the machines (Army, Air Force and Navy had seperate Engimas), but also about the people involved both Allies and Germans. It also goes in to fairly great detail as to the inner workings of the Enigma, and how Mr Turing, and the other experts at Bletchley managed to break the ciphers. Word of warning, some parts of this book are very dry and technical, but even if you choose to skip over these parts, all in all it is very riveting and quite an education! I highly recommend this book.

 

[W4ASZ]

I think that Sebag-Montefiore's book has held up well. I have read portions of it and need to dig in and read all of it. For a more modern take using recent materials I have to endorse Battle of Wits by Stephen Budiansky. And, Asa Briggs' recently published Secret Days tells what it was like to work at BP. The suggested readings list at the conclusion of Briggs' book is worth a look in and of itself.

If you're taken with the subject matter none of the stuff is dry and technical.

I recently purchased ENIGMA The Battle For The Code by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore. His great great grandfather (Sir Herbert Leon) owned Bletchley Park, and it remained in the family until the late 1930s. This is a very comprehensive book as it tells not just about the machines (Army, Air Force and Navy had seperate Engimas), but also about the people involved both Allies and Germans. It also goes in to fairly great detail as to the inner workings of the Enigma, and how Mr Turing, and the other experts at Bletchley managed to break the ciphers. Word of warning, some parts of this book are very dry and technical, but even if you choose to skip over these parts, all in all it is very riveting and quite an education! I highly recommend this book.

 

[Warden]

Bletchley Park’s appeared on Harry & Edna on the Wireless to promote their WW2 Polish day; you can listen to the radio show on the link below, It was a cracking little show with many 'I did not know that' moments.

http://soundcloud.com/harryandedna/11th-july-harry-edna-on-the