[Cryptography] Book review: "Code Breakers" by Craig Collie

[Dave Horsfall]

The subtitle pretty much says it all: "Inside the shadow world of signals 
intelligence in Australia's two Bletchley Parks"; well, I didn't know that 
we had two major cryptanalysis facilities here in Oz during WW-2 (Brisbane 
and Melbourne), so this book was an eye-opener.

That said, it's a refreshing change to see a book written in British 
English (and grammar), as opposed to American English.  Not to impugn our 
American cousins, but spelling such as "color" instead of "colour", 
"meter" instead of "metre", "organization" instead of "organisation" etc 
really irritate me; and as for "off of" instead of simply "off" (do they 
actually teach that in schools?), well...  It also uses accents where 
required e.g. "attaché" etc; yes, I'm a pedantic bastard.  Also, units 
such as Celsius (and metric in general) are employed, so Imperial-users 
may need to bone up on them (yes, 40˚ in the shade is damned hot).

Hard-core crypto nerds will be disappointed at the lack of technical 
details for JN-25 etc (it's mostly a history book), but the fact is that 
the whole operation was kept secret for decades after the war, but it does 
mention additive sheets etc.

The book itself appears to be printed on recycled paper, or at least 
unbleached paper drawn from responsible sources (FSC).

For those who have read Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" you'll feel 
right at home, as there are many parallels, but no, Bobby Shaftoe does not 
get a mention :-)

The book goes into great detail about interservice rivalry, political 
interference, general incompetence amongst the officers, credit taken for 
others' work, and good descriptions of Pearl Harbor, Darwin, Midway, Coral 
Sea, and the assassination of Yamamoto-san (and the cover-up so the Japs 
wouldn't suspect that Purple had been broken), along with how warnings 
were simply ignored (Pearl Harbor, Darwin, etc)

The transmitter ID system TINA gets a mention, but little technical 
detail, sadly enough.

There are excellent photographs, and an extensive bibliography and chapter 
notes.

I only found one typographical error (for some reason, both typos and 
spelling mistakes leap out at me and grab me by the nuts): on page 80 
there is "to slow" instead of "too slow"; minor, but still annoying.

Would I recommend it?  Certainly, if you're a history buff like me (and 
it's taken up residence along with my other crypto books), but not so much 
if you wanted hard-core crypto.

390 pages, soft-cover, Allen and Unwin, ISBN 978-1-74331-210-0; I bought 
mine from Amazon for AU$35.69 inc. postage.  Usual disclaimer...

-- 
Dave Horsfall DTM (VK2KFU)  "Those who don't understand security will suffer."