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Nigel West
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The Sigint Secrets: The Signals Intelligence War, 1900 to Today--Including the Persecution of Gordon Welchman Hardcover – January 1, 1988

by Nigel West (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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Traces the history of British signals intelligence and the British Government Communications Headquarters, and discusses spying techniques
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  1. Print length
    347 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    William Morrow & Co
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1988
  5. ISBN-10
    0688076521
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0688076528
  7. See all details
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4.6 out of 5 stars
13 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • CAP Roger
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Facts about WWII as only a participant at the heart of intelligence could tell them.
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  • David Church/ Charles Church
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Good Book, lot of true history
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  • Richard T. Leitner
    3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read but ...
    Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    West seems to be a fairly prolific writer, especially in the intelligence field. This was my first exposure to his work, and I have to say that it was a very enjoyable read. West includes a surprising amount of detail in some of his stories (such as the names of the persons in various radio intel units) but then is disappointingly sparse in others (such as the shoot-downs of US spyplanes). And there seem to be a few technical errors as well, such as his statement about the British "bombes" going through the "trillions" of possibilities of Enigma settings in "a few seconds". This feat simply isn't possible for the electromechanical devices of that time and wasn't possible until the introduction of the modern electronic computer. I don't really agree with West's premise that the Enigma was never "solved", only that we exploited mistakes made by the users; that's a fine line, and exploiting operational mistakes is, in my opinion, "breaking". He also makes short shrift of Marian Rejewski's monumental mathematical achievements in discovering the wiring and keying weaknesses of the machine.
    West also rehashes some old dirt about NSA defectors Martin and Mitchell, such as their alleged homosexuality and various unsavory details about their personal lives, much of which I believe has been discredited. Oh well, West's book was written in the 80's so perhaps that's understandable. The connection with Ohio Congressman Wayne Hays, and West's contention that Hays's just "dropped" the issue that ultimately led to their defection is a major omission in a book of this genre ... that's a much more interesting story than West gives credit for. Overall, though, I have to say that I thought this was a very good book, at least four stars were it not for my nitpicks. And the story of Gordon Welchman's "persecution" alone is worth the price of this book, even though it occupies only a few pages of the introduction (plus some letters and supporting stuff in the appendix). Welchman's story was one I did not know (the latter part, not the Enigma part for which he is best known), and it really highlights the ridiculous levels to which some agencies will go to keep even obsolete information from the public.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Mike
    4.0 out of 5 stars British SIGINT perspective.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    British perspective of SIGINT development, planning, and political manuvering. Starts with the basic WWI/WWII SIGINT development and early technical challenges. Then moves more into overall system planning and all of the political manuvering between the principal players. Nice coverage of early equipment and techniques, with some perspective thrown in on all of the "interesting" personalities involved. These "personality conflicts" receive as much coverage as the early equipment and techniques. This is necessary, since all of the people involved really affected how the discipline developed.

    Overall an interesting read that covers early SIGINT development.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • peterh337
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    A great book on the cold war intelligence game.
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