For further reading

Below is a list of books and other sources which I’m currently reading, have read or use frequently as valuable references. Many of these were consulted in the production of Dayton Codebreakers. They are of varying levels of detail and depth.

See also, a reading list of recommended books compiled by the historians at the Cryptolologic History Center.

History of Codebreaking
The Secret in Building 26, by Colin Burke and reporter Jim DeBrosse of the Dayton Daily News, published by Random House, was released in 2004. It is, to date, the only in depth look at the work done in Dayton. A good read. Veterans of the project give it very high reviews.
Information and Secrecy: Vannevar Bush, Ultra, and the Other Memex, Colin Burke. 1994. The Scarecrow Press, Inc.This book has been the only other book, to my knowledge that contains detailed information about the work in Dayton.
Released in 2013: It Wasn’t All Magic, a declassified report authored by Colin Burke. See links page for more.
A number of excellent booklets, including The Cyptanalytic Bombe, by Jennifer Wilcox, Asst. Curator of the NSA Cryptologic Museum are now online. Consult the index of Historical Publications at World War II Era.
Battle of Wits: the Complete Story of Codebreakiing in World War II. Stephen Budiansky. 2000. Simon and Schuster.
Cryptology: Machines, History and Methods.Cipher Devours, David Kahn, Louis Kruh, Greg Mellen and Brian Winkel. Cryptologic. Artech House. 1989.
Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boat Codes, 1939-1943. David Kahn. 1991. Houghton Mifflin Company.
The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing. David Kahn. 1967. rep. 1996 with additonal information. Scribner. The “Bible” of the history of cryptography. Essential to serious students.
The Battle of the Atlantic and Signals Intelligence: U-Boat Tracking Papers, 1941-1947. ed. David Syrett. 2002. Ashgate for the Navy Records Society. A recounting of the U-Boat war beginning 1941, through the Allied reports, with a good introduction by the editor. The Ultra Americans: The U.S. Role in Breaking the Nazi Codes. Thomas Parrish. 1986. Stein and Day.
Two items I’ve recently found online:
The little-known story of the Navy women codebreakers who helped Allied forces win WWII, CNN, 5 Aug 2020
The DECODE Database Collection of Historical Ciphers and Keys, Beata Megyesi, Nils Blomqvist and Eva Pettersson, authors. HistoCrypt 2019. Uppsala University, Sweden
Diplomacy
The Ultra-Magic Deals and the Most Secret Special Relationship 1940-1946. Bradley F. Smith. 1992. Presidio Press.
Military History
The Chronological Atlas of World War Two. Charles Messenger. Macmillan Publishing Company. orig. publ. 1989.
The Oxford Companion to World War II. general editor I.C.B. Dear. consultant editor M. R. D. Foot. 2001. Oxford University Press.
The Pacific War Encyclopedia. James F. Dunnigan and Albert A. Nofi. 1998. Checkmark Books.
The Battle of the Atlantic and Signals Intelligence: U-Boat Tracking Papers, 1941-1947. ed. David Syrett. 2002. Ashgate Publishiing Ltd. Hants, England.
Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II. Gordon Williamson. 2005. Osprey Publishing. University Park, Illinois, Northants, UK.
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors; The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s FinestHour. James D. Hornfischer. 2004. Bantam Books. This book brilliantly portrays the scope of the battle for Leyte.
Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II. John Prados. 1995. Naval Institute Press.
Modern Cryptography, Logic and Mathematics
Coding Theory and Cryptography; From Enigma and Geheimschreiber to Quantum Theory. ed. David Joyner. 2000. Springer.
Crypto; How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age. Steven Levy. 2001. Viking.
Dreaming in Code; Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4732 Bugs and One Quest for Transcendent Software. Scott Rosenberg. 2007. Crown Publishers. New York.
Computer: A History Of The Information Machine, Second Edition. Martin Campbell-Kelly, William Aspray, Nathan Ensmenger, Jeffrey R. Yost. Westview Press, 2009.
Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe. George Dyson.Pantheon Books. 2012.
Electronics
How to Read Schematics. 4th Edition. Donald E. Herrington. 1986. Howard W. Sams & Co., Indianapolis, IN.
The Way Things Work. David Macaulay. 1988. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston MA.
Understanding Solid State Electronics. 5th edition. Don L. Cannon. 1991. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River NJ.
70 Years of Radio Tubes and Valves; a Guide for Electronic Engineers, Historians and Collectors. John W. Stokes. 1982. The Vestal Press Led. Vestal, NY.
For Students
How to Tell a Secret; Tips, Tricks & Techniques for Breaking Codes and Conveying Covert Information. P.J. Huff and J. G. Lewin. 2007. Collins.

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  • Sources

    This site has material from many sources. Some are use by permission. Before using, ASK. More specific information here.

  • Inside You’ll Find…

    WHO worked during the war? Find the Personnel section. Also, Joseph R. Desch
    WHAT were their goals? By the Numbers. Also, The US Bombe
    WHY? History of the Bombe Project A contemporary account of the reasons and the plans for their project for the Director of Naval Communications, 1944.
    WHERE was the project: In Dayton, it was in Building 26. In Washington, it was housed at the Naval Communications Annex