The Battle Of Wits
Created | Updated Jun 27, 2005
Book Review: (part of the Popular Science Book Project - A4166336)
The Battle Of Wits - Stephen Budiansky
Whilst many people may be aware of the largely British work to break the German Enigma codes, (and possibly even disturbed by the odd revisionist hollywood film on the capture of U-boats codebooks), they may be less aware of the successful American efforts to break various Japanese ciphers, which were arguably as important to naval warfare in the Pacific as Enigma decrypts were in the Battle of the Atlantic, and which played a great part in US success at the crucial battle of Midway.
This excellent and comprehensive book gives a fascinating historical and technical account of the wartime codebreaking efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, and some of the political aspects of this particular field of espionage. Initially considered rather ungentlemanly by some, especially some influential members of the American government, the requirements of anticipated, and then actual, war soon drove away the reluctance to snoop, and it is arguable that on both sides of the Atlantic, various security services have never really looked back since.
For the technically-minded reader, there is information about the workings of the Enigma and Japanese encryption systems, which may be at least partly understandable, but it is in no way necessary to understand the etchnical details to get a great deal from this book.
Related reading worth considering is 'Enigma' by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, which concentrates on Enigma codebreaking almost purely in the context of naval history, and would be well worth reading in addition to The Battle Of Wits.
The Battle Of Wits - Stephen Budiansky
Whilst many people may be aware of the largely British work to break the German Enigma codes, (and possibly even disturbed by the odd revisionist hollywood film on the capture of U-boats codebooks), they may be less aware of the successful American efforts to break various Japanese ciphers, which were arguably as important to naval warfare in the Pacific as Enigma decrypts were in the Battle of the Atlantic, and which played a great part in US success at the crucial battle of Midway.
This excellent and comprehensive book gives a fascinating historical and technical account of the wartime codebreaking efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, and some of the political aspects of this particular field of espionage. Initially considered rather ungentlemanly by some, especially some influential members of the American government, the requirements of anticipated, and then actual, war soon drove away the reluctance to snoop, and it is arguable that on both sides of the Atlantic, various security services have never really looked back since.
For the technically-minded reader, there is information about the workings of the Enigma and Japanese encryption systems, which may be at least partly understandable, but it is in no way necessary to understand the etchnical details to get a great deal from this book.
Related reading worth considering is 'Enigma' by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, which concentrates on Enigma codebreaking almost purely in the context of naval history, and would be well worth reading in addition to The Battle Of Wits.
