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The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
by Liza Mundy
Book Reviewed by:"Code Girls reveals a hidden army of female cryptographers, whose work played a crucial role in ending World War II.... Mundy has rescued a piece of forgotten history, and given these American heroes the recognition they deserve." - Nathalia Holt, bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls
Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.
Liza Mundy's latest work, Code Girls, takes advantage of recently declassified government documents to highlight the little-known work of the hundreds of women involved in cracking Japanese and German encryption to help bring WWII to a successful conclusion. Beyond a peek at the lives of the code-breakers themselves, readers get a real feel for America at war. Code Girls will appeal to a wide audience; in particular, anyone with an interest in WWII history — both fiction and nonfiction readers alike — will very likely find much to love here...continued
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(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
The National Security Administration (NSA) is the direct descendant of the group established to decode enemy communications during WWII featured in Code Girls. Established by U.S. President Harry Truman in 1952, the NSA is the government agency responsible for signal intelligence — "Intelligence derived from electronic signals and systems used by foreign targets, such as communications systems, radars, and weapons systems."
The once entirely clandestine NSA has started declassifying some of its secret documents and has established three closely affiliated organizations to celebrate its history and to train the next generation of cryptographers.
The first of these, the National Cryptologic School, was founded in 1965 by ...
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Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana and Ashley's War
Code Girls is not just a great slice of history--one that would have been lost to us without Liza's storytelling and the work of some heroic archivists--but a story relevant to every discussion we have now about America's security agencies and how they came to be. I am delighted readers will finally know about these pioneering women and their incredible contributions to America.
