Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War Two

by Wladyslaw Kozaczuk

Although much has been written about the use of ULTRA messages by the Allies during World War II, no book until now has told the crucially important story of how a group of Polish cryptologists broke the German Enigma machine cipher and how Polish agents passed on to the British virtually all of the major techniques which the British later used at Bletchley Park to decode high-level German communications throughout the war. This new book makes clear for the first time the degree to which the British ULTRA program - and, consequently, the entire Allied "Secret War" effort - depended on the work of the Poles. Historians and the general public have had access to many exciting accounts of the role of ULTRA in winning the war; now we can read the authoritative account of the dramatic events which led to the successful start of the ULTRA operation.

The breaking of the German Enigma machine cipher was perhaps the most spectacular event, in terms of difficulty and of consequences, in the history of cryptography ("secret writing") and cryptology (the study of secret writing, especially for purposes of decryptment - the "breaking" or "reading" of secret correspondence by a third party). The breaking of the Enigma machine cipher was so significant because the Enigma machine was such an essential part of the German war effort. In 1931-34, shortly after Hitler came to power, Enigma was adopted by the Germans as a basic, unitary cipher system for the armed forces as well as military intelligence (the Abwehr), S.S. formations, the security and political intelligence services (S.D.), and other agencies of the Third Reich.

This book records the Polish contribution to the breaking of the Enigma code, both prior to the invasion of Poland and after, including the rather hair-raising adventures of some graduate mathematics students who pioneered work on Enigma, were the first to break Enigma (six years before the British ULTRA program), and assisted the British with ULTRA. Moreover, the book records the importance of cryptology throughout the war, recounting the role of ULTRA in the main European battles.

-from the inside cover flaps

Genres: Nonfiction, Espionage, History

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another eye-opener for the farmer's daughter. What would I know. Too many years spent watching films and not reading the 'right' books. Films told me, the mathematicians at Bletchley built a computer and used that to crack the German's codes. Not true.

This is a good story about some very brave folk.

[MD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the Polish breaking of the German Enigma code before WWII and thru the early part of the war. The famous English Enigma work was based on the earlier work performed by 3 Polish mathematicians. This book tells how the Polish broke the code using mathematics (not a captured machine as is commonly thought) and details the methods used to decrypt messages when settings were changed. There is a lot of (Polish) patriotic pride in this book which occasionally gets in the way of the content, but it is an excellent book nonetheless. It includes an appendix in which the mathematician who originally broke Enigma explains exactly how he did it which is especially interesting.

[Omer Wazir · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribly composed, for a topic that needs to be set straight in history this could have been so much better.

The only redeeming quality of this is the appendixes featuring insights from Marian Rejewski about how Engima was solved.