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Code Wars: How 'Ultra' and 'Magic' Led to Allied Victory
When the top secret code breaking activities at Bletchley Park were revealed in the 1970s, much of the history of the Second World War had to be rewritten. Code Wars examines the role of ULTRA (the intelligence derived from breaking secret enemy signals) on major events of the Second World War. It examines how it influenced the outcome of key battles such as D-Day, El Alamein, Crete, key naval battles, the controversy surrounding Churchill and Coventry, the shadowing of Hitler’s V1 pilotless aircraft and the V2 rocket.
The book also examines the pioneering work in breaking Enigma by the Polish cryptographers, and the building of Colossus, the world’s first digital, programmable computer, which helped unravel the secret orders of Hitler and the German High Command. It also tells the story of the American successes in breaking Japanese signals, known as Magic. The vital role of the intercept stations which took down the enemy messages, providing the raw material for the cryptographers to break, is also explored.
The book shows how the code breakers were able to shorten the war by as much as two years and bring Signals Intelligence, in the postwar years, into a new era of military intelligence gathering.
The book also examines the pioneering work in breaking Enigma by the Polish cryptographers, and the building of Colossus, the world’s first digital, programmable computer, which helped unravel the secret orders of Hitler and the German High Command. It also tells the story of the American successes in breaking Japanese signals, known as Magic. The vital role of the intercept stations which took down the enemy messages, providing the raw material for the cryptographers to break, is also explored.
The book shows how the code breakers were able to shorten the war by as much as two years and bring Signals Intelligence, in the postwar years, into a new era of military intelligence gathering.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 12, 2011
About the author
John Jackson
22 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
JJ was born in 1929 in rural Devon. In 1931 he and his younger brother moved with their parents - who were ‘flat broke’, out of work and in poor health – to a rented cottage in Lyme Regis on Dorset’s Jurassic coast.
The family survived on what they could grow and rear on a small allotment and what they could catch in the sea. For cash they took in lodgers. They were not the only family in difficulty. JJ was shocked to discover that the playmates next door were not available on Tuesdays because Tuesday was the family washday. Their parents could only afford one set of clothes for them.
By 1935, the family had progressed from ‘lodgers’ to ‘guests’,- in a small private hotel. That enterprise, backed by a local entrepreneur, was not a bonanza for the entrepreneur but generated sufficient resource for the family to leave the West Country in 1937 and look for work in the London area.
JJ’s father found a job as a salesman of chemicals used in the making of perfumery some six months before JJ’s brother was killed in a road accident.
That death had a traumatic effect on the stability of the family but the man responsible for it offered, by way of compensation, to pay for JJ, who had only been taught at home, to be educated privately at boarding schools until the age of 18. The last of these was The King’s School, Canterbury and from there JJ went on to study law at Queens’ College, Cambridge with the benefit of a scholarship awarded by the University supplemented by a grant from the Ministry of Education.
JJ's Career
JJ left Cambridge with a law degree in 1952, took a job with the British branch of Philips, the Dutch electronics company and in 1953 took a further Cambridge law degree and qualified as a barrister.
JJ stayed with British Philips full time for 29 years, joining its board in 1966 and leaving it in 1981 to start a new career as a self employed consultant. In that role he joined the boards of a number of companies, both public and private in different industries, becoming chairman of many of them.
In 1981 he organised the rescue of the popular history magazine History Today. That experience intensified his interest in small businesses, particularly those in difficulty, and cemented his belief in the importance of personal freedoms and the dangers in pressures to conform.
In 1992 he became the first non-solicitor chairman of the law firm Mishcon de Reya, a position he holds today.
JJ's Campaigning Work
In the 1990’s he helped to create the Countryside Alliance which, under his chairmanship, campaigned vigorously for liberty and livelihood in the countryside. During that period also, he chaired a working party of employers, trade unionists, academics and journalists studying the impact of new technologies, particularly web based technologies, on the work place. Their report was published in 1996 by the Fabian Society as ‘Changing Work’.
At that time he also became a trustee of One World Action, a charity which campaigns and works for the rights of women, particularly in developing countries.
In 2001 he became one of the first directors of the global web based publication openDemocracy.
In 2011 he founded JJ Books.
JJ was born in 1929 in rural Devon. In 1931 he and his younger brother moved with their parents - who were ‘flat broke’, out of work and in poor health – to a rented cottage in Lyme Regis on Dorset’s Jurassic coast.
The family survived on what they could grow and rear on a small allotment and what they could catch in the sea. For cash they took in lodgers. They were not the only family in difficulty. JJ was shocked to discover that the playmates next door were not available on Tuesdays because Tuesday was the family washday. Their parents could only afford one set of clothes for them.
By 1935, the family had progressed from ‘lodgers’ to ‘guests’,- in a small private hotel. That enterprise, backed by a local entrepreneur, was not a bonanza for the entrepreneur but generated sufficient resource for the family to leave the West Country in 1937 and look for work in the London area.
