Battle of Wits

Stephen Budiansky is the author of four highly acclaimed books: THE COVENANT OF THE WILD, NATURE'S KEEPERS, THE NATURE OF HORSES and IF A LION COULD TALK. The first two were shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc Award. He lives in Virginia.

Part 1 "No good, not even for intelligence": the end of the black chamber; William F. Friedman picks up the pieces; "I had the good sense to get out of it!"; room 40; Winston Churchill, an early convert; the Foreign Office, a late convert; the Soviet intercepts; a strategic future for intelligence. Part 2 Nature of the beast: the birth of codebreaking; machine ciphers, Poland and the Enigma; depth reading; the distinct limitations of thievery; solving the red machine. Part 3 "Il y a du nouveau": 1939, a dark new year; meeting at Pyry Forest; Marian Rejewski's mathematical feat; recovering the daily Enigma keys; Alan Turing and other "men of the professor type"; Bletchley Park; the Poles' flight. Part 4 Fighting back: British mathematicians vs. the Enigma; the bombe takes shape; "a pile of dull, disjointed and enigmatic scraps"; cryptanalytic talent; Norway and yellow; France and red; HMS Glorious. Part 5 Impossible problems: the sinking of U-33; naval Enigma and the bombe; operation Ruthless and other straws; American isolationism; purple; the British charm offensive; a mission to Bletchley, bearing gifts. Part 6 Success breeds success: the Blitz; Cape Matapan; Boniface, Barbarossa and Bismarck; naval Enigma, U-110 and the trawler pinches; the eastern front and German atrocities; Trafalgar Day; cribs and continuity. Part 7 The machines: the British make polite noises; IBM machines and JN-25; the machine attack on Floradora; Washington at war; military vs. civilians; an American ultimatum; better bombes; high-speed analyzers. Part 8 Paranoia is our profession: Donitz's suspicions; the evacuation of Corregidor; the Midway leak; some bungled operations; "do not talk at meals"; suspicions among friends. Part 9 The shadow war: calling the shots in the Mediterranean; Torch and deception; the flight from Vichy; Atlantic convoys; U-559 and the breaking of Shark; the hunt for leaks; the American invasion; pressure and diversions; women in uniform. Part 10 Command of the ether: Russian espionage and project Venona; GEE and fish; masters of deception; Yamamoto; the Water Transport code; failure in the Ardennes; signalling the end. Part 11 Epilogue: legacy. Appendices: chronology; naval enigma - its indicating system and the method of "banburismus"; cryptanalysis of the purple machine; the intercept network; rapid analytical machinery (RAM).