Code Girls; The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II

New York: Hachette Books, 2017. First Edition [stated], Sixth printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xiv, [2], 416 pages. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Liza Mundy is an American journalist, non-fiction writer, and fellow at New America Foundation. She has written a number of books and her writings have also appeared in Atlantic, Politico, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, the Guardian, and the Washington Post. Derived from a Kirkus review: A previously untold history of the American women who served as codebreakers during World War II. During the war, writes former Washington Post reporter Mundy some 11,000 women served the war effort by working as codebreakers. Almost 70 percent of the Army's codebreaking force was female, and at least 80 percent of the Navy's. In addition to breaking enemy codes, they also tested American codes, ran complicated office machines, built libraries of intelligence, and worked as translators. Their jobs were intensely difficult, stimulating, and vital to the war effort. She had access to boxes of Army and Navy memos, reports, and internal histories, and she also interviewed some of the women who served as codebreakers. The book is a winner. Her descriptions of codes and ciphers, how they worked and how they were broken, are remarkably clear and accessible. A well-researched, compelingly written, crucial addition to the literature of American involvement in World War II.