Colossus: Bletchley Park's Greatest Secret

by PaulGannon (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.25

  This is the last untold story of Bletchley Park. Using recently declassified information, Paul Gannon has written a gripping account of the invention of the world's first true computer, Colossus.

  Uncover the secrets of Bletchley Park's code-breaking computers.

  In 1940, almost a year after the outbreak of the Second World War, Allied radio operators at an interception station in South London began picking up messages in a strange new code. Using science, maths, innovation and improvisation BletchleyPark codebreakers worked furiously to invent a machine to decipher what turned out to be the secrets of Nazi high command. It was called Colossus.

  What these codebreakers didn't realize was that they had fashioned the world's first true computer. When the war ended, this incredible invention was dismantled and hidden away for almost 50 years. Paul Gannon has pieced together the tremendous story of what is now recognized as the greatest secret of BletchleyPark.

  'Gannon's book contains a mass of utterly fascinating and largely unknown material about an immensely important wartime project, and is very welcome indeed.' - Brian Randell, TES

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $4.21

  In 1940, almost a year after the outbreak of the Second World War, Allied radio operators at an interception station in South London began picking up messages in a strange new code. Traffic in this new encryption increased dramatically and Bletchley Park codebreakers worked furiously to decipher the code that held the key to the secrets of Nazi high command. The codebreakers used science, maths, innovation and improvisation to invent an entirely new machine: Colossus. Colossus was Instrumental in several extraordinary breakthroughs: It revealed that Hitler had no intention of abandoning Italy to the Allies; It revealed how much the Nazis had been duped by the D-Day deception (they believed the Allies would invade at Calais and were tactically unprepared for invasion at Normandy, so couldn't deploy tanks in time); It monitored the locations of Nazi military troops in northwestern and southern Europe; It revealed the degree to which Germans has succeeded in breaking Allied codes What these codebreakers didn't realize was that they had fashioned the world's first true computer. When the war ended, this incredible invention was dismantled and hidden away for almost fifty years. With access to previously classified files, Paul Gannon has pieced together the tremendous story of what is now recognized as the greatest secret of Bletchley Park.

• New

  Paperback
  2007

  $14.54

  This is the last untold story of Bletchley Park. Using recently declassified information, Paul Gannon has written a gripping account of the invention of the world's first true computer, Colossus.

  Uncover the secrets of Bletchley Park's code-breaking computers.

  In 1940, almost a year after the outbreak of the Second World War, Allied radio operators at an interception station in South London began picking up messages in a strange new code. Using science, maths, innovation and improvisation BletchleyPark codebreakers worked furiously to invent a machine to decipher what turned out to be the secrets of Nazi high command. It was called Colossus.

  What these codebreakers didn't realize was that they had fashioned the world's first true computer. When the war ended, this incredible invention was dismantled and hidden away for almost 50 years. Paul Gannon has pieced together the tremendous story of what is now recognized as the greatest secret of BletchleyPark.

  'Gannon's book contains a mass of utterly fascinating and largely unknown material about an immensely important wartime project, and is very welcome indeed.' - Brian Randell, TES