Operation Primrose: U110, the Bismarck and the Enigma code breakers

Operation Primrose: U110, the Bismarck and the Enigma code breakers

Operation Primrose tells the story of the capture of U-110 – and with it a working Enigma machine. <br /><br /><br /><br />One of the biggest secrets of the war, the capture of that one machine turned the tide of the war in British favour. <br /><br /><br /><br />The German U-boat attacks were crippling the nation’s ability to survive, and the key to breaking that threat was in deciphering the German’s naval Enigma code. <br /><br /><br /><br />Turing and his colleagues at Bletchley Park worked tirelessly to crack the code, and with the working Enigma machine they finally had their break-through moment. <br /><br /> <br /><br />This book sets the story, and the Enigma cryptographers, in context – at the heart of the Battle of the Atlantic, when it reached its crescendo in the pursuit of the battleship Bismarck the week after U110 was taken.<br /><br /> <br /><br />It sets Bletchley Park in its wider context too, at the heart of an intricate and maverick network of naval intelligence, tracking signals and plotting them to divert convoys around waiting U-boats, involving officers like James Bond’s future creator, Ian Fleming. <br /><br /> <br /><br />It also sets out the most important context of all, forgotten in so much of the Enigma history: that Britain’s own naval code had already been cracked, and its signals were being read, thanks to the efforts of Turing’s opposite number, the German naval cryptographer, Wilhelm Tranow.<br /><br /><br /><br />An exciting and enthralling true story ‘Operation Primrose’ is an excellently researched piece on the race for naval supremacy in the Second World War. <br /><br /><br /><br />David Boyle's work has been widely praised. <br /><br /><br /><br />‘The tone of the book may be gloomy but there is plenty of entertainment value …’ Anne Ashworth, The Times <br /><br /><br /><br />‘Exhilarating’ Daily Mail <br /><br /><br /><br />‘He tells these stories, on the whole persuasively and with some startling asides.’ New Statesman <br /><br /><br /><br />‘A book that is engagingly sensitive to the sentiments of what is sometimes called “middle England”’ Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times <br /><br /><br /><br />David Boyle is a British author and journalist who writes mainly about history and new ideas in economics, money, business and culture. He lives in Crystal Palace, London. His books include ‘Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma’, ‘Rupert Brooke: England’s Last Patriot’, ‘Peace on Earth: The Christmas Truce of 1914’, ‘Jerusalem: England’s National Anthem’, ‘Unheard Unseen: Warfare in the Dardanelles’, ‘Towards the Setting Sun: The Race for America’ and ‘The Age to Come’. <br /><br /><br /><br />Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.