The Secret Life of Bletchley Park

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park PDF Author: Sinclair McKay
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1845136837
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Bletchley Park was where one of the war’s most famous – and crucial – achievements was made: the cracking of Germany’s “Enigma” code in which its most important military communications were couched. This country house in the Buckinghamshire countryside was home to Britain’s most brilliant mathematical brains, like Alan Turing, and the scene of immense advances in technology – indeed, the birth of modern computing. The military codes deciphered there were instrumental in turning both the Battle of the Atlantic and the war in North Africa. But, though plenty has been written about the boffins, and the codebreaking, fictional and non-fiction – from Robert Harris and Ian McEwan to Andrew Hodges’ biography of Turing – what of the thousands of men and women who lived and worked there during the war? What was life like for them – an odd, secret territory between the civilian and the military? Sinclair McKay’s book is the first history for the general reader of life at Bletchley Park, and an amazing compendium of memories from people now in their eighties – of skating on the frozen lake in the grounds (a depressed Angus Wilson, the novelist, once threw himself in) – of a youthful Roy Jenkins, useless at codebreaking, of the high jinks at nearby accommodation hostels – and of the implacable secrecy that meant girlfriend and boyfriend working in adjacent huts knew nothing about each other’s work.

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park PDF Author: Sinclair McKay
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1845136837
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Bletchley Park was where one of the war’s most famous – and crucial – achievements was made: the cracking of Germany’s “Enigma” code in which its most important military communications were couched. This country house in the Buckinghamshire countryside was home to Britain’s most brilliant mathematical brains, like Alan Turing, and the scene of immense advances in technology – indeed, the birth of modern computing. The military codes deciphered there were instrumental in turning both the Battle of the Atlantic and the war in North Africa. But, though plenty has been written about the boffins, and the codebreaking, fictional and non-fiction – from Robert Harris and Ian McEwan to Andrew Hodges’ biography of Turing – what of the thousands of men and women who lived and worked there during the war? What was life like for them – an odd, secret territory between the civilian and the military? Sinclair McKay’s book is the first history for the general reader of life at Bletchley Park, and an amazing compendium of memories from people now in their eighties – of skating on the frozen lake in the grounds (a depressed Angus Wilson, the novelist, once threw himself in) – of a youthful Roy Jenkins, useless at codebreaking, of the high jinks at nearby accommodation hostels – and of the implacable secrecy that meant girlfriend and boyfriend working in adjacent huts knew nothing about each other’s work.

The Secret Lives of Codebreakers

The Secret Lives of Codebreakers PDF Author: Sinclair McKay
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101603518
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Go behind the scenes of Bletchley Park, where everyday men and women risked everything for Queen and Country. A remarkable look at day-to-day life of the codebreakers whose clandestine efforts helped win World War II Bletchley Park looked like any other sprawling country estate. In reality, however, it was the top-secret headquarters of Britain’s Government Code and Cypher School—and the site where Germany’s legendary Enigma code was finally cracked. There, the nation’s most brilliant mathematical minds—including Alan Turing, whose discoveries at Bletchley would fuel the birth of modern computing—toiled alongside debutantes, factory workers, and students on projects of international importance. Until now, little has been revealed about ordinary life at this extraordinary facility. Drawing on remarkable first-hand interviews, The Secret Lives of Codebreakers reveals the entertainments, pastimes, and furtive romances that helped ease the incredible pressures faced by these covert operatives as they worked to turn the tide of World War II.

Codebreaker Girls

Codebreaker Girls PDF Author: Jan Slimming
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1526784122
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
“What would it be like to keep a secret for fifty years? Never telling your parents, your children, or even your husband?” Codebreaker Girls: A Secret Life at Bletchley Park tells the true story of Daisy Lawrence. Following extensive research, the author uses snippets of information, unpublished photographs and her own recollections to describe scenes from her mother’s poor, but happy, upbringing in London, and the disruptions caused by the outbreak of the Second World War to a young woman in the prime of her life. The author asks why, and how, Daisy was chosen to work at the Government war station, as well as the clandestine operation she experienced with others, deep in the British countryside, during a time when the effects of the war were felt by everyone. In addition, the author examines her mother’s personal emotions and relationships as she searches for her young fiancée, who was missing in action overseas. The three years at Bletchley Park were Daisy’s university, but having closed the door in 1945 on her hidden role of national importance — dealing with Germany, Italy and Japan — this significant period in her life was camouflaged for decades in the filing cabinet of her mind. Now her story comes alive with descriptions, original letters, documents, newspaper cuttings and unique photographs, together with a rare and powerful account of what happened to her after the war. “Here’s a beauty of a history of some of the codebreaking girls who helped save us during the second world war. This one’s about Daisy Lawrence’s extraordinary life as a poor girl brought up in London and then chosen for top secret work at Bletchley Park. Reads like fiction.” —Books Monthly

Codebreakers

Codebreakers PDF Author: Francis Harry Hinsley
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192801326
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
The story of Bletchley Park, the successful intelligence operation that cracked Germany's Enigma Code. Photos.

