Familiar to anyone versed in the history of World War II or interested in the study of modern intelligence work, Bletchley Park was arguably the most successful intelligence operation in world history, the top secret workplace of the remarkable people who cracked Germany's vaunted Enigma Code. Almost to the end of the war, the Germans had firm faith in the Enigma ciphering machine, but in fact the codebreakers were deciphering nearly 4,000 German transmissions daily by 1942, reaping a wealth of information on such important matters as the effort to resupply Rommel's army in North Africa and the effect of Allied attempts to mislead the Germans about the location of D-Day landings. Indeed, Winston Churchill hailed the work of Bletchley Park as the "secret weapon" that won the war.
Only now, nearly half a century since the end of the Second World War, have any of the men and women in this group come forward to tell this remarkable story in their own words--a story that an oath of secrecy long prevented them from revealing. In Codebreakers, F.H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp have gathered together twenty-seven first-hand accounts of one of the most amazing feats in intelligence history. These engaging memoirs, each written by a different member of the codebreakers team, recount the long hours working in total secrecy and the feelings of camaraderie, tension, excitement, and frustration as these men and women, both British and American, did some of the most important work of the war. These talented people share not only their technical knowledge of cryptography and military logistics, but also poignant personal recollections as well. Walter Eytan, one of a handful of Jews at Betchley Park, recalls intercepting a message from a German vessel which reported that it carried Jews "en route for Piraeus zur Endlosung (for the final solution)." Eytan writes "I had never heard this expression before, but instinctively, I knew what it must mean, and I have never forgotten that moment." Vivienne Alford tells of her chilling memory of hearing that the atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, and the stillness that came over her and her co-workers in Naval Section VI. And William Millward confides that he is still haunted by the work he did in Hut 3 nearly fifty years ago. "I sometimes wonder, especially during the night, how many sailors I drowned."
Few readers will finish this book without feeling that the codebreakers were essential to the outcome of the war--and thereby of major importance in helping to shape the world we live in today.

Bletchley Park was arguably the most successful intelligence agency in world history, the top secret workplace of the remarkable people who cracked Germany's vaunted Enigma Code. Almost to the end of the war, the Germans had firm faith in the Enigma ciphering machine, but in fact the codebreakers were deciphering nearly 4,000 German transmissions daily by 1942. Indeed, Winston Churchill hailed the work of Bletchley Park as the `secret weapon' that won the war.

First published in 1951, this book examines Hitler's strategy and how it developed during the Second World War. Hinsley, who had worked as a code breaker during the war, uses a variety of contemporary documents as sources, including records taken from the German Naval Archives after its capture by the Allies in 1945. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in military history in general or the Second World War in particular.

Until 1970 it would have been premature to attempt a comprehensive and impartial account of British foreign policy from 1905 to 1916, during the secretaryship of Sir Edward Grey. Apart from the difficulty of passing judgement on matters that were still controversial, the confidential archives of the British government for the years after 1905 did not begin to become available until the 1950s. By 1970, however, scholars had thoroughly digested the contents of these voluminous records up to 1916, and a statement of their findings was even overdue. In this volume many of the British historians who have been in the forefront of the research report on their work. They establish the facts about a period which saw fundamental changes in Great Britain's position in the world, and offer assessments of the British government's contribution to such important developments as the evolution of the Anglo-French Entente, Anglo-German rivalry before 1914, the outbreak of the first World War and the origin of the League of Nations.

Professor Hinsley's book, first published in 1966, offers a general survey of the history of the theory of sovereignty, which seeks to illuminate the theory's character and function by stressing the changing social, political and economic frameworks within and between the political societies in which it has developed. It also spans and connects the different intellectual aspects of the concept of sovereignty: philosophical, legal, historical and political. For this new edition Professor Hinsley has wholly rewritten the last chapter to bring the history up to date, and to make some new concluding remarks.

In the last years of the nineteenth century peace proposals were first stimulated by fear of the danger of war rather than in consequence of its outbreak. In this study of the nature and history of international relations Mr Hinsley presents his conclusions about the causes of war and the development of men's efforts to avoid it. In the first part he examines international theories from the end of the middle ages to the establishment of the League of Nations in their historical setting. This enables him to show how far modern peace proposals are merely copies or elaborations of earlier schemes. He believes there has been a marked reluctance to test these theories not only against the formidable criticisms of men like Rousseau, Kant and Bentham, but also against what we have learned about the nature of international relations and the history of the practice of states. This leads him to the second part of his study - an analysis of the origins of the modern states' system and of its evolution between the eighteenth century and the First World War.

Aimed at undergraduate history courses, this book focuses on the period from July to August 1914 and investigates how the crisis was managed and what issues determined how politicians and diplomats acted in these critical weeks leading up to the outbreak of war. This book is intended for undergraduate history courses: broad 20th century European history, First World War, military history, war studies, international and diplomatice history, school libraries.