The Enigma War: The Inside Story of the German Enigma Codes and How the Allies Broke Them

by Józef Garliński

Vividly recounts the Allies' desperate efforts to break the German code during World War II by using a working model of the German Enigma machine that the Polish intelligence service had reconstructed

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Espionage, Military Fiction

219 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very detailed history of the enciphering used by the Germans and how it was initially cracked by the Polish cryptanalysts. Later, with the help of a German who was passing secrets along to the French, and with the capture of a couple of enigma machines, the British began extensive work at Bletchley Park which proved to be invaluable to defeating the German war machine.

The book spends much of the beginning discussing some historical background leading up to the war, and a modest amount of time on the mechanics of Enigma. The Appendix goes into much more detail on the mathematics and theory that was actually used to crack the codes. A bit of a difficult read but a very informative discussion of some of the behind the scenes tactics of WWII.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

As most of those who have crawled down the Enigma rabbit hole know, the initial work in reverse-engineering the German Enigma and in breaking the code was done by Polish mathematicians, with assistance from the French. This work, handed over to Bletchley, gave them the kick-start needed to build larger, more complex devices to automate many decryption operations.

I was delighted to find a copy of Garlinski's book at my local library. This book offers exactly what I had hoped, the Polish / French perspective on the breaking of Enigma. It also covers (in more detail than I have seen elsewhere) the German cryptanalysis story, with a very interesting helping of conventional espionage -- much of it new to me -- and (as is probably necessary) a large amount of WWII historical connecting material which may already be known to readers well versed in military history. This last comment is especially true towards the end of the book -- at a time in history when Bletchley park had less value to offer to the Allied commanders in Europe. The book ends before the atom bomb is dropped, with minimal reference to the war in the Pacific.

This is not a book about how Enigma or other encryption machines work, although some basics are given. "The Hut Six Story" and others are a better sources of that. The book does provide insight on the specific Polish-originated techniques of which Bletchley made extensive use.

The real value of Garlinski's book, although it contains coverage of Bletchley park, is its European perspective. Garlinski pulls no punches about Roosevelt's naiveté in dealing with Stalin, and his willingness to sacrifice Poland and many other countries on a never-realized promise that Stalin would join the war against Japan when the European conflict was ended. In the fog of both war and his own failing health, without any assurance that the atom bomb could be ready in time, Roosevelt was concerned with financing a war on two sides of the world to a victorious conclusion. There's no bitterness here -- just a historical perspective to which Americans and Brits are not usually exposed. However, I would expect most readers to come to the conclusion that the both the US and Britain owe Poland our thanks (and certainly more credit than we offer in our histories and movies), while the US also owes her an apology.

Garlinski is an articulate and careful author and the book is better written than many authored by writers for whom English is a first language.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I will have to try to find a rather long and serious summary of this excellent book on the true story of how a crew of just three brilliant Polish mathematicians were recruited to work on breaking the German secret code that used the Enigma machine.) ---
But definitely THIS is the book you should be reading to get the whole and true story of Polish involvement in this key project. It was the Poles who broke the code, it was the Poles who devised the bombe machines to break the coded messages, and most importantly, it was the Poles who gave copies of the bombe machines to the Allied forces -- the British, French and Belgians -- at a three-day seminar ahead of the German invasion of Poland.
I keep hoping that someone will make a movie about the Polish side of this story, but still nothing from Hollywood or Europe about it.

[MD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of what Enigma was, what the machines looked like and how they worked, information about how the ciphers were broken and many of the people involved in breaking them, and how some of the information was (or may have been) used. A good book if you are interested in Enigma in the context of the various phases of the war. If your primary interest is the breaking of the Enigma codes you will find more detailed information on that in Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read By the Allies in World War Two.

[Smitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent historical account with the backdrop of WW2 and the attendant personalities. A separate appendix if you want to know the hard stuff.