F. H. Hinsley (1918–1998)

What a fascinating look behind the scenes at the famous Bletchley Park, where German and Japanese codes were broken to help the Allies win the war.

I admit going in to this that I hoped that each of the thirty stories would have some "I was there at a famous moment" anecdotes. But most talked about the monotony of working at a place that they couldn't tell anyone -- wives, husbands, parents, children -- about. A few made sure to point out how they felt overworked and underpaid throughout the show more war effort (which, of course, was longer in Europe than we Americans remember it being!). A couple of the stories were incredibly detailed, including one that provided a schematic with relays and switches showing how they built an Enigma-breaker. There were a few recollections that repeated some information, but it never felt duplicative or tedious.

The editors ended the book in a strange way: they saved the last essay for a woman -- one of several interviewed in the book, which was also impressive -- who just couldn't stand working in such a secretive place and doing nothing (so she thought), so she figured out a way to leave!

I was slightly disappointed that so few people remembered any significant moments (or even never-before-revealed secrets) during that period, although upon reflection, I probably can't remember all that many moments that would impress outsiders during the last five-plus years at my workplace. (There were a handful, though, and those were interesting, including the one who figured out the Japanese were creating a brand-new term during their surrender.)

You might learn a bit more about the specifics of German and Japanese codes by a book more concentrated on cryptography (like Kahn's famous Codebreakers), but this is a good read for those wanting to know how "normal" people functioned during World War II.

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LT Haiku:

Some codebreakers at
famous park share their stories
about secret work. show less

An entertaining and exciting journey back to the world of Bletchley Park during the war. After reading so many antiseptic retellings of the story, I was very pleased to read this very personal and human account. Hinsley tells the history, but also the very engaging stories of the people who made it.

This is the inside story of the breaking of the Axis signals during WWII. Most of the book deals with the codebreaking of the German Enigma machine, but there is a section of the book that does deal with the codebreaking of the Japanese signals. The book contains the 1st person accounts of the people who were actually involved at Bletchley Park. This runs the gamut from WRENS to actual code breakers. The book is very technical. Having some base line knowledge of code breaking would be good show more before reading the book. That being said, what each and every one of the contributors have to say is fascinating indeed. I would add that watching a Youtube video on how the codebreaking actually took place at Bletchley is highly recommended, as it will give the reader a very good idea of what the contributors are actually discussing. Recommended. show less

Department of History
University of Hong Kong