The dramatic story of the famous cracking of the codes ULTRA and MAGIC during
the Second World War has been told before, but in Battle of Wits Stephen
Budiansky takes advantage of newly declassified American and British documents,
and provides excellent diagrams to explain the process. As well as explaining
the primitive computers invented for decoding, he adds the story of another code
Venona and the US cracking of Soviet codes in the 1940s. Published by The Free
Press, £27.50, ISBN 0684859327
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from 91av
Explore the latest news, articles and features

Comment
The best new popular science books of May 2026
Culture

Environment
Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass is still an essential read
Culture

Humans
A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began
Features

Comment
Why I explore our inevitable love for robots in my novel Luminous
Culture
Popular articles
Trending 91av articles
1
Red-light therapy does have health benefits but not the ones you think
2
Man destined for Alzheimer's may have been saved by accidental therapy
3
A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began
4
Woman in cancer remission without treatment in highly unusual case
5
Where has the deadly hantavirus come from and how does it spread?
6
300-year-old experiment could become world's best dark matter detector
7
Extinct relative of koalas discovered in Western Australia
8
Hantavirus outbreak will not cause a covid-style pandemic, says WHO
9
We have figured out a new way to send messages into the past
10
Honey has been used as medicine for centuries – does it really work?