The Secret in Building 26: The Untold Story of America's Ultra War Against the U-boat Enigma Codes (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Colin Burke (Author) "IN A SECURE meeting room inside NCR's Building 26, while shot- gun-toting Marines stood guard outside, chief engineer Joe Desch grew increasingly impatient as he..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bletchley Park, Joe Desch, Sugar Camp (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Ultra secret (Allied decryption of German messages during World War II) has produced a growing body of literature since it was revealed 30 years ago, indicative not only of steady interest in the topic but also of the fact that it still retains its own secrets. DeBrosse and Burke benefit from the former, and make fascinating disclosures of the latter, in their account of the machines, called "bombes," that broke the German encryption tool, Enigma. Due to wartime exigencies, the construction of bombes, first built by the British, shifted to the NCR Company in Dayton, Ohio. On the technical side, the authors detail problems in building them and the ensuing strain placed on NCR's man in charge. On the intelligence side, DeBrosse and Burke dramatically recount a crisis generated by a complication added to Enigma in 1942 that, for the moment, thwarted Ultra and gained U-boats the upper hand. In addition to narrating NCR's literal life-and-death performance, the authors uncover an espionage affair within company ranks. This is an important new angle on Ultra. Gilbert Taylor
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Review

“A well-documented, objective account . . . It needs to be read . . . by those who want to understand the indispensable role of information technology in modern warfare.”
–The Washington Post Book World



From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (April 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375508074
• ISBN-13: 978-0375508073
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #724,670 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Codebreakers of Dayton, Ohio, July 21, 2004

By	Celia Redmore "Celia Redmore" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Until now too little has been said about the contributions of Americans towards decrypting either German ?Enigma? or Japanese ?Purple? ciphers. From 1941 until the end of the war the Americans and British collaborated ? in a sometimes prickly relationship ? with the desperate task of deciphering the messages sent between German U-boats in the North Atlantic and Grossadmiral Karl D?nitz, commander-in-chief of the German Navy. Fortunately for the allies, the admiral liked to keep in close touch with his fleet of U-boats, providing a steady stream of messages with clues to the U-boats? position and intentions.

In 1939, with Germany threatening to invade Poland, the Polish had turned over to their British and French allies all the work they had done during the previous nine years on the ciphers generated by a machine called an ?Enigma? that the Germans used to send secret messages. The Polish artifacts included a mechanical device called a ?bomba kryptologiczna?, or ?bombe? in French. In response, the British set up a Code and Cypher School (note the British spelling of cipher) at Bletchley Park. That story has been well told many times and the contributions of at least some of the men and women who served there ? most notably the mathematician Alan Turing ? have been publicly recognized.

In the United States much of the code breaking was done in Dayton, Ohio, by NCR in cooperation with the US Navy. The Bombes used in the US were designed and constructed in Building 26 under the leadership of engineer Joe Desch. Desch was one of many people who have never received proper acknowledgement for their work during the World War II because of the tight security surrounding their duties. Putting together their story has been a labor of love for Dayton reporter, Jim DeBrosse, and security historian Colin Burke. Be warned that there is very little about the technical aspects of Enigma encryption in ?The Secret in Building 26?, but there is a wealth of information about the men and women who worked ? often for years of long, hard days and under tremendous strain ? for the love of their country.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Building 26, August 6, 2009

By	Walter D. Phelps - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A good read that informs the reader of the other, american contribution to codebreaking in WW II