JJ’s father found a job as a salesman of chemicals used in the making of perfumery some six months before JJ’s brother was killed in a road accident.
That death had a traumatic effect on the stability of the family but the man responsible for it offered, by way of compensation, to pay for JJ, who had only been taught at home, to be educated privately at boarding schools until the age of 18. The last of these was The King’s School, Canterbury and from there JJ went on to study law at Queens’ College, Cambridge with the benefit of a scholarship awarded by the University supplemented by a grant from the Ministry of Education.
JJ's Career
JJ left Cambridge with a law degree in 1952, took a job with the British branch of Philips, the Dutch electronics company and in 1953 took a further Cambridge law degree and qualified as a barrister.
JJ stayed with British Philips full time for 29 years, joining its board in 1966 and leaving it in 1981 to start a new career as a self employed consultant. In that role he joined the boards of a number of companies, both public and private in different industries, becoming chairman of many of them.
In 1981 he organised the rescue of the popular history magazine History Today. That experience intensified his interest in small businesses, particularly those in difficulty, and cemented his belief in the importance of personal freedoms and the dangers in pressures to conform.
In 1992 he became the first non-solicitor chairman of the law firm Mishcon de Reya, a position he holds today.
JJ's Campaigning Work
In the 1990’s he helped to create the Countryside Alliance which, under his chairmanship, campaigned vigorously for liberty and livelihood in the countryside. During that period also, he chaired a working party of employers, trade unionists, academics and journalists studying the impact of new technologies, particularly web based technologies, on the work place. Their report was published in 1996 by the Fabian Society as ‘Changing Work’.
At that time he also became a trustee of One World Action, a charity which campaigns and works for the rights of women, particularly in developing countries.
In 2001 he became one of the first directors of the global web based publication openDemocracy.
In 2011 he founded JJ Books.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 24, 2020
Author John Jackson published the novel “Code Wars: How ‘Ultra’ and ‘Magic’ Led to Allied Victory” in 2011.
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as “G”. The book tells about the code-breaking efforts of Bletchley Park during WWII.
The book tells how Signals Intelligence developed in the UK. It relates the impact of ULTRA messages on the major confrontations with the Germans. It also tells a little about US code-breaking efforts. In particular, it tells about their success with breaking the Japanese 'Magic' code.
I have read other accounts of the success of Bletchley Park. This one gives far more details about the Signals Intelligence process. It also details how the code machines worked.
I enjoyed the 8+ hours I spent reading this 224-page history of WWII code-breaking. I liked this book, but it was a little on the dry side. It is the best 'inside look' at Bletchley I have so far come across. I like the cover art. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.
You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as “G”. The book tells about the code-breaking efforts of Bletchley Park during WWII.
The book tells how Signals Intelligence developed in the UK. It relates the impact of ULTRA messages on the major confrontations with the Germans. It also tells a little about US code-breaking efforts. In particular, it tells about their success with breaking the Japanese 'Magic' code.
I have read other accounts of the success of Bletchley Park. This one gives far more details about the Signals Intelligence process. It also details how the code machines worked.
I enjoyed the 8+ hours I spent reading this 224-page history of WWII code-breaking. I liked this book, but it was a little on the dry side. It is the best 'inside look' at Bletchley I have so far come across. I like the cover art. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.
You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).
February 17, 2021
🅜🅨 🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦 🅞🅕
CODE WARS
by John Jackson
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
CODE Wars is easily the most detailed account I have read, of the work carried out by the men and women at Bletchley Park, credited with shortening World War II by up to two years. So secret was the place, that a german bomb which landed nearby had been dropped only by accident by the Luftwaffe.
I attended a security and encryption seminar there several years ago, and the history is reaching out to touch you. This book brought back so many memories of my time there and of the expert tour given by people who had actually worked there in that veil of secrecy.
For the uninitiated, this may be a bit of a long, dry read, but I enjoyed it immensely.
I recommend it to any history enthusiast and gave it four stars.
Do you agree? As always, your comments are most welcome. If you like my reviews, click Like and Follow for fresh content each week.
CODE WARS
by John Jackson
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
CODE Wars is easily the most detailed account I have read, of the work carried out by the men and women at Bletchley Park, credited with shortening World War II by up to two years. So secret was the place, that a german bomb which landed nearby had been dropped only by accident by the Luftwaffe.
I attended a security and encryption seminar there several years ago, and the history is reaching out to touch you. This book brought back so many memories of my time there and of the expert tour given by people who had actually worked there in that veil of secrecy.
For the uninitiated, this may be a bit of a long, dry read, but I enjoyed it immensely.
I recommend it to any history enthusiast and gave it four stars.
Do you agree? As always, your comments are most welcome. If you like my reviews, click Like and Follow for fresh content each week.
April 24, 2020
Code Wars gives the reader a window into the history of smoke and mirror code writers and code breakers. Follow along the WWII timeline and see how code evolved and dissolved to change the course of the war and the world.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews