‘A fascinating anthology which sheds new light on the Bletchley Park story and shows that there is still more to tell.’ - Tony Comer OBE, formerly Departmental Historian at GCHQ
This important volume tells the story of Bletchley Park through countless letters written by key players to former colleagues and loved ones as the war unfolded. Having intercepted millions of German communications, the codebreakers had felt bound by the Official Secrets Act and said little about their wartime activities. Some who had stayed on at GCHQ after the war, were concerned that speaking out could jeopardise their pensions.Over one hundred letters have been included in this volume and have either been recovered from family members or declassified by GCHQ. They reveal fresh information about the clandestine operation and disclose the true feelings of the participants at Bletchley Park. In contrast to early accounts, which lacked detail and were occasionally inaccurate, this book thoroughly lays bare the day-to-day experiences at Bletchley Park and uncovers the operational and technical reasons behind the organisation’s successes and failures. Simultaneously intimate and comprehensive, it will interest historians, World War II researchers, and anyone who wants to learn the secrets of Britain’s signal intelligence effort. AUTHOR: Joel Greenberg is an author and historian who researches and writes about signals intelligence and its impact on two world wars. He is the author of Gordon Welchman, Bletchley Park’s Architect of Ultra Intelligence. His book is the basis of a joint BBC/Smithsonian Network 2015 documentary about Welchman: The Forgotten Genius of Bletchley Park. He is also the author of Alastair Denniston, Code-breaking from Room 40 to Berkeley Street and the Birth of GCHQ. The book is both a biography of Denniston and an account of signals intelligence from its early development to the birth of GCHQ. Denniston was the first Head of GCHQ and the book was launched at its headquarters on 7 September 2017 in his honour.