Customer Reviews

Codebreakers' Victory: How the Allied Cryptogaphers Won World War II

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It is ironic that Hervie Haufler's book, "Codebreakers' Victory," was published at the same time that John Keegan's book, "Intelligence in War" came out. In the first sentence of his book, Keegan, an otherwise astute observer of military affairs, asks "How useful is intelligence in war?" Keegan's answer is, not very useful. He should have read Haufler. Though it contains only a little primary research, Haufler's compilation from solid sources collected over his lifetime is a major contribution to the study of intelligence during World War II. For battle after battle, on every front of the war, Haufler makes a solid case that intelligence has made a difference-in many cases a significant difference. It is unfortunate that Haufler is less well known than Keegan. I fear it may cause some to overlook Haufler's valuable book. It should not. Haufler writes in an easily readable style (in contrast to Keegan), and recognizes that, while intelligence may not win a battle or a war, it can make all the difference. Prior to this book, those interested in the role of intelligence in WWII would have needed to consult scores of books and articles to get this same picture. Haufler has done that work for us and has collected from the best the information in this volume. It needs noting that he does contribute some important primary research in the form of interviews with several WWII cryptanalysts. Haufler's only hyperbole is contained in his sub-title--"How the Allied Cryptographers Won World War II". That, one can hope, was added by his publishers and not by him.

Reads more like it was cribbed from Wikipedia, since most of the text is a recital of the events of WW2. Decent overview, but not much technical detail. Loses a star in the rating for referring to the commander of the 6th Army at Stalingrad as a "von".