Rating: 
Summary: Best overall coverage of the topic
Review: This book is well-written in a clear, flowing and lucid style. Lots of details and human interest liven up a subject that is always on the edge of putting some readers to sleep. This book surveys code-breaking in both the European and Pacific theaters of war and even-handedly deals with the contributions of both the Brits and the Yanks (all too few books on this topic do so). The author wisely puts the most arcane bits of math in appendices.Very well done and hightly recommended to both those who have never read a book on this subject and those who have read several.
Rating:
Summary: Definitive history of Codebreaking in WWII
Review: Unquestionably the finest general history of codebreaking in the Second World War. This comprehensive, well-researched and well-balanced treatment is particularly valuable for its account of the US contribution to the codebreaking war. Everyone interested in cryptanalysis or the history of the Second World War should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: The straight story
Review: Very thoroughly researched, with lots of new and interesting details. Especially clear explanations of how it all worked. This is not "cryptology for drooling idiots," but with a little attention you can follow the details without knowing anything about group theory. I really liked the material about the development of mechanical methods for sorting and correlating -- poorly covered in most accounts. Sticks to documented facts and steers clear of speculation and hearsay, which may be part of why the book seems slightly light on the Pacific side. But if you like your history factual, clear, and well-written, this is an excellent book. It's no accident that it sells well in Virginia and Maryland!
Rating: 
Summary: What is hidden will be revealed
Review: What is hidden will be revealed. This is the concept of this book. After a brief history of pre-war cryptographic work, it outlines the Allied cryptologists' breaking Axis codes and ciphers, discreetly mentioning the early lack of candor of "our British cousins". There is a decent explanation of the precursors of modern computers used by the eclectic, and sometimes eccentric, people at Bletchley Park, England (a story in themselves) and the USA developments that often built on the British work. The appendices have some useful information for the technically challenged. Misuse of the decrypts is not glossed over, particularly the alleged security looseness by MacArthur's headquarters and the tendancy of some commanders to ignore intelligence estimates or to color them by the commander's preconceptions. Budiansky cites Montgomery's cautious lack of pursuit of Afrika Korps in North Africa after the victory at El Alemain in October 1942 and the surprise of the 1944 German offensive in the Ardennes as examples. However, I have some doubts that there was enough information available from any source to predict accurately the 1944 offensive's location. Budiansky only somewhat indicates agreement. (Tactical intelligence deals primarily with capabilities and secondarily with intentions). An exception to this rule is the well-described Navy coup at Midway, including the in house fighting between the Hawaii station and the US Navy headquarters. I would have liked more information on Axis decryption, though it may have caused the book to be the size of Webster's unabridged. I do recommend it to those interested in the general history of World War II decryption.
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