The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded

by Jim Ottaviani

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Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML: Award winning authors Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis present a historically accurate graphic novel biography of English mathematician and scientist Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. English mathematician and scientist Alan Turing (1912�??1954) is credited with many of the foundational principles of contemporary computer science. The Imitation Game presents a historically accurate graphic novel biography of Turing's life, including his groundbreaking work on the fundamentals of cryptography and artificial intelligence. His code breaking efforts led to the cracking of the German Enigma during World War II, work that saved countless lives and accelerated the Allied defeat of the Nazis. While Turing's achievements remain relevant decades after his death, the story of his life in post-war Europe continues to fascinate audiences today. Award-winning duo Jim Ottaviani (the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Feynman and Primates) and artist Leland Purvis (an Eisner and Ignatz Award nominee and occasional reviewer for the Comics Journal) present a factually detailed account of Turing's life and groundbreaking research�??as an unconventional genius who was arrested, tried, convicted, and punished for being openly gay, and whose innovative work still fuels the computing and communication systems that define our modern world. Computer science buffs, comics fans, and history aficionados will be captivated by this riveting and tragic story of one of the 20th century's most unsung heroes… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 12 (next | show all)

Well illustrated (in full colour) biography of some of Alan Turing's life, focusing on his university days, work at Bletchley and his correspondence with his mother. (

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AChild | Mar 28, 2024 |

Graphic novel "biopic" about the life of Alan Turing, without with we probably wouldn't be looking at things on computers today. To say nothing of the fact that we probably wouldn't have won WWII. Tragically, he was convicted of the crime of being gay in 1952. He was forced to endure chemical castration and died in 1954 of cyanide poisoning. There's still debate on whether it was accidental or suicide. He was only 41. This was an unintentional selection for Pride Month, but I'm glad I read it. (

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mahsdad | Jun 30, 2023 |

Once again, a biographical comic crossed my desk and captured my attention. This time, Alan Turing. I knew a little about him: about his genius, his contributions to cryptography during WWII, his sexuality, public exposure, trial, punishment, and his (apparent) suicide. I didn't realize his impact on modern computing, that his theories formed the basis for what we know about computers and artificial intelligence. I had no idea he was an Olympic class runner. I didn't know that his death by suicide has been in question, and may in fact have been a tragic accident. I recently read a graphic biography of Stephen Hawking by this author, and he has a flair for bringing stories of eccentric geniuses to life, and making them accessible to younger readers. These esoteric scientific and mathematical concepts are so far beyond my own intellectual scope that reading them in this format allows me to (almost) understand them. And knowing what happened to Turing allows me to gain a greater understanding of the world. As the author's note concludes: "I wish I lived in a world that benefited from decades more of Alan Turing, alive and well, thinking and discovering." We need deep thinkers, people who can see beyond the world as it exists, now more than ever. (

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karenchase | Jun 14, 2023 |

The Imitation Game was a very interesting take on Alan Turing's life. I was familiar with some of his work in computer science but not on what exactly he did. Ottaviani clearly did a great deal of research to make the story as accurately as possible. What really made the story interesting, though, was the story of his personal life. How the government handled this at the time is clearly something many in 2016 could not possibly fathom. Turing was humiliated and how the story ended proved just how much that affected him. The art was also well done. This wasn't a superhero story so there was no need for the bright colors and crisp drawing. This story felt real and the art perfectly complimented that. (

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deannachapman | Sep 15, 2021 |

Good art, but the story wasn't very smoothly executed. (

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hatingongodot | May 3, 2020 |

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

ALA Rainbow Book List (Selection – Young Adult Non-Fiction – 2017)

Notable Lists

ALA Over the Rainbow Book List (Nominee – Fiction/Literature – 2017)

ALA Over the Rainbow Book List (Top Ten – 2017)

Great Graphic Novels for Teens (Nonfiction – 2016)

Great Graphic Novels for Teens (2017)

Nerdy Book Award (Graphic Novels – 2016)

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Canonical title

The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded

Original title

The Imitation Game

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2014-06 (online)

2016-03-22 (print)

People/Characters

Important places

Bletchley Park, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

University of Manchester

Important events

World War II

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Yes, I can hear him. Who couldn't?

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

This is the graphic novel biography of Alan Turing, originally published on Tor.com (in 2014), here:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/06/th...

The print edition was published in 2016 by Abrams ComicArts.

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

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▾Book descriptions

Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML:

Award winning authors Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis present a historically accurate graphic novel biography of English mathematician and scientist Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.

English mathematician and scientist Alan Turing (1912�??1954) is credited with many of the foundational principles of contemporary computer science. The Imitation Game presents a historically accurate graphic novel biography of Turing's life, including his groundbreaking work on the fundamentals of cryptography and artificial intelligence. His code breaking efforts led to the cracking of the German Enigma during World War II, work that saved countless lives and accelerated the Allied defeat of the Nazis. While Turing's achievements remain relevant decades after his death, the story of his life in post-war Europe continues to fascinate audiences today.

Award-winning duo Jim Ottaviani (the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Feynman and Primates) and artist Leland Purvis (an Eisner and Ignatz Award nominee and occasional reviewer for the Comics Journal) present a factually detailed account of Turing's life and groundbreaking research�??as an unconventional genius who was arrested, tried, convicted, and punished for being openly gay, and whose innovative work still fuels the computing and communication systems that define our modern world. Computer science buffs, comics fans, and history aficionados will be captivated by this riveting and tragic story of one of the 20th century's most unsung heroes

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