Items related to The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes
Synopsis
The true story of George Scovell follows the engraver's apprentice who possessed extraordinary linguisitic genius as he is assigned to Wellington's headquarters where he easily cracked codes used in French dispatches, but when the enemy changed their tactics from simple ciphers to almost unbreakable encoded messages, he was forced to race against time to save the British army from Napeoleon's deadly machinations.
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Review
"I am making haste to pass on the contents to 25. 13. 8. 9. 38. . . . who has ordered me to open communications with you." So reads a French dispatch captured by the British in the Peninsular Campaign against Napoleon's armies, causing the Duke of Wellington to comment, "The devil is in the French for numbers"--and occasioning Mark Urban's intriguing study of code making and code breaking.
The early 19th-century British army was hidebound by tradition, writes Urban; elegant and well-placed gentlemen gained command, while more deserving but lower-born men languished in the ranks. Against that army, in Spain and Portugal, stood Napoleon's forces, "the mightiest armament since the legions of ancient Rome." Thanks to one common-born officer, George Scovell, a linguistic genius and adept solver of puzzles, Wellington's forces avoided disaster by learning of the superior enemy's plans--though, after the war, Wellington dismissed Scovell's contributions and took credit for himself and his favorite staff officers. A fine chapter in the history of intelligence and cryptography, Urban's book provides a fascinating aside to the well-documented Napoleonic Wars. --Gregory McNamee
About the Author
As a journalist and former army officer, Mark Urban has the perspective of an eyewitness to the most crucial political events and military campaigns of our time. He lives in London and is a prominent BBC Newsnight correspondent.
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- PublisherHarperCollins
- Publication date2002
- ISBN 10 006018891X
- ISBN 13 9780060188917
- BindingHardcover
- LanguageEnglish
- Edition number1
- Number of pages368
- Rating
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The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes : The Story of George Scovell
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ISBN 10: 006018891X
ISBN 13: 9780060188917
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The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes : The Story of George Scovell
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ISBN 10: 006018891X
ISBN 13: 9780060188917
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The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes : The Story of George Scovell
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HarperCollins Publishers, 2002
ISBN 10: 006018891X
ISBN 13: 9780060188917
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The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes : The Story of George Scovell
Published by
HarperCollins Publishers, 2002
ISBN 10: 006018891X
ISBN 13: 9780060188917
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