Bletchley Park: site of the famous British codebreaking effort during World War II. Image credit*
Tales of brilliant breakthroughs, Cold War skulduggery and a few lucky breaks are all part of the saga of Cambridge Codebreakers and British Intelligence (website, iTunes), a lecture by Christopher Andrew, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Cambridge.
In Andrew’s telling, the British master codebreakers of Bletchley Park in World War II were recruited by word-of-mouth at Cambridge because “you couldn’t advertise.” Furthermore, the eccentric dons and undergrads who cracked the German U-boat codes succeeded precisely because they were not team players.
Andrew tells the story with humor and a novelist’s understanding of foreshadowing and suspense. I won’t give away the ending, but you’ll find out how the identity of a famous double-agent was at last revealed.
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