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9781635574654

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Fascinating ... [Ferris] has rescued several great women codebreakers from obscurity ... [Bletchley Park] has become embedded in national myth, but Ferris offers cool and balanced judgment ... This monumental work completes the authorised picture of a century of British intelligence, a testament to how far Britain has moved away from the cult of official secrecy - Ben Macintyre, The Times In Ferris we have a shrewd and scrupulous historian ... The references to individual people at all levels of the service are many and illuminating ... Small details can bring a nod or a smile when one is reading ... GCHQ shows it is alert to the role of a security and defence agency in a modern democracy, and Ferris is to be congratulated for shedding so much light upon it - Vin Arthey, Scotsman The book is at its best when sifting the role of signal intelligence (Sigint) in the Falklands war and other late imperial conflicts such as Indonesia and Palestine ... Comprehensive - Luke Harding, Guardian GCHQ emerges from the shadows ... The story of the codebreakers is in fact a parallel history of the entire twentieth century ... There is intriguing detailing of the organisation's structure and systems ... Illuminating ... Absorbing - Sinclair McKay, Spectator There is so much more to this secrecy-shrouded outfit, reveals Canadian historian John Ferris ... Fielding formidable research, Ferris tells a global tale of mathematics, engineering, data sciences and linguistics in the service of politics, diplomacy, war and security - Andrew Robinson, Nature

Fascinating . . . [Ferris] has rescued several great women codebreakers from obscurity . . . This monumental work completes the authorised picture of a century of British intelligence, a testament to how far Britain has moved away from the cult of official secrecy. - The Times GCHQ emerges from the shadows . . . The story of the codebreakers is in fact a parallel history of the entire twentieth century . . . There is intriguing detailing of the organisation's structure and systems . . . Illuminating . . . Absorbing. - Spectator A book of revelation . . . Although he spent months sifting the papers in a high-security Cheltenham vault, [Ferris] does not lose sight of the big picture . . . Today, [Ferris] argues, greater openness about intelligence gathering does not affect its relevance and power. His book is an example of this, and shows that the abandonment of Cold War levels of secrecy about GCHQ benefits us all. - Sunday Times A global tale of mathematics, engineering, data sciences and linguistics in the service of politics, diplomacy, war and security. - Nature In Ferris we have a shrewd and scrupulous historian . . . GCHQ shows it is alert to the role of a security and defence agency in a modern democracy, and Ferris is to be congratulated for shedding so much light upon it. - Scotsman The book is at its best when sifting the role of signal intelligence (Sigint) in the Falklands war and other late imperial conflicts such as Indonesia and Palestine . . . Comprehensive. - The Guardian A deeply learned, comprehensive account of [GCHQ's] achievements and occasional failures. - Daily Telegraph

Author Information

John Ferris is a professor of history at the University of Calgary, where he is also a fellow at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. He received a PhD in war studies from King's College London. He is the author of numerous academic articles on diplomatic intelligence and military history, as well as on contemporary strategy and intelligence. He lives in Calgary, Canada.

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