Customer Reviews

Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes

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New insight into the Peninsular war with Mark Urban's book. This is very much about the code breaking and spying which was part of the intelligence gathering of Wellington's army and how it became an 'industry' in itself.

This is all pre-Playfair and his more complex codes which started about a decade later (Simon Singh;s book "The Code book" is an excellent parallel read to this) and so the simpler codes, what they were and how they were broken are covered = and how it developed and with it the role of one man, George Scovell.

I found this readable, but not a page turner, my interest in the Peninsular war kept me going. I felt that Urban got bogged down, especially at the beginning with setting the scene of the Peninsular War and its earlier battles. I didn't find the level of detail relevant to the story although for those not clear on the Peninsular war and its progress the detail might prove more interesting.

What I really enjoyed was Urban's sharp incisive analysis of the development of the intelligence gathering and how Scovell's role as a professional in the task came about. Urban's knowledge of processes and functioning of the army and most particularly Wellington's operations and officers provides a level of background which makes this book readable by anyone interest in early codes as well as military history.

I really enjoyed this but I felt that it needed a bit more editing at the start. Still it flowed well, Urban is an excellent writer, and it is a fascinating read. Overall it is a Highly recommended history

A Woodley