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Secret codes, hidden messages and cryptic clues – this is nothing to any self-respecting codebreaker. Codebreakers, also known as cryptanalysts, use a fascinating mix of mathematics, analysis, translation and intuition to decipher codes. Codebreaking was an essential part of many war efforts and is perhaps best known for the role it played in World War II. According to the University of Cambridge’s NRICH project (which aims to enrich the mathematics experience of all learners), cracking the Enigma code in World War II, which allowed the British to read encrypted German messages, may have shortened the war by two years. If that doesn’t prove how incredible and important codebreaking is, I don’t know what else could.
Code breaking isn’t just for wartime. Throughout history, people have used codes to encrypt their diaries and personal correspondence to protect their privacy. Modern cryptanalysts have been able to decode ciphers in letters written by Mary Queen of Scots, and even the famous author Beatrix Potter used a code of her own invention to protect her diaries from prying eyes. If you’re looking for books that will help you learn even more about the history of code breaking, especially World War I and World War II, read on.
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New releases
The Codebreaker Girl by Gosia Nealon
Release date: 13 August 2024
When Beata joins the Polish Cipher Bureau, she hopes her work to crack the Enigma code will help stave off a German invasion. But just as they meet with British intelligence, the Nazis invade. Now Beata and a handsome British intelligence officer, both pulled in opposite directions, must flee. Their only hope is to make it to Bletchley Park, where the Polish Cipher Bureau’s work to crack the Enigma code will not have been in vain.
The Game Changer from Embassie Susberry
Release date: 15 August 2024
A reporter and a rising tennis star who share a complicated past are reunited when Hettie Carlin is assigned to cover Althea Gibson’s meteoric rise. Althea isn’t interested in being in the spotlight, especially when Hettie is covering it. But when she’s confronted with media bias and discrimination, she realizes that Hettie may be the only person who can tell her true story. The game changer follows the true story of Althea Gibson, a civil rights icon and the first black athlete to win a Grand Slam.
A more comprehensive list of new releases can be found in our “New Books” newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
From Bletchley Park to Arlington Hall, follow these incredible stories as we learn more about the history of women in codebreaking.
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Discover the fascinating world of Bletchley Park in this novel from bestselling author Kate Quinn. During World War II, three very different women work side by side as part of the codebreaking team at Bletchley Park. One works as a translator, one on the codebreaking machines, and the third as one of the few female cryptanalysts. But in this high-pressure environment, secrets and betrayal soon tear them apart as they try to serve their country. Years later, on the eve of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding to Prince Philip, the three are brought back together by a coded letter that links to their Bletchley Park past.
Lady Codebreaker by KD Alden
A woman looking to trade her small town for a life of adventure finds more than she bargained for when she’s hired by an eccentric billionaire to learn codebreaking. Now helping to lead the United States’ fledgling Cryptanalysis Unit, she uses her skills to track down liquor bootleggers during Prohibition and crack codes as the world plunges from one world war to another. But in a world dominated by men, balancing life as a cryptanalysis pioneer, wife, and mother often proves just as difficult as cracking a code.
Codebreaking is a fairly niche subject in the world of historical fiction. I always do my best to highlight a diverse selection of books by authors with a variety of backgrounds. Unfortunately, in this case, either my research skills—or the publishing world—let me down. This is especially disappointing since an entire unit of African-American women served as Army codebreakers in Arlington, Virginia, during World War II. Liza Mundy, author of Code Girls, laments the lack of information and documentation about these women, but I hope we’ll learn more in the future. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get a historical novel about them in the future. You can find a little more information about the African-American codebreakers of Arlington Hall here.
Likewise, the role many Native American groups played as code talkers during both world wars is often overlooked. During World War I, when it was discovered that the Germans were intercepting U.S. Army radio messages, a group of Eastern Band Cherokee used the Cherokee language to communicate with the 105th Field Artillery Battalion of the 30th Infantry Division, and Choctaw soldiers of the 142nd and 143rd Infantry, some of whom spoke dialects that were never written down, helped coordinate attacks that led to much-needed victories, according to the National Museum of the United States Army. In addition, the National WWII Museum lists 14 different Native American nations, including the Diné, Cherokee, Comanche and Choctaw, as being among the code talkers of World War II. You can read more about what life was like for one man as a code talker in Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez.
If you want to talk about books (historical or otherwise), you can find me on most social networks at @rachelsbrittain, including Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy.
I’m currently reading The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse, a novel about a former Hello Girl who operated telephone switches for the US Army during World War I and is now drawn back into the world of espionage when her past catches up with her.
