Overview

Alan Turing was an extraordinary man who crammed into his 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist and biologist. He is widely regarded as a war hero grossly mistreated by his unappreciative country, and it has become hard to disentangle the real man from the story. It is easy to cast him as a misfit, the stereotypical professor. But actually Alan Turing was never a professor, and his nickname 'Prof' was given by his codebreaking friends at Bletchley Park. Now Dermot Turing has taken a fresh look at the influences on his uncle's life and creativity, and the creation of a legend. For the first time it is possible to disclose the real character behind the cipher-text: how did Alan's childhood experiences influence the man? How did his creative ideas evolve? Was he really a solitary genius? What was his wartime work after 1942, and what of the Enigma story? What is the truth about the conviction for gross indecency, and did he commit suicide? In Dermot's own style, he takes a vibrant and entertaining approach to the life and work of a true genius. AUTHOR: Dermot Turing had a career in the legal profession before turning to writing narrative history, and he has written X, Y & Z and Reflections of Alan Turing (both THP). He is a former trustee of the Bletchley Park museum and is chairman of the Turing Trust charity. 100 b/w illustrations

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9780750998673

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Reviews

‘A cracking read.’ -- Nick Smith ‘For anyone seeking a more nuanced picture of the human side of Turing . . . this book makes a useful and sometimes poignant contribution.’ -- Clare Mulley ‘Deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the history of Bletchley Park and in the development of the computer.’ -- David Hamer ‘[Dermot Turing] has done a fabulous job of translating the complexities of mathematics and the early computer science to the lay person.’ -- Walter Myer

A cracking read. -- Nick Smith For anyone seeking a more nuanced picture of the human side of Turing . . . this book makes a useful and sometimes poignant contribution. -- Clare Mulley Deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the history of BP and in the development of the computer. -- David Hamer [Dermot Turing] has done a fabulous job of translating the complexities of mathematics and the early computer science to the lay person. -- Walter Myer

Author Information

DERMOT TURING is the author of X, Y and Z: the Real Story of how Enigma Was Broken; Alan Turing Decoded; and Enigma Traitors, which reveals the inadequacies of Allied codes during the Second World War. He began writing in 2014 after a career in law. He is a trustee of The National Museum of Computing and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford. Dermot is married with two sons and lives in Kippen in Stirlingshire.

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