Code Girls

Code Girls PDF Author: Liza Mundy
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 0316352551
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
The award-winning New York Times bestseller about the American women who secretly served as codebreakers during World War II--a "prodigiously researched and engrossing" (New York Times) book that "shines a light on a hidden chapter of American history" (Denver Post). Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

Station X

Station X PDF Author: Michael Smith
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9780330419291
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
In 1939, several hundred people - students, professors, international chess players, officers, actresses and debutantes - reported to a Victorian mansion in Buckinghamshire: Bletchley Park, known as 'Station X', where enemy codes were deciphered. This title details their remarkable achievements.

Code Warriors

Code Warriors PDF Author: Stephen Budiansky
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0385352662
Category : Cryptography
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
In Code Warriors, Stephen Budiansky--a longtime expert in cryptology--tells the fascinating story of how NSA came to be, from its roots in World War II through the fall of the Berlin Wall. Along the way, he guides us through the fascinating challenges faced by cryptanalysts, and how they broke some of the most complicated codes of the twentieth century. With access to new documents, Budiansky shows where the agency succeeded and failed during the Cold War, but his account also offers crucial perspective for assessing NSA today in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations. Budiansky shows how NSA's obsession with recording every bit of data and decoding every signal is far from a new development; throughout its history the depth and breadth of the agency's reach has resulted in both remarkable successes and destructive failures.

Bletchley Park Brainteasers

Bletchley Park Brainteasers PDF Author: Sinclair McKay
Publisher: Quercus
ISBN: 1635061199
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
WOULD BLETCHLEY PARK--THE TOP-SECRET HOME OF BRITISH WORLD WAR II CODEBREAKERS--HAVE RECRUITED YOU? PUT YOUR MENTAL AGILITY TO THE TEST WITH THESE FIENDISHLY CHALLENGING PUZZLES AND FIND OUT. Have a knack for mastering Morse code? Want to discover whether your crossword hobby might have seen you recruited into the history books? Think you could have contributed to the effort to crack the Nazis' infamous Enigma code? Then this book about Bletchley Park was custom-made for you. When scouring the population for codebreakers, Bletchley Park recruiters left no stone unturned. They devised various ingenious mind-twisters to assess the puzzle-solving capacity of these individuals--hidden codes, cryptic crosswords, secret languages, and complex riddles. These puzzles, together with the fascinating recruitment stories that surround them, are contained in this book, endorsed by Bletchley Park itself. Though they had diverse backgrounds, the codebreakers of Bletchley Park were united in their love of a good puzzle. If you are of the same persuasion, put your intelligence to the test with the mind-boggling puzzles on these pages and ask yourself: Would Bletchley Park have recruited YOU?

The Lost World of Bletchley Park

The Lost World of Bletchley Park PDF Author: Sinclair McKay
Publisher: Aurum Press Limited
ISBN: 1781311919
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
In "the lost world of Bletchley Park", Sinclair McKay tells the story of the park from its pre-war heyday, to its late 20th century resurrection to play host to both Antiques Roadshow and the Queen. With special access to the Park's archives, the 200 illustrations include many previously unseen and unauthorized photographs of Wrens and codebreakers minding machines or simply relaxing by the lake soaking up the sunshine.

The Codebreaker's Secret

The Codebreaker's Secret PDF Author: Sara Ackerman
Publisher: MIRA
ISBN: 0369720733
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
A brilliant female codebreaker. An “unbreakable” Japanese naval code. A pilot on a top-secret mission that could change the course of WWII. The Codebreaker's Secret is a dazzling story of love and intrigue set during America’s darkest hour. 1943. As war in the Pacific rages on, Isabel Cooper and her codebreaker colleagues huddle in “the dungeon” at Station HYPO in Pearl Harbor, deciphering secrets plucked from the airwaves in a race to bring down the enemy. Isabel has only one wish: to avenge her brother’s death. But she soon finds life has other plans when she meets his best friend, a hotshot pilot with secrets of his own. 1965. Fledgling journalist Lu Freitas comes home to Hawai'i to cover the grand opening of the glamorous Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Rockefeller's newest and grandest project. When a high-profile guest goes missing, Lu forms an unlikely alliance with an intimidating veteran photographer to unravel the mystery. The two make a shocking discovery that stirs up memories and uncovers an explosive secret from the war days. A secret that only a codebreaker can crack. "Sara Ackerman never disappoints!" ­—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code "Brilliantly written with a mystery that will keep you reading late into the night. . . . A fabulous read that makes me want to drop everything and travel to Hawaii!" —Madeline Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London "Beautifully structured and well-told with authentic historical detail . . . another top historical novel by Ackerman." —Booklist (starred) "Thoughtful, romantic and ultimately hopeful, The Codebreaker's Secret is a riveting story of intrigue and love in wartime"—Shelf Awareness