The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park: The Secret Intelligence Station that Helped Defeat the Nazis

Does a great job telling the stories of the people of BP. Not much technical jargon. Well written. Sophisticated language without the bore of textbooks. Recommended for history buffs on a BP hyper fixation binge, but probably not for the casual reader with little to no interest in Bletchley Park.

I have many books on Bletchley Park and counterintelligence and was pleasantly surprised that there was some new information that I had not encountered before. It is a much lighter read than the authors' XYZ book which is also well worth reading.

Worth a readNot many details on any specific messages of importance.More in the weeds on the people and personalities.

Liked the inside knowledge displayed by the wrier. There were a few instances where reference was made to things not explained but this did not detract from the overall quality of the story.

Interesting, good details.

This review is strictly for the Kindle version. Enjoyed reading what I could of it, but when reading on my Kindle, whole sections of the book disappear. If I change the font (to a size I have difficulty reading) the missing sections reappear. Those sections also show up on the Kindle app on non-Amazon devices.

ABOUT THE AUTHORSir John Dermot Turing is the 12th Baronet of the Turing baronetcy. He is the nephew of Alan Turing the infamous English mathematician that worked on the enigma machine. He did a D.Phil in genetics at New College, Oxford before moving into the legal profession. He specialized in financial law and is currently an author.WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE?This book is for everyone. Wether you are a historian, student, WWII enthusiast or just someone who interested in secret intelligence code breaking, you will find this book interesting.SYNOPSISBefore James Bond, there was Alister Denniston, Dilly Knox, Alan Turing, Mavis Batley (née Lever), Peter Twinn and Frank Birch.The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park is a unique take on an old subject and has managed to breathe new life into those who worked on the Enigma machine. It is the true-life account of the people, places and techniques employed for decrypting the machine that the Axis powers used during WWII to secretly encrypt their commercial, diplomatic and military communications. Unlike many books of its kind, The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park paints an intimate observation of the participants that is lacking in other publications. The reader gets a look back in time and at the characters behind the crack. The vital importance of the work at Bletchley Park contributed to the war as a whole and in particular, the Battle of Cape Matapan from 27-29 March, 1941.The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park is a character driven dive into the ultra-secret world of the codebreakers. Turing’s chronology primarily focuses on the years immediately preceding WWII through the evolution of the Government Code & Cypher School (GC & CS) and its evolution into the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). The early codebreakers were, as Alister Denniston dubbed them, ‘the professor type.’ Most of these were ‘Kingsmen,’ alumni of King’s College, Cambridge; although not exclusively. They came from varying disciplines that included mathematics, academia, arts, humanities, classics languages, and history. Once ‘The Hunting Party’ had arrived at Bletchley Park work that began with a hand full of academics quickly grew in size and scope. Those with other skills and talents including: Intelligence Staff, Translators, Linguists, Managers, Machine Operators, Typists, Secretaries, and Stenographers were swiftly recruited.The author avoids focusing upon Alan Truing, but instead introduces the reader to the arguably equally important contributors to the cracking of the Enigma. My favorite character was Dilly Knox a brilliant scholar of the Classics, specifically Greek. He was humorous and poetic. He constantly threatened to resign his position, was a man full of contradictions, a less than skillful driver and tragically gone too soon.Those interested in women’s studies will find this publication to be a breath of fresh air. It includes details of the women who worked at Bletchley Park and heralds the significant contributions made by those women. Most of whom were never awarded any recognition or accolade.CONCLUSIONThe Codebreakers of Bletchley Park is anything but a dry retelling of history. I found it intriguing, enlightening and humors in equal amounts. Since I read it a week or two ago, I’ve thought of it fondly and often mentioned it repeatedly to friends and family. This, for me, is the seal of a truly great work and because of this I am rating this book highly.If you want to find out: who ‘Dilly’s Fillies’ were, why there was a bath in the office of Room 40 at the Admiralty, how QWERTZU has anything to do with the Enigma, how the Bomba became the Bombe or what really went on in Hut 6; you will have to read The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park for yourself. Be prepared for a compelling and extraordinary true-life tale.Highly recommended for everyone.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Rating: 4.5 out of 5.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would like to thank Sir John Dermot Turing, Netgalley and Arcturus for affording me the opertunity to review The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park: The Secret Intelligence Station that Helped Defeat the Nazis.

This is a comprehensive writing of the people involved with Bletchley Park. Very interesting to learn a little about the individuals themselves.

This was an interesting insight into the personalities working at Bletchley Park. There was enough detail for me as an historian to find the story interesting and also enough technical detail to please the mathematical and scientific readers.

Waiting to hear what my recepient thought when it had been read,

Bletchley Park had long been on my ‘Bucket List’ and after visiting I looked for a book on the subject and this one came recommended.It is in chronological order and includes ‘pen portraits’ of all the relevant people.I found the book interesting and informative and a good companion to anyone visiting Bletchley Park.

Just as I expected, Dermot Turing has written another superb book about aspects of Bletchley Park (BP). A compact but information filled work, including several personalities, carefully structured in historical order, telling the story in a highly readable and dramatically unfolding way. Not lost in a morass of technical details but a helpful list at the end will enable further pursuit of more technical aspects for those inclined. This is the ideal book for the 'newbie' to BP and it's amazing stories, but also for those of us with many books on the subject it offers a condensed reminder of the whole story and brings the people who worked there out of the shadows. I highly recommend this book to everybody, you will not be disappointed.

Got to know about people I’d heard of but didn’t know their roles. I enjoyed the book.