Seizing the Enigma

The Race to Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939–1943

By: David Kahn

Narrated by: Bernard Mayes

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.

Critic reviews

“The best historian of cryptography explains the cracking of the Naval Enigma cipher.... David Kahn writes with authority and enthusiasm.” (Simon Singh, author of The Code Book and Fermat's Last Theorem)

“[Kahn] underscores the strategic importance of submarine warfare in the Atlantic, giving a balanced account of the ultimate importance of code breaking 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.” ( Library Journal)

“Kahn provides detailed, action-packed accounts (drawn from interviews with surviving eyewitnesses on both sides) of the bold seizures that yielded vital documents…A first-rate briefing on the use of brawn as well as brains to alleviate the U-boat threat.” ( Kirkus Reviews)

This time free is good !

Excellent history of history’s most important information war. This was well read and very interesting !

Techno Thriller but it is a True Story

The story of how the enigma machine was conceived and developed after WW1 then perfected by the German Navy in WW2. Then how the Poles almost cracked it before moving to Britain where a massive secret program at Blechley Park and throughout the Navy ultimately destroyed the German submarine packs and won the war.
The best thing about this book is the way it describes how the machines were constructed and how the messages were decrypted. Ten times better than the movies I've see on the subject. I want to read more from David Kahn but only after I have built an enigma machine myself.

Fascinating Book

This is a very interesting book with the entire background of the British efforts to break the code to the Enigma machines.

The one problem with the book is that there are many pages explaining how to set up and operate the enigma machine - this is interesting only to a very limited audience.

Other than that I recommend it highly.

Excellent. Thorough and yet Narrative

Previously, I thought I knew a whole lot about enigma and the Atlantic war. This book proved how little I knew. It was a great narrative, great detail and did a very good job of explaining to a layman like myself some of the intricacies of the math, commando-like coups of getting some of the particular machinery. Even the end pulled up insightful truths that shape the understanding of the different outcomes for the axis powers and the allied powers and the way they handled code brick and it’s useless. A most useful book for anyone who likes World War II code work battle, Atlantic, or just analytical thinking. I’m gonna buy a hardcopy just so that I can review it again and highlight things. A real keeper.

Fascinating story requiring patient audience

This is a VERY detailed history of a very convoluted military technology that evolved and matured over several decades, not just the period of 1939 through 1943. As such, the author chose to include at times bewilderingly complex, long-winded, and dry technical content that is nonetheless vital to his audience’s understanding of the momentous contribution of the decryption of the Enigma cyphers to the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. While the narrative contains several moments of wartime drama, this is a work intended for an audience of serious serious students of military history, as well as academics looking for source materials. Bernard Mayes’ reading style is clear and of an appropriate pace for such an information-dense subject, making this book an ideal candidate for an audiobook. This reviewer probably would not have attempted to read this on his own!