THE CYPHER BUREAU

by Eilidh McGinness

Overview

An inspirational historical novel inspired by the life of Polish mathematician Marian Rejewski, the Cypher Bureau  is a must read for anyone interesed in World War 2  or code-breakingIng. In the wake of World War One the Polish Cypher Bureau discover that the Germans are using a new type of code that they are unable to decypher.  In a ground breaking move they decide to recruit mathematicians and train them in code-breaking. Marian Rejewski excells at spy school and eventually he is one entrusted, alone, with the task of cracking the invincible code. In 1932 he suceeds but that is just the beginning. No-one knows the code has been broken. Marian and the Cypher Bureau must protect their dangerous secret at all costs. When Poland is invaded by Germany in September 1939 the Cypher Bureau are forced to flee Poland as they try to keep ahead of the Gestapo agents in their pursuit.. It is a journey that will take them across Europe and cost some their lives ...... 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781916245334
Publisher:	Eilidh McGinness
Publication date:	02/25/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	250
File size:	527 KB

About the Author

Eilidh was born and brought up in the Highlands of Scotland. She studied law at Aberdeen University and worked a a lawyer, specializing in criminal defense for 12 years before moving to the south west of France where she now lives. Eilidh has always been passionate about history.

Table of Contents

The book is in three parts-the first -before World War Two deals with how the team cracked Enigma and passed the secret to the British and French before Poland was invaded. The secord part deals with the undercover work of the Bureau as they try to maintain their code-breaking work and keep ahead of the Gestapo agents pursuing them. The final part of the book deals with the period after World War Two.

Editorial Reviews

Anyone who has read Robert Harris’s Enigma or anything else connected to Bletchley Park in WW2 would recognise the code breaking described here. This is, however, a book about the Polish team who originally decoded Enigma in 1932.



The man whose life we follow from his childhood to his death is Marian Rejewski. He joins a team of talented mathematicians at Poznan University who are inducted into Cryptography and asked to become secret code breakers. The story is very convincingly it shows the travails of this team. The author makes it clear that this is a work of fiction, but the details of events seem very accurate. The men have to leave their families when the Germans invade and move from place to place in Europe and North Africa, always working on code breaking. The intensity of their efforts in the face of enemy attacks and with the constant fear of betrayal is palpable. It seems that the Germans never realised that their code had been broken but their constant updating of the system caused a huge amount of work for the decoders.



I liked the way that the enormous Polish and French contribution to the decoding of Enigma messages was made clear. Indeed, without their work there would have been a far greater loss of life in WW2. You could describe this as a thriller with considerable technical input about decoding or as a biography of a Polish mathematician through WW2. A coda to the book brings the story of the decoders up to date. For anyone interested in this topic and in the hardships of WW2 this book is fascinating.

PROMOTING CRIME FICTION BLOG SPOT -JENNIFER S PALMER

CAPTIVATING, COMPELLING, FACINATING

Iain Bayne, Runrig.

A marvellous book-an unknown story

John Vanderhof

From the Publisher