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Seizing the enigma: The race to break the German U-boat codes, 1939-1943
by
David Kahn
Among the famous battles of World War II, the longest and most critical was the Battle of the Atlantic--the struggle between the American convoys bringing supplies to Britain and the German U-boats bent on severing that lifeline. No matter where else on earth conflicts raged, leaders on both sides understood that whoever won the Battle of the Atlantic would win the war. Fr...more
Unknown Binding, 336 pages
Published
May 4th 2001
by Barnes & Noble Books
(first published 1991)
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Among the famous battles of World War II, the longest and most critical was the Battle of the Atlantic--the struggle between the American convoys bringing supplies to Britain and the German U-boats bent on severing that lifeline. No matter where else on earth conflicts raged, leaders on both sides understood that whoever won the Battle of the Atlantic would win the war. From the start, Germany had the advantage with the diabolically devised encryption machine known as Enigma. Breaking the Enigma...more
I got interested in this after seeing the way too short British series Bletchley Circle based on the Wrens who help decode German secrets during WWII. Except that BC takes place several years afterwards and is a murder mystery affair. Seizing the Enigma was a fun read (to page 200) where it nosedived into the Atlantic. Its an intricate story of rotors, rings and plugboards where solving the codes was a combination of skill, brains, perseverance and luck. We get introduced to Traffic analysis, fr...more
This was a very informative book. It can sometimes get a little dry during explanations of the machine's mechanics, but it all serves to better illustrate the massive effort undertaken to crack the enigma. I think it was well written and organized, each story and detail included to underscore the importance and difficulty of this hidden side of the war.
This was a very interesting book. It has alot of detail to digest.Turns out this chapter on the war was so important that most people don't realize.Could we have won with out cracking the enigma, it surely would have been alot more difficult.All history and ww2 buffs should check out this book, you won't be disappointed.
Nov 08, 2008
MD
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who think Alan Turing was the key person in solving Enigma :-)
Shelves:
nonfiction
This book puts more focus on the stories of how some of the tools that helped break the cipher were obtained; which ciphers could be broken when and what the effects were; and the players in the Battle for the Atlantic than the Kozaczuk book does. As a result, it comes across as being written to appeal to U-Boat enthusiasts rather than to geeks. It's well-researched with much information obtained in firsthand interviews. It also seems to be more objective than some in explaining the many accompl...more
This was an in depth look at the Enigma machine used by the Germans in WWII. There are detailed explanations about the workings of the machine, the struggles with breaking the code and the means for obtaining more information and parts. The author does a good job describing the people involved and the reader comes away with an appreciation of the magnitude of the task of the code breakers.
And essential part of understanding WWII.
WWII, true story
Wonderful.
An "OK" book, parts were interesting, parts informative, parts boring. I did get a better idea of how codes and ciphers were used in WWII.
Coolest book I've read in a while. Learn the beginnings of James Bond(is that a spoiler?) An excellent read, with real live history, and a heroic dog. The last was just in my head.
Fascinating. Plus, a Hinsley, Sir Harry!
May 05, 2013
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David Kahn is a historian who writes on military codebreaking.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
More about David Kahn...
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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