SIGINT history

The Ultra Spy: An Autobiography
by F. W. Winterbotham,
Macmillan, 1989m vi + 258 pp,
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Days of Infamy: MacArthur, Roosevelt, Churchill - The Schocking Truth Revealed
by John Costello,
Pocket Books, 1994, xii + 448 pp.
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Spyglass: An Autobiography
by Helene Deschamps
Holt, 1995, xii + 308 pp,
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The Puzzle Palace: A Report on America's Most Secret Agency
by James Bamford.
Originally published in a hardbound edition (now out of print), James Bamford's classic expose on the National Security Agency was released again in 1983 with a new Afterword in this softbound edition. "There have been glimpses inside the NSA before, but until now no one has published a comprehensive and detailed report on the agency. Mr. Bamford has emerged with everything except the combination to the Director's safe." The New York Times Book Review.
For another reveiw, see Cryptologia, Apr84.
Penguin Books, 1983, 655 pp.
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Venona: Soviet Espionage and the American Response: 1939-1957
by Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner
(Eds.) "The term 'Venona' served as an arbitrary codeword stamped on a relatively small number of documents in order to limit access to a particular cryptanalytic breakthrough. The achievement enabled Western counterintelligence specialists to read portions of more than 2,900 Soviet diplomatic telegrams sent between 1940 and 1948. The encipherment of these telegrams shared a common flaw that left them vulnerable to cryptanalysis. It was that flaw - rather than any commonality of dates, origins, or subject matter - that made the messages a unique and discrete body of documents. American and allied services spent almost four decades deciphering the original texts and then puzzling over their meanings. By the time this effort was formally closed in 1980, the codeword 'Venona' meant, to a handful of witting US Intelligence Community officers, the entire program of cryptanalytic and exploitation activities based on the messages." - >From the preface.
Aegean Park Press (C-75), 1997, xliv + 503 pp.
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Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters, 1939-1942
by Clay Blair
Random House, 1996, xxxii + 813 pp.
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The Contribution of the Cryptographic Bureaus
in the World War

by Yves Gylden
Originally published in Swedish in 1931, this English translation was commissioned, edited, and enhanced by William F. Friedman. It surveys the history of cyrptanalytic breakthroughs during World War I, by all participants, and analyzes their strategic and tactical importance. A useful additional feature is an overview of the state of the art in cryptography and cryptanalysis just prior to the war.
Aegean Park Press (C-18), 1978, viii + 87 pp.
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The Hut Six Story (New Edition)
by Gordon Welchman.
This is a new edition of the classic expose of code breaking successes and methods at Bletchley Park between 1939 and 1945. Hut Six had been tasked with deciphering Enigma signals from the German Army and Air Force. Gordon Welchman, a mathematician, advanced that effort greatly by reinventing, refining, and improving the applicable analytic techniques. By the time his book was published in 1982, Welchman had become a US citizen who, in retirement, continued to work for Mitre Corporation as a consultant on signal security. Although other books on BP and Ultra had preceded it, none had revealed so much about how the Enigma ciphers were actually broken. It wasn't that the Enigma machine itself was insecure. Rather, the insecurity resulted from the way it was used operationally. The British GCHQ, which had perpetuated myths about Enigma's vulnerability, was so upset by its publication that it used its influence with the NSA to have Dr. Welchman's security clearance revoked. As a result, he also lost his position with Mitre. Moreover, he was forced by the NSA, under threat of prosecution, to refrain from discussing such a wide range of topics that, effectively, he was barred from promoting his own book. As a consequence, the original edition sold far fewer copies than might otherwise have been the case. In this new edition, several changes have been made. First, a new Foreword by Alan Stripp is included. More significantly, Part 4 of the original edition, which dealt with contemporary signal security concerns, has been replaced with a 40 page paper published by Welchman in 1986: From Polish Bomba to British Bombe: The Birth of Ultra. Classical Crypto Books is proud to be the exclusive North American distributor of this important new edition of a classic book.
M&M Baldwin (UK), 1997, xiv + 263 pp.
