The Story of Codebreaking

‘No wonder that Churchill described this effort as “Britain’s secret weapon,” a weapon far more effective than the buzz bombs and the rockets that Wernher von Braun designed for a German victory, a weapon absolutely decisive, in the judgement of many, in winning the war for the Allies.’

Peter Hilton, mathematician and codebreaker, 1923–2010, about the team at Bletchley Park


The Story of Codebreaking begins with the hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt and weaves its way stealthily through history to the present day, where computer code is fundamental to all of our online activities. It is a tale of ordinary people rising to the challenge of extraordinary circumstances and shows how, through a combination of intelligence, grit, hard work and (occasionally) sheer good fortune, codebreakers have often saved lives and sometimes even changed the course of history.


Topics include:

• ancient ciphers and the art of encoding

• early spies, subterfuge and skytales

• the making and breaking of Enigma

• Japanese naval codes in World War II

• Cold War cryptography

• the digital revolution