Seizing the Enigma
The Race to Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939–1943
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Seizing the Enigma
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Narrated by:
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Bernard Mayes
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By:
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David Kahn
About this listen
For almost four desperate years, between 1939 and 1943, British and American navies fought a savage, losing battle against German submarine wolf packs. The Allies might never have turned the tide of that historic battle without an intelligence coup. The race to break the German U-boat codes is one of the last great untold stories of World War II.
David Kahn, the world’s leading historian of cryptology, brings to life this tense, behind-the-scenes drama for the first time. Seizing the Enigma provides the definitive account of how British and American code breakers fought a war of wits against Nazi naval communications and helped lead the Allies to victory in the crucial Battle of the Atlantic.
©1991 David Khan (P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Seizing the Enigma
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Barry
- 02-01-22
wonderful first book
very enjoyable ,now on to the second book ,eager to read the next stage of his life
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Gill Bray
- 27-11-21
Unsurprisingly complex but worth it..
The story, as might be expected, is very complicated but illustrates the achievements of the Poles and Allies. In contrast to other reviewers I liked the narrative style. An extraordinary research feat!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- a mcmeekin
- 23-03-22
Informative
quite an informative read. perhaps a little too much useless detail. Such as repeated grid coordinates rather than "a bit further north"
Also the narrator's mock accents in the first half of the book are a bit grating.
Overall though a good listen on the Enigma history.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ron
- 26-07-16
Seizing the Enigma
I found this book to be hugely informative but about 90% of it went over my head. it is very difficult to imagine technical wiring diagrams without an image; equally difficult to imagine a location in the north Atlantic without a physical map. but these are my limitations. the people who studied and deciphered code during the war were far smarter than i.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marcher Lord
- 09-06-24
How brainpower won WW2
This is a compelling book that I just couldn't put down . I knew so something about the subject but what I didn't know was a real eye opener for which I thank the author. Brilliant..
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nigel
- 26-02-22
Enigma what a history
Good story, good back ground to enigma well done every one involved from pre war Poland to the USA the only thing that I didn't like was Americanisms eg traveling on the railroad to Bletchley park
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T. J. Gluckman
- 05-01-22
Authentic WW2 history that doesn't glamourise
Whatever its faults, if you want to listen to genuine history this book is one to try. It's slow-moving but then life is slow-moving. It's thorough, and the author clearly has a profound grasp of the topics.
At times thrilling and suspenseful. And doesn't portray the Germans as monsters.
It has faults but its upsides outweigh them.
This book comes off very well when compared with Ben Macintyre's yarny 'Agent Zigzag' (2007 & 2016), one of his typical ahistorical romanticisations of WW2 horrors; e.g. in Chapter 7 'Codebreakers' totally exaggerates the success of Bletchley Park codebreakers e.g. 'From that moment (8.1940) until the end of the war, British intelligence continuously intercepted and read the wireless traffic of the German secret service.' That statement is close to being a lie; it is a serious untruth.
Kahn's book (reviewed here) smashes that idea, and goes into the necessary detail about the inability of BP to make sense of e.g. German U-Boot's (submarines) messages which led to the loss of huge numbers of Allied ships and personnel.
That is the difference between the two books, and in my opinion demonstrates why Kahn's book is praiseworthy, while Macintyre's is schmaltz.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 19-01-23
Great content - poor delivery
The story of code breaking is fascinating but the poor reading makes it difficult to listen to. Mr Mayes reading has strange inflections, pauses, and an over-emphasised exact style that makes it almost machine-like. I will persist but in spite of the reading rather than because of it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Timbo
- 06-03-23
Enlightening History of the Enigma
Well worth listening to if you want a fulsome history of cracking the enigma
Code.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alistair Lambert
- 28-11-21
Worth the time
An extraordinary story told in vivid detail. Dotted with moments of terror and suspense.
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