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The Enigma Bulletin is a quasi-periodical devoted to the Enigma cipher machine and related topics. Beginning with the second issue, its scope expanded to include HUMINT as well as SIGINT. It is published by the Enigma Press, in Poland.

No. 1 -- December 1990
The inaugural issue contains four articles and two book reviews in English and two articles in German. The English articles are: The French Contribution to the Breaking of Enigma, Polish Radio Intelligence in the Battle of Monte Cassino, The Polish Cipher Machine Lacida, and a biography of Jerzy Rozycki (1909-1942). Jerzy Rozycki was a key member of the Polish team which originally broke Enigma. The articles in German include a report on work on the Enigma in 1940 and a reminiscence by a cipher machine operator with the German Army in WW II.
For a review, see Cryptologia, Oct91. 72 pp.
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No. 2 -- May 1997
Issue 2, which is entirely in English, contains an Editorial, six articles, two book reviews, a summary of the Hamburg Symposium on Intelligence in the 20th Century, and a bibliography of recent Polish books on intelligence. The articles are: International Historiography about Signal Intelligence; Japanese Cryptologic Preparations for the Second World War; Cicero, Dulles, and Philby 1943-4; The Development of Typex; Air Intelligence Officer: Ferdynand Bobinsky; and Operation Apollo. "After a five year delay, the second issue of The Enigma Bulletin has been published and it has been worth the wait." -- Louis Kruh, Cryptologia, Oct97.
120 pp.
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U.S. Naval Cryptographic Activities in the Phillipines Prior to World War II
by Sheila Carlisle (Ed.)
Aegean Park Press (C-64), vi + 102 pp.
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U.S. Naval Communications Intelligence Activities
by Laurance Safford and J. N. Wenger
Aegean Park Press (C-65), 1994, vi + 85 pp.
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US Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association History Book
by George P. McGinnis (Editor)
Nearly three years in the making, this fascinating, unique, large (9x12), profusely illustrated book will appeal to everyone interested in the history of US Naval cryptology, from breaking enemy codes and ciphers in both world wars to the attack on the USS Liberty in 1967. Realizing that many of its WW II era members were nearing the twilight of their lives, the NCVA set out in 1993 to capture and preserve their memories and stories. The result, this book, is about evenly split between historical and biographical sketches. A few of the highlights are: The Story of the "On the Roof Gang"; Traffic Analysis; The Waves and the US Navy Bombes; The US Marine Corps in COMINT; Pacific Direct Support Units; The Japanese Cipher Machines; Some Observations About the German Enigma and Its Analysis; a cryptologic memoir from US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens; Hawaii, a Short History of a Large Intercept Site; US Coast Guard Participation in COMINT; Russian Language Training; Drama on the Congo; USS Liberty; and COMSEC to SIGSEC, an Exciting Transition.
For a review, see Cryptologia, Jul97.
Turner Publishing Company, 1996, 208 pp.
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The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet
by David Kahn
If you could own only one book on cryptology, this would be the one to choose. David Kahn's classic history of code making and code breaking, which has been unavailable for several years, is back with a new final chapter on computer security issues. This is a revision to the original, unabridged edition.
For reviews, see The Cryptogram, MA97 and Cryptologia, Apr97.
Scribner, 1996, xviii + 1181 pp.
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Listening In, Intercepting German Trench Communications in World War I
by Ernest H. Hinrichs
This book fills a major gap in the history of U.S. communications intelligence. During World War I, the Army's radio intelligence activity operated three types of field collection stations: radio intercept stations, radio direction finding stations, and "listening stations". Listening post operators had three duties: intercepting and decoding German ground telegraph messages, intercepting German trench telephone communications, and monitoring U.S. trench telephone conversations. All three necessitated close proximity to German lines, i.e., at the front-most position. Although interviews and previous memoirs provide insight into other early COMINT activities, until now there has been no firsthand account by a listening station operator. Ernest Hinrichs, a draftee who spoke German fluently, carefully documented his experiences in a personal journal. After the war he wrote this book, based on that journal. Now, more than sixty years later, it has finally been published.
White Mane Publishing Co., 1996, xviii + 148 pp.
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Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, Recollections of the United States Military Telegraph Corps During the Civil War by David Homer Bates
This is a reprint, with a new introduction, of the book originally published in 1907. Between 1861 and 1866, David H. Bates was a cipher operator and then manager of the War Department Telegraph Office. He saw President Lincoln on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day, as Lincoln directed the conduct of the Union forces by telegraph. "Codes and ciphers play a role throughout much of the book and Bates describes the cryptographic techniques used by both sides and shows many examples of their use." Louis Kruh, The Cryptogram, SO96.
For another review, see Cryptologia, Oct96.
Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1995, xxii + 432 pp.
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Codebreaker in the Far East
by Alan Stripp
First-hand account of how the ingenious Brits at Bletchley Park and its Asian outposts broke numerous Japanese codes and ciphers, leading to the Allied victory in Burma.
For a review, see Cryptolog, V17N4.
Oxford University Press, 1995, 204 pp.
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Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II
by John Prados
A monumental, definitive study of how the synthesis of intelligence from all sources, especially code breaking, contributed to the Allied defeat of Japan. Destined to become a modern classic in the field of naval intelligence. "A remarkable contribution, cleverly disguised as a good read," David Kahn. "Combined Fleet Decoded is an amazing work. So much detail, and yet it is very entertaining. Wonderful!" Cycliste.
For other reviews see Cryptologia, Jan96 and Cryptolog, V17N3.
Random House, 1995, 848 pp.
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War Beneath the Sea: Submarine Conflict During World War II
by Peter Padfield
John Wiley and Sons, 1995, 560 pp.
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For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush
by Christopher Andrew.
Examines how U.S. presidents have used and viewed intelligence, including COMINT. In Mr. Andrew's opinion, only four U.S. presidents (George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and George Bush) have effectively exploited their intelligence resources. Mr. Andrew explains how code breaking and signals intelligence (SIGINT) gradually became what George Bush later called a "prime factor" in U.S. foreign policy.
For reviews, see The Cryptogram, SO95 and Cryptologia, Jul95.
HarperCollins, 1995, 660 pp,
POP.
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American Command of the Sea Through Carriers, Codes, and the Silent Service
by Carl Boyd
This is a companion book for The Mariners' Museum exhibit: Carriers, Codes, and Silent Ships: World War II and the New Navy. Written by the author of Hitler's Japanese Confident, it tells the story of how cryptanalysis helped defeat the axis powers in a global war at sea and of how the modern U.S. Navy has learned from that experience. Includes recently declassified documents and never-before published photos from government and private collections.
For reviews see The Cryptogram, MJ96; Cryptologia, Apr96; and Cryptolog, V17N4.
The Mariners' Museum, 1995, 80 pp.
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Marching Orders: The Untold Story of World War II
by Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee has done something so sensible and so striking that you must wonder why he was the first one to do it. Going through more than 14,000 pages of declassified MAGIC decrypts, he cross-correlated them with the chronology of America's involvement in World War II. Doing so reveals answers to many questions over which historians have long argued. Questions like: "Why did Chief of Staff Marshall ignore Churchill's urgent pleas and order General Eisenhower not to capture Berlin?" and "Why did Britain and the United States agree to use nuclear weapons against Japan?" This book makes a powerful case for the role that communications intelligence (COMINT) plays in enhancing our national security.
For reviews see The Cryptogram, ND95; Cryptologia, Jan96; and Cryptolog, V17N3.
Note: this book is now out of print and quantities are limited.
Crown Publishers, 1995, 608 pp.
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The Zimmermann Telegram and its Cryptographic Background
by W. F. Friedman and C. J. Mendelsohn
This is an edited version of the classified Signal Corps Bulletin which Barbara Tuchman, author of The Zimmermann Telegram, tried but failed to get access to prior to the original publication of her best-selling history. (Note: she finally succeeded after it was declassified in 1965.) For a first-rate history of the event, Ms. Tuchman's book (see below) is unsurpassed. But, for insight into the cryptologic aspects of the case by one of the world's leading cryptanalysts, this is the book to read. Aegean Park Press (C-13), 1994, viii + 57 pp.
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Navajo Weapon
by S. McClain
This is the epic story of the Navajo Code Talkers. In early 1942 the United States Marine Corps recruited 29 Navajos for a pilot COMSEC program. Since hardly anybody not living with the Navajos knew their language, they could pass messages without fear of compromise when intercepted. Security was further enhanced by use of a code, in Navajo, devised by the Code Talkers. Despite a long history of broken promises and harsh treatment from the U.S. Government, the Navajo people rose to meet our call for help. By the end of WW II, more than 400 Code Talkers had contributed, at the front, to all our major victories in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa.
For a review see Cryptologia, Jan95.
Books Beyond Borders, 1994, 304 pp,
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Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park
by F.H. Hinsley & Alan Stripp (Editors)
A best-selling anthology of individual contributions describing the extraordinary breadth of WW II code-breaking activities at the British Government Code and Cypher School (later the Government Communication Headquarters), in the words of the participants. Do not confuse this book with David Kahn's The Codebreakers.
For reviews see The Cryptogram, MA94 and Cryptologia, Jan94.
Oxford University Press, 1994, 321 pp.
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Best-Kept Secret: Canadian Secret Intelligence in the Second World War
by John Bryden
Much has been written about the British and American successes in cryptanalysis during the Second World War but until this book, not nearly as much had been known about those of our Canadian allies. At the start of the war, Canada had virtually no capability. But before long, with the help of Herbert Yardley of American Black Chamber notoriety, it had a team breaking codes and ciphers from Vichy France, Japan, and other countries.
Lester Publishing, 1993, 390 pp,
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The Ultra-Magic Deals: And the Most Secret Special Relationship, 1940-1946
by Bradley F. Smith
Describes the cryptanalysis cooperation between the US and Britain against the Axis powers. For a review, see Cryptologia, Jul93.
Presidio Press, 1993, 276 pp,
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Attack on Yamamoto
by Col. Carroll V. Glines
On April 14, 1943, three Navy radio intercept stations simultaneously copied a certain superenciphered Japanese coded message. At one of the sites, Marine Lt. Col. Alva B. Lasswell, an experienced cryptanalyst and Japanese linguist, set to work. Before long he realized that they'd hit the jackpot. The message contained the itinerary of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor. But most of the locations and times in the message were unreadable because the code had been changed recently. Realizing the possibilities, all hands at all three sites pitched in. Four days later, in one of the longest fighter intercept missions ever, Yamamoto's plane was shot down. But that's not the end of this exciting story.
Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1993, 242 pp.
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Hitler's Japanese Confident, General Oshima Hiroshi and MAGIC Intelligence
by Carl Boyd
Describes the incredible gold mine of German intelligence obtained when the U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Service cracked the Japanese diplomatic (Purple) cipher machine in 1940. Unknown to General Oshima Hiroshi, Japan's ambassador to Berlin, his detailed reports on Germany's war plans were being decoded and read in Washington. "A fascinating study. To read it is comparable to having been 'inside the loop' during the critical years when MAGIC was unraveling the secrets of Japan's diplomatic communications." R. J. C. Butow.
For a review, see Cryptologia, Jul93.
The University Press of Kansas, 1993, 272 pp.
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Rommel and the Secret War In North Africa: 1941-1943
by Janusz Piekalkiewicz
Both sides in the North African campaign made effective use of signals intelligence. The British, of course, had their Ultra. On the other side, the streak of brilliant operations by the Desert Fox was made possible by information gathered by Long-Range Reconnaissance Company 621. Its decimation by the Australian 9th Division was the turning point of the campaign. Numerous B&W photographs amplify the text in this large format (8x11) book.
For a review, see Cryptologia, Jan93.
Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1992, 239 pp.
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MacArthur's ULTRA, Codebreaking and the War Against Japan
by Edward J. Drea
Describes how successfully breaking the codes and ciphers of the Japanese Army influenced MacArthur's strategy and helped attain victory. By early 1944, "U.S. analysts were deciphering more than twenty thousand Japanese Army messages per month. This remarkable achievement and its effects on MacArthur's campaigns form the core of this book."
For reviews see The Cryptogram, JF95 and Cryptologia, Apr92