Alan Turing: The Enigma
Academic Secondary Sources
🇬🇧 British
The definitive life of the man who broke the U-boat Enigma and conceived the computer — then was destroyed by the country he saved.
The Verdict
The definitive life of the man who helped break the U-boat Enigma and imagined the computer — then was destroyed by the country he saved. Andrew Hodges, himself a mathematician, writes Turing's story with rare authority on both the codebreaking at Bletchley and the mathematics that would reshape the world, and with deep sympathy for the persecution that followed: prosecuted for his homosexuality, subjected to chemical treatment, dead at forty-one. It is the biography behind The Imitation Game, and far richer and truer than the film. A great life, and a national shame.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- The definitive Turing biography
- Readers who want the codebreaking and the mathematics
- The true story behind The Imitation Game
- Bletchley's secret war and its human cost
Look elsewhere if you want
- Readers wanting only the wartime drama
- Those daunted by mathematical passages
- A short, breezy account
Why We Rated It 4.5
Historical Context
Alan Turing: The Enigma covers Turing's life, including his pivotal work breaking German naval Enigma at Bletchley Park and his foundational ideas in computing, and his prosecution for homosexuality and death in 1954. Written by mathematician Andrew Hodges and published in 1983, it was the basis for the 2014 film The Imitation Game.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Burnett / Simon & Schuster (1983)First edition.
Vintage / Princeton reissueUpdated editions accompanied the film.
Read It Alongside
The Rose Code Kate Quinn · 2021 · ★ 4.4
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The Cruel Sea Nicholas Monsarrat · 1951 · ★ 4.6
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Das Boot Lothar-Günther Buchheim · 1973 · ★ 4.7
Historical Fiction Collector's Corner
Early firsts are collected; reissues are inexpensive. Check current listings. → Check listings on AbeBooks.
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0691164724
Read This Against
The same events seen from a different vantage point. The fullest understanding often lives in the space between accounts that don't agree.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is this the book behind The Imitation Game?
- Yes — the 2014 film is based on Hodges's biography, though the book is far fuller and more accurate.
- What was Turing's role in the war?
- He was central to breaking German Enigma ciphers, especially the naval Enigma that threatened Atlantic shipping, at Bletchley Park.