≡ Download Battle of Wits The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II Stephen Budiansky 9780743217347 Books

Battle of Wits The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II Stephen Budiansky 9780743217347 Books

Download As PDF : Battle of Wits The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II Stephen Budiansky 9780743217347 Books

Battle of Wits The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II Stephen Budiansky 9780743217347 Books

If you're interested in how code breaking works, then this book is a great place to start. If, however, you're more interested in how code breaking fit into the larger scheme of things during WW II, then the same suggestion applies: this book is a great place to start! At first, I was afraid that the author had gotten lost in the weeds when he explains some of the nitty-gritty involved in the breaking of various codes. However, I soon realized that if the reader was either lost or just not interested in some of those details, that the book was written such that some sections can be either skipped or ignored, without hurting the general flow of the history being told. As a computer professional, I found those portions -- which later grew into the industry of my profession -- to be fascinating. However, the more interesting aspects were the author's description of the contributions of the various characters who had influence on this particular aspect of history. Stephen Budiansky does a superb job in making all of these people come alive in the reader's mind. It is a great read!


Tags : Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II [Stephen Budiansky] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A million pages of new World War II codebreaking records have been released by the U.S. Army and Navy and the British government over the last five years. Now,Stephen Budiansky,Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II,Free Press,0743217349,Military - General,World War, 1939-1945.,World War, 1939-1945;Cryptography.,World War, 1939-1945;Military intelligence.,HISTORY General,HISTORY Military General,HISTORY Military World War II,History,History - Military War,Military,Military - World War II,Second World War,Warfare & defence

Battle of Wits The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II Stephen Budiansky 9780743217347 Books Reviews

I have read another book by Stephen Budiansky and was impressed. This is a very well done book by a technically proficient writer that goes into detail the nuances of codebreaking without being tiresomely tedious. In fact I would almost recommend any book by this author. The background research of this book is most interesting. I most heartily suggest that anyone that is interested in the allies World War II codebreaking efforts read this book.
This book was so packed full of information about WWI and WWII and how coding played a big part in WWII. It has so much detail about the military environment, how each branch felt about the other and how it hindered the coding progress that was made. I absolutely loved this book!
Budiansky's book is the best I've seen in dealing with the technical aspects of code-breaking, i.e. specifically ciphers, in WWII, before the advent of modern high-speed computers. Also, he corrects many misconceptions found in the historical record, e.g. relating to the contribution of the Poles to the breaking of Enigma.

I believe his treatment of the US code-breaking effort before and during the war to be the most thorough and detailed I have seen. Especially enlightening to me was the US use of punched-card technology before and during the war. And readers will be amused or frustrated by the sections on the conflicts between the code-breaking groups in Hawaii and the US mainland.

In summary, a historical mainstay and a necessary book for those interested in this rather arcane but important topic.
I have for many years wondered exactly how the supposedly unbreakable German Enigma machine and the Japanese diplomatic and Naval codes were broken. Stephen Budiansky does a great job at explaining how this was done. This was no easy task, requiring the ability to explain complex mathematical and mechanical concepts in a political and military context. Budiansky is uniquely suited to this task and I for one am grateful for his successful effort. He has a master's degree in applied mathematics, along with work in military studies as a Congressional Fellow. To this one must add that he is a good writer, as attested to by the fact that he is a correspondent for The Atlantic, The New York Times and The Economist among other prestigious publications.

This is no dry academic text, but is a story of great excitement, of great internal rivalries and intrigues. It is also fortunately much more, as it also goes into detail about the design and operation of the code machines and ciphers, as well as the novel approaches that were used to overcome them. It goes into considerable detail about these approaches, without becoming overly pedantic. This book covers the Japanese Diplomatic and Naval codes as well as the German Enigma machine. As such, it covers both code machines and ciphers, with a very good discussion of the history of both and the distinction between them. This book is more than a dry discussion of mathematics, but also delves into the personalities of the people involved and the internal rivalries between the US Army and Navy and between the civilian and military branches of the governments involved. It touches on espionage and the application of the knowledge of what was learned from the code breaking.

I was aware of the general outlines of what was done, of Bletchley Park and the American equivalents and of the importance of the early work of Polish code breakers. What I was not aware of was exactly how this was done. The Germans were confident that even if the allies got hold of a code machine they could not unscramble a message that was coded with what was a virtually unlimited number of possible combinations. I now have a better idea of how this was done and if you read this book so will you. I learned of the importance of a spy in Germany who early on provided a few messages and some code setting that were of great initial help, how German regularity in the form of the messages and the laziness of some operators in reusing the same text were of great importance, of the struggles to overcome the continual changes in the machines and upgrading of the codes. Most of all, I learned of the creativity and persistence of the human mind. My only criticism, and it is a minor one, is that very little space is given to the German and Japanese efforts (many of them successful) in deciphering allied codes. I hope that this will be the subject of a future book of Budiansky's.
Answered every question I ever had about the WW2 battle of the codebreakers.Im fortunate to work in a museum with an original Enigma machine that I consider one of the most important artifacts in the museum.I admit to not fully understanding the technical aspects described in the book but can now better explain how it works to go along with the story of what made it so important.
This is a non-fiction story about how the Poles, French, British, and American governments worked together to break the encrypted messages of the Germans and Japanese during World War II. The author tells this complex story in a way that is easy to understand by those who are not cryptologists and those who were born after WWII was over.
Very Good. It says that it is the "complete" story of codebreaking during WW2, but it is extremely USA and Great Britain centered. Nothing that I remember about the USSR, very little about the Axis powers. I assume everyone was trying to read everyone else's radio messages. I don't think of it as cheating. I think of it as being prepared. Still a good book of code breaking from the Allied side. Good balanced story, seemed to report everyone's triumphs and failures evenly. No one won the war by themselves. No one was a complete failure.
If you're interested in how code breaking works, then this book is a great place to start. If, however, you're more interested in how code breaking fit into the larger scheme of things during WW II, then the same suggestion applies this book is a great place to start! At first, I was afraid that the author had gotten lost in the weeds when he explains some of the nitty-gritty involved in the breaking of various codes. However, I soon realized that if the reader was either lost or just not interested in some of those details, that the book was written such that some sections can be either skipped or ignored, without hurting the general flow of the history being told. As a computer professional, I found those portions -- which later grew into the industry of my profession -- to be fascinating. However, the more interesting aspects were the author's description of the contributions of the various characters who had influence on this particular aspect of history. Stephen Budiansky does a superb job in making all of these people come alive in the reader's mind. It is a great read!