Saturday, January 11, 2014

Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin

Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin

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Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin

Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin



Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin

Free PDF Ebook Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin

‘The battle is the pay-off.’ Ultra was the code-word for the greatest work of espionage during World War Two. As is now public knowledge, British Intelligence used the Enigma machine to intercept and decode German messages from huts at Bletchley Park, Hertfordshire, ‘Station X’. One source in the book marvels at how ‘there was no sense of futility, of useless work or of nonsense’ at Bletchley Park, and Roland Lewin’s book proves this indisputably. The information was classified until 1974. In 1978, Ronald Lewin was the first historian to interview a wide range of sources who could speak openly on the subject, resulting in a book that still amazes and enthrals more than four decades after its publication. Lewin goes back to 1920 to explain how the Enigma machine came into being, and how Britain used it before the start of the War, whereupon mathematicians and chess players were employed for Ultra. Using thousands of declassified Ultra intercepts, he outlines how code-breaking assisted Allied forces in the Battle of Britain. Lewin outlines the role of the Special Liaison Unit, who relayed the information back to Britain from the front under utmost secrecy. He notes the cast of characters, both English and American, and the appearances by the top commanders such as Churchill who would ask Ultra for his ‘eggs’ of discovery from his ‘geese’ at Bletchley Park. For him such espionage was the perfect way to think like his enemy. Intelligence was gathered to meet the German forces in Crete, but was not considered in North Africa. Missives for German U-boat directions were also intercepted, which was after brief difficulties invaluable in helping the Allies win the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943 and safely take Normandy on D-Day. Ultra helped Montgomery defeat the German land forces in Operation Torch and the Battle of Alamein, reinforcing information rather than uncovering it. It helped in Britain’s own strategic deception, including during the episode known as Operation Mincemeat, and Ultra is placed in the context of frontline battles and other aspects of Allied espionage, including double agents. In his foreword to the book Sir Max Hastings writes that ‘the pen of a master’ had written of Ultra, and inspired subsequent works on Ultra as well as the recent cinematic version, The Imitation Game. Ronald Lewin (1914-1984) was field artillery officer with the Eighth Army. He made a successful post-war career in the upper echelons of the BBC before leaving to devote himself to military history. He is the author of several books on World War II including Rommel as Military Commander, Churchill as Warlord and Hitler’s Mistakes. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #139409 in eBooks
  • Published on: 2015-09-08
  • Released on: 2015-09-08
  • Format: Kindle eBook
Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin


Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin

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Most helpful customer reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful. Venerable classic By Metallurgist This review was based on the out-of-print hard-cover version. It is nice to see that it has been reissued as a paperback.This book was originally published thirty years ago, just a few years after the information concerning the breaking of the German Enigma cipher machine was made public. It was one of the first books to look at the impact of this breakthrough on the Western European aspects of WWII. It does not describe any of the actual code breaking per se, only the important influence that this had on the war.Given that the book is thirty years old and that newer books covering the Enigma cipher and the Ultra secret have been published, one can reasonably ask why they should invest time on this book. I think that this book is useful because:1. It is the classic source that many other books reference2. Being written 25 years after the end of the war, the author had a very important perspective and was allowed to interview many of the participants. Twenty five to forty years is, in my opinion, the best time frame to write a history of any event. Twenty-five years gives some time for emotions to cool and allow for a more dispassionate look at events (a little longer is even better). Unfortunately, after 40 years many of the senior participants are dead, making interviews impossible. Thus, this book was written at the beginning of this critical period. Books written today must rely on previously published books (like this one) and on dairies, manuscripts and archives.3. I have read a number of the more recent books concerning the Ultra secret but I have still learned new things from this book. For instance, I learned that the Colossus computer was developed not to break the Enigma code, but to break a sophisticated radio-teletype code. The book makes it clear the B-Dienst (a German code breaking group) broke the British convoy code but not the British Naval cipher (some books make it seem as if B-Dienst broke all of the British codes). There is a very nice chapter on the Special Liaison Units and the process by which Enigma decrypts were disseminated, while still keeping secret he fact that the Enigma code was broken.I recommend this book for those interested in the history of WWII, but this is not the book for you if you are primarily interested in how the Enigma cipher was broken. If that is you primary interest, I recommend Budiansky's "Battle of Wits" and "Enigma" by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore (which focuses on the capture of code machines and code books, but also has information about the code breaking process, but not quite as much as Budiansky's book). I give the book 4 stars instead of five because it is a bit dated and because of the lack of this code breaking information.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Historical non-fiction at its very best! By aky13 Well researched and documented book tells the story of the Enigma machine and the valiant people who worked day and night to break enemy codes to help us win World War II. If you have read "Enigma," or seen "The Imitation Game," you have tiny bits and pieces of the story. This book presents the entire story. It is well written, fascinating, and wonderful to read. BTW, one of the many people who worked on "Ultra," as the secret decrypts were known, later became a United States Supreme Court Justice! Although not relevant to a review of the book, if you are in the Washington, D.C. area, there is an awesome museum that is "off the beaten path" where you can see one of the actual Enigma machines. It is the National Cryptologic Museum, next door to and operated by retired employees of the NSA:https://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/museum/

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I think it's excellent. It really opened my eyes to a part ... By Craig Wheatley I read this many years ago. I think it's excellent. It really opened my eyes to a part of World War II that was not discussed much during the Cold War years. I highly recommend it, if you're interested in learning how intel was gathered through code breaking, and what was done with the intel. This includes who the intel was shared with, and decisions regarding military action based upon the intel. There are some things addressed in this book that will cause you to shake your head, and maybe even make you angry.

See all 5 customer reviews... Ultra Goes to War, by Ronald Lewin

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