Action this day / edited by Ralph Erskine and Michael Smith

This fascinating collection of lectures examines the legacy of Bletchley Park.

The brilliant work carried out by British codebreakers based at Bletchley Park is now believed to have shortened WW2 by up to two years. But during the dark days of 1941, as Britain stood almost alone against the Nazi war machine, this remarkable achievement seemed a million miles away.

In October 1941, four of the leading codebreakers wrote to Winston Churchill telling him that the crucial work of codebreaking was “being held up and in some cases not being done at all, principally because we cannot get sufficient staff to deal with it.” Churchill insisted they be given everything they needed, adding the succinct instruction: “Action This Day.” It was to be a key turning point for the codebreakers, if not for the war itself.

Michael Smith and Ralph Erskine, both leading authorities on the work of Bletchley Park, have assembled a number of key writers to explain its importance in the history of 20th century codebreaking and the birth of today’s computer age. Included are several of those who worked at Bletchley Park, some of whom have only now agreed to tell their stories.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Michael Smith is a former member of the Intelligence Corps. He now writes on espionage for the Daily Telegraph. Ralph Erskine is one of Britain’s leading historians of wartime codebreaking.


From the Trade Paperback edition.