The Bombe Breakthrough

by Dermot Turing

Guidebook for the permanent exhibition in Hut 11A of Bletchley Park

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

British solicitor and author. Nephew of Alan Turing.

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book at Bletchley Park after touring the exhibit in Huts 11 & 11A because the exhibits are not as clear as I would like on how (logically and mechanically) the bombe machines actually worked. This book was pretty good at giving additional details, and the diagrams were helpful. It was very readable, and actually would likely be excellent for a more general audience who wanted some context and “life as a code breaker” tidbits. It’s a really good read if you can’t actually get to Bletchley Park (United Kingdom) and would like some easy-to-digest information about a major aspect of cryptological work done at the Park, and it’s also pretty good as an additional supplement if you can go see the exhibits.
I personally would have preferred more technical step by step breakdown of “all the boring details” of how the bombe was used and operated, but I concede that might make it too dry for some readers.