Queen of Codes: The Secret Life of Emily Anderson, Britain's Greatest Female Code Breaker

by Dr Jackie Ui Chionna

'One of the greatest codebreakers of the twentieth century' Suzannah Lipscomb

An astounding story of codebreaking, personal sacrifice and a life lived in the shadows.

The history of British codebreaking is often considered a men-only preserve, ignoring the fact that the vast majority of codebreakers were women. And foremost among them was one who is largely unknown to the Emily Anderson.

A leading member of British intelligence, Anderson played a pivotal role in both world wars. Amongst the first codebreakers to move to Bletchley Park, she later transferred to Cairo where her exceptional skills in decoding diplomatic and military intelligence were instrumental in the first Allied victory of the Second World War, for which she was awarded the OBE. Remarkable in many ways, she was also the first female Junior Assistant in the civil service and led the fight for equal pay for women at GCHQ.

Revealing newly discovered material and sources, Queen of Codes is a fascinating narrative that will rightly seal Emily Anderson's place at the forefront of Britain's eminent codebreakers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, World War II, LGBT

456 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 13, 2023

Reviews

[Mike White · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Though Italian was not her best language, she was a fine linguist. It is typical of her that she translated one of Croce’s works in order to fit herself for the job of translating decodes and breaking books, at both of which she was an acknowledged expert.”
The biography of Emily Anderson, a code breaker in two world wars and author of the definitive works on Mozart’s and Beethoven’s correspondence. Most of her work was deciphering diplomatic messages: “The objective of diplomatic intelligence was not just to discover what he enemy was saying, but the mindset that produced it—what Mavis Batey described as ‘an intellectual procedure of lateral thinking.’ Her work in Cairo contributed substantially to the defeat of the Italian forces in the Western Desert.
Thoroughly researched and as comprehensive as documents and memories allow. Miss Anderson was reticent about her cryptographic activities and much of the official documentation is still secret or is lost: ‘The actions of [Major] Hay in destroying records (and removing some to his own care, without official authorisation)...’
I skipped details of her early life, and details of military activities are sparse, but I but became interested in this intelligent and determined woman, who spent fifteen years chasing up the Beethoven correspondence, deciphering it—some was in code and his handwriting and idiosyncratic grammar was challenging—then translating it, which made it a task for which this gifted cryptanalyst was well suited.
The book is completed with thorough notes and an index.

[Leona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this fabulous book! Queen of Codes tells the real life story of the life and secret life of Emily Anderson a Galway woman who went on to be one of Britain's greatest codebreakers. As well as living this secret life Emily also was a gifted linguist who took on the huge task of translating and publishing letters of Mozart and Beethoven, two classical musicians she adored.

Queen of Codes details the life of Emily Anderson and her code breaking. We see how in the historiography it has largely focused on the male code breaking side when in fact the majority of codebreakers were female. Uí Chionna reveals that the women stayed true to the Official secrets act and kept quiet on their work while some male members broke this act to reveal what they had done during the war. With intelligence work it is often the forgotten about and not highly decorated part of the war. However, Emily was one of the greatest codebreakers and even received an OBE in recognition of her work.

The book is fascinating! We see Emily's early beginnings in Queens University Galway as a child whose father was a professor to her later becoming the head of German languages in the college at such a young age. We then see her early code breaking work in WWI and then WWII which sees her in Bletchley Park and later Cairo.

Overall, I loved this book and would definitely recommend reading it! I think it was definitely overdue a book on a female codebreaker during this time and I also find it amazing that her story remained hidden for so long till Uí Chionna found her in the archives while researching a different book. The book is engaging and highly researched and leaves you wanting to read more. Overall an excellent book that I'll definitely reread again in the future.

Favorite quote:
"Those who write the history define the history."

[Catriona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am stunned that it took until 2023 for this book to be published! Queen of Codes is a fascinating biography of Emily Anderson, an incredible woman who was long due her own story. The book provides a detailed account of Anderson's life and work, from her early days as a linguist to her groundbreaking contributions to breaking the German Enigma code.

Ui Chionna's writing style is engaging and informative, bringing Anderson's story to life with vivid descriptions of her work and personal life. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of cryptography, World War II, or the contributions of women to science and technology. Ui Chionna's expert storytelling and meticulous research make for a compelling and inspiring read.

It will be my staple Christmas gift this year.

[Doireann O'B · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great biography of a fascinating women. It’s impressive how much of Anderson’s life and character Uí Chionna has managed to uncover given Anderson’s private personality and the amount of time that has passed since her death, and it’s clear a huge amount of research went into the book. Despite not being something I’m that interested in as a topic (being more drawn to the code breaking side of the work), I actually thought the parts of the book about Anderson’s translations of Beethoven and Mozart’s letters and how her code breaking skills fed into those was one of the best parts of the books. The insights into the codebreaking work that Anderson and others undertook was also interesting of course. The book very easy and enjoyable to read as well as being informative.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book arrived yesterday afternoon and I finished it today, an excellent read. I have read many books on the code breakers of the two world wars and Bletchley Park, but I have never come across Emily Anderson, knowingly. Now I realise that she was responsible for the deciphering of the letters of Mozart and Beethoven, which I have read in books about these composers. As one of the greatest code breakers of the war years this book is long overdue. What an amazing lady, having to fight for equal pay and rank with men and yet remaining totally dedicated to breaking codes, a genius. Well done to Jackie Uí Chionna.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is a very accomplished biography of a fascinating Irish woman who owing to her gender and the nature of her work was unknown to the public at large. The book offers an interesting insight into not only Emily Anderson but the cultural and social history of Galway city, the work of British intelligence in the First World War, Second World War and the inter war period, and the advent of musicology as a growing field in publishing and research. Anderson herself feels a well rounded subject and the author doesn't shy away from giving a true depiction of her. 

[Addie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book was more about British codebreaking in WWI/II and the interwar years with Emily Anderson as an example of the kind of person who gets into codebreaking. But the second half did dive more into her public work as a musicologist and expert of Beethoven and Mozart's letters. As a very private person, due to the nature of her work, the book is largely conjectural and the author makes a lot of assumptions about Anderson's desires and motivations. This leads to quite a bit of circular writing that unnecessarily lengthened the book.

[A M Keary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entering into Emily's world has been delightful - it really is a good read! Her important story is brought to light for the first time through the excellent research of Jackie Ui Chionna. The book is so well referenced yet at the same time approachable and easy to read, quite an achievement. I learnt a lot in the reading from understanding the complexity of translating Mozart and Beethoven plus about the development of what is now GCHQ,

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do love hearing about brilliant, curious women, particularly those who have to put up with claims of being difficult, so this one was right up my alley. I really enjoyed learning about such a fascinating woman and found the writing so compelling, I would have happily read a few hundred oages more!. I had superficially understood that women were part of the code breaking community particularly during WWII but it was quite another thing to read about one of the individuals involved.

[Kat E · Rating 2 out of 5]

An incredibly detailed biography, with some interesting chapters. Overall it felt more about her work as a (obviously very talented) musicologist than her work as a codebreaker, which isn't mentioned in the blurb so was unexpected and less of interest to me. Musicians will probably find this more engaging!

[Susan OBrien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hugely enjoyable account of an amazing woman who achieved so much and was so talented yet whose work went unknown and unacknowledged for so long. She so deserves to have her work and life documented and this book does so in a detailed yet very accessible way. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

[O Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this and learned a lot along the way - about code breaking, Mozart, Beethoven and an impressively independent and talented woman who held her own and made her mark.

[Nicholas Callan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading about this remarkable woman. An amazing story very well written.

[Mairead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but....

[Karen Bussone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating biography of a remarkable woman. I found the person she was to be brilliant and unassuming. She navigated a man’s world on her terms quietly but successfully. .

[Karen Bruin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, I found the book extremely repetitious as if the writer was padding out the life of Anderson.

[Aimee Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half
I’m very much here for writing women back into history but this felt overwritten at times

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

very dusappointing

[Eoin Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb read about a fascinating woman. In the end it was poignant, not just an endless series of accomplishments, but there are some heart wrenching moments as well.
Read it and find out!

[Chris Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absorbing study of a fascinating life. An expertly researched and written work. Look forward to the screen adaptation!