Enigma Traitors: The Struggle to Lose the Cipher War (Review)

Within the history of cryptography, the tale of how Bletchley Park broke Germany’s Enigma cipher has been told many times, in both print and on screen. With so much emphasis on the “plucky Brits overcoming the odds” angle, I often wondered how secure the Allied codes were and if there was a parallel story on the Axis side. Dermot Turing (nephew of Alan Turing and writer of several histories) has now written on this subject, describing the initial development of the Enigma and efforts to protect it, how the Axis communication security and cryptoanalytical services were setup and performed, how the Allies developed code books and their own codes and, as the war progressed, how both sides often failed to protect their secrets. Enigma Traitors: The Struggle to Lose the Cipher War. By Dermot Turing. The History Press, 2023. ISBN 978-1-80399-169-6. Publisher Website The book’s subtitle is The Struggle to Lose the Cipher War. There are many ways to lose a cipher war, from the loss of keys…