Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939-1943 [Hardcover]

David Kahn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1991

The inside story of the ingenious code-breaking and naval exploits that led to the defeat of Hitler's submarine wolf packs--by a renowned, bestselling intelligence authority. The moves and countermoves in this great naval battle have all the tension of The Hunt for Red October but on the larger scale of true history.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

F.W. Winterbotham's The Ultra Secret (LJ 2/1/75) was the first book to reveal how the Allies broke the main German code system in World War II. Many books, such as Ron Lewin's Ultra Goes To War (LJ 12/15/78), have since expanded upon the process and its impact on the war effort. Kahn, a noted historian of codebreaking, provides a specialized part of the story not previously detailed. He underscores the strategic importance of submarine warfare in the Atlantic, giving a balanced account of the ultimate importance of codebreaking in that arena. High drama at sea seizing German codebooks and equipment and analytical genius ashore were essential. Kahn describes both of these matching efforts expertly. Informed laypersons and specialists will find this book valuable and intriguing. Recommended.
- George H. Siehl, Library of Congress
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 16 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (T) (March 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395427398
• ISBN-13: 978-0395427392
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Kahn, a recently visiting historian at the National Security Agency, is the world's leading expert on the history of cryptology, and the author of Hitler's Spies, Seizing the Enigma, and Kahn on Codes, as well as articles in numerous popular and technical journals. He holds a Ph.D. in Modern History from Oxford. An editor at Newsday, he lives in Great Neck, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars mathematicians, covert operatives, and intrigue, August 29, 1998

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seizing the Enigma : The Race to Break the German U-Boat Codes 1939-1943 (10 1 1/2 cassettes) (Audio Cassette)

David Kahn's Seizing the Enigma is a detailed effort to tell the story of how the German naval code was broken. Though that intelligence breakthrough of WWII is widely known, little is known of how complicated the effort was. It required the effort of brilliant mathematicians working the theoretical side and the bravado of British naval and intelligence officers who literally risked their lives to obtain the information and equipment needed to crack the code. Kahn gives a very detailed story and it is at times a bit thick and difficult to follow. This is only because the theory behind the enigma was so complex and a complete history of the saga requires at least some examination of the intriguing, yet, sometimes confusing mathematical concepts. In all, a good read. John Kidd

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent History of the Enigma and how it was Broken, January 4, 2001

By 

G. Snead (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939-1943 (Hardcover)

This book deals with the German code machine the Enigma; How it was developed, how it was used and finally how its code was broken. This book is very well researched and was very interesting to read with no slow spots.

The most interesting point I got out of this book was the Enigma machine was very well designed and if properly used its code was unbreakable. The trouble was that lazy German code operators often broke the security rules regarding the enigma (the most blantant of these was sending the same message in an inferior code(the british easily broke this) and the same message enciphered in Enigmna. With the one message easily deciphered the British were able to break the Enigma one. German code operators made a number of other mistakes due (cutting corners) regarding the keys which made these codes possible to break.

THe author also gave a great deal of credit to the Polish code breakers (Rejewski, etc) as being the first to crack the Enigma. Most other histories/documentaries neglect this important aspect which made it possible for the British get Bletchley Park up and running. THe Poles gave the British & French a great deal of their research info regarding Enigma after Poland was overun.

The narratives of the British boarding German weather ships and U-boats were quite exciting to read with the author writing in a manner that made you feel you were with the boarding party.

Good book through and through, excellent read!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A history book that reads like a thriller, May 21, 2001

By 

Primoz Peterlin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939-1943 (Hardcover)

The year is early 1941, and the Battle of Britain is intensifying. The Kriegsmarine submarines, organized in groups - wolf packs - are trying to cut the life-line the British defense depends on - the convoys which supply Britain with food, military supplies and raw materials. And they are pretty much successful in it, sinking more ships each month than Britain and United States can build. Meanwhile, a group of mathematicians, linguists and other odd characters located a top-secret base in Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, is trying in frenzy to decode the German naval code, Enigma...

David Kahn has produced a well researched and clearly written book on this segment of naval history, which has long remained classified. The story of Enigma is traced from the Arthur Scherbius's design, through the first successful decoding made by Marian Rejewski's group in Poland, and finally to Alan Turing and the Hut 8 staff in Bletchley Park. We learn that while direct attack on the cipher was mindbogglingly impossible, the chances for decoding being 150 million million million to one, the Brits had to find bypasses, raiding German boats for the on-board code books, employing "kisses" (identical messages transmitted in two different cryptosystems), and finally mechanising the solution finding with the "bombes".

The emphasis of the book is more on the naval war than on the cryptology. Although the operation of Enigma machine is described to some extent, you will not be able to fully understand its workings from it alone. Singh's Code Book, for instance, has a much better introduction to it. It also limits its scope quite narrowly, not spending one single word on the fact that while Hut 8 was busy solving naval Enigma, some hundred yards away the world's first electronic computer - Colossus - was built in attempt to solve the German Lorenz cipher.

The book comes with an exhaustive list of notes, an excellent bibliography and a useful index. There are also over thirty b/w documentary photographs.