"In this valuable study, Boyd carefully analyzes Oshima’s messages and reports, places them in political and military contexts, and sheds new light on Germany’s strategies during the war as well as on German-Japanese relations."—Publishers Weekly
"An illuminative briefing on a little-known but invaluable source of intelligence during WWII."—Kirkus Reviews
"A fascinating book and an impressive analytical study."—RUSI Journal
"An excellent study of SIGINT and the information it can provide."—Military Intelligence
"[Boyd’s] sober, careful analysis of the documents, set firmly in the context of the American signals intelligence system, has resulted in one of the finest works to appear in the growing field of World War II communications intelligence."—Journal of American History
"Boyd’s book is an important contribution to the understanding of what MAGIC did and why it was important."—Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"One can prophesy that Professor Boyd’s book will become an essential part of the library of any student of the Second World War who hopes to rise above the level of the superficial."—Intelligence and National Security
"This book presents an informative and entertaining study of the collection and exploitation of signal intelligence during World War II."—Airpower Journal
"Carl Boyd has produced a work that significantly advances our knowledge about the German-Japanese alliance as well as intelligence in World War II."—Journal of Military History
"This is essential reading for anyone interested in World War II."—New York Military Affairs Symposium Newsletter
"An extremely valuable work. It clears up many puzzles, and it helps to make understandable how high-level communications intelligence was used in Washington during World War II."—Ernest R. May , author of Imperial Democracy: The Emergence of America as a Great Power
"An essential contribution to our understanding of major aspects of World War II history. This book will have a special place in the story of the war in Europe and also in that of the wartime relations of Germany and Japan, which has been much neglected."—Harold C. Deutsch , author of The Conspiracy Against Hitler in the Twilight War
"Boyd skillfully integrates interviews with surviving American cryptanalysts who worked with MAGIC to reconstruct the distribution system for the precious intelligence. In particular his ingenious unraveling of the complex distribution system in effect during presidential trips strikes me as model detective work. First-rate scholarship complemented by superior writing skills."—Edward J. Drea , author of MacArthur’s ULTRA: Codebreaking and the War Against Japan
"Offers new insight into the otherwise obscure story of how American ability to penetrate Japanese codes provided unique, valuable knowledge of German military plans and capabilities."—Stanley L. Falk , author of Seventy Days to Singapore
"Every student of the history of the present century, in which the war of 1939–45 formed so crucial a part, must read this—and one uses the word advisedly—definitive account."—Robert H. Ferrell , author of American Diplomacy: The Twentieth Century
"In 1944, U.S. Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall declared that ‘our main basis of information regarding Hitler’s intentions in Europe is obtained from Baron Oshima’s messages from Berlin.’ Carl Boyd reveals how the Allies got that intelligence and used it to help win World War II."—David Kahn , author of The Codebreakers
Allied cryptographers broke the Japanese diplomatic code in 1941, after which Ambassador Oshima Hiroshi's messages from Berlin to Tokyo were intercepted, deciphered, translated and passed along to U.S. and British intelligence operatives. Gen. George Marshall, the U.S. Army chief of staff, called the Oshima intercepts the ``main basis of information regarding Hitler's intentions in Europe.'' Oshima inadvertently provided the Allies with advance information about Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the Axis buildup in North Africa and the Wehrmacht's defensive system along the Normandy coast (which proved vital to the success of the Allied invasion of June 1944). In this valuable study, Boyd carefully analyzes Oshima's messages and reports, places them in political and military contexts, and sheds new light on Germany's strategies during the war as well as on German-Japanese relations. Oshima died in 1975, never having learned that the enemy had read his mail throughout WW II. Boyd is a history professor at Old Dominion University in Virginia. Photos. (Mar.)
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
General Oshima, Japan's ambassador to Berlin throughout World War II, sent detailed reports to Tokyo on his Axis partner. Oshima was an intelligent observer, and from his notes we are able to obtain a new view of Germany. Unbeknownst to Oshima, the Japanese diplomatic code had been broken by the United States, and the ambassador's comments proved to be of great value to the Allies. Indeed, the information gathered from deciphered Japanese codes was called Magic. Author Boyd (history, Old Dominion Univ.) here presents two works: one deals with observations on Germany and the other with the uses of military intelligence. Because there is little available on Magic during the conflict, this book fills a definite need. Combined with Ronald Lewin's The American Magic: Codes, Ciphers, and the Defeat of Japan (Farrar, 1982), this will give readers a good understanding of Magic. Recommended for academic libraries and large public libraries. Smaller libraries may also want to purchase in order to give their users a background on intelligence work in World War II.-- Dennis L. Noble, Lewistown P.L. , Mont.
