The Secret Life of Bletchley Park

Until the mid-seventies Bletchley Park remained a secret. At a rambling Victorian house in the Buckinghamshire countryside, thousands of young people decoded and translated intercepted messages, whilst some of Britain's most brilliant minds effectively invented modern computing. Their greatest collective achievement was the cracking of the Enigma code. The intelligence gained was instrumental in turning both the Battle of Britain and the war in North Africa, and, according to official historians, their efforts shortened the war by at least two years. But no-one talked about it. All had signed the Official Secrets Act, and everyone kept their word. Only recently have the last surviving veterans told their remarkable story. Now, through dozens of new interviews, Sinclair McKay reveals what life was like for the men and women who worked at Bletchley Park, trapped in an odd, secret territory somewhere between civilian and military. It's an amazing compendium of memories – of...