I was writing this review as I read the book. But I realised, in my excitement, that I was gving away far too many titbits. In fact every chapter just reveals so much incredible new material, it would be unfair of me to reveal it here.
Most people will know of, or have read, about the incredible wartime role of Bletchley Park & the codebreakers.
What this mind-blowing, yes mind-blowing, book reveals is the staggering amount of intelligence the German's & their Axis partners gathered from the Allies.
Since the year 2000, almost 30,000 pages of declassified documents including thousands of codebooks, maps & interviews of Germans captured in 1945, were returned to Germany from British & American Archives. This book is based on this new information, after careful examination of those papers.
Within years of the First World War ending, Germany was breaking the terms of the Versailles Treaty by recruiting crytographers & intelligence personnel to gather both military & diplomatic information from other countries.
This incredible book reveals what was learnt long before the war, including on such occasions as the Munich Conference.
How the outbreak of war, & the speed in which Germany occupied much of Europe, would lead to incredible security failures in those countries.
Codebooks & other important documents were left behind in the panic. These were then found by front line soldiers, or sailors boarding ships, & sent back to the appropriate intelligence departments.
Chapter upon chapter will reveal the staggering lack of security & the ignorance, on all sides, that their ciphers & codes could possibly of been compromised.
Germany's intelligence gathering didn't stop with it's enemies. Neutral countries like Switzerland, Spain & Turkey were also targeted. South America too would not be out of reach.
This book grabbed me from the introduction, never mind chapter one!
In the fascinating conclusion the author states how the priority of Britain was Bletchley & being proactive in its efforts against Germany, rather than safeguarding its own codes!
I have never called a book 'mind-blowing' before. What I also cannot understand is how this book, published in 2019, hasn't come to my attention before.
It states this information is likely just the 'tip of the iceberg' some iceberg!
I would honestly say any historian or writer of the war should read this.
Just incredible!
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