ENIGMA The Battle for the Code by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Soft Cover Book 491 Pages Size 20 cm x 13 cm Published 2000 BOOK IN VERY GOOD CONDITION

It wasn’t only a crew of eccentric English mathematicians with brains the size of basketballs who cracked the Germans’ Enigma code during WWII, but a whole cast of spies and soldiers as well, says journalist Sebag-Montefiore in this magnetic story of breaking the cipher.

Not that Sebag-Montefiore downplays the inspired contributions of those famed cryptographers at Bletchley Park (including Alan Turing, the eccentric genius who used to pedal his bike about the countryside wearing a gas mask and kept his coffee mug chained to a radiator). There was also more than one Enigma code, and each was more vexing than the last. There were spies who sold early versions of the code to the French, whole companies of men assigned to raiding German vessels (particularly U-boats) for Enigma machines,

Gestapo agents in occupied France were arresting individuals who knew the extent of Allied progress on Enigma, and the Allies themselves didn’t know what had been divulged. The fate of the invasion at Normandy hung in the balance.

The Enigma story continues to enthrall and delight, even after 50 years and a few dozen accounts: don’t miss this one. (photos, not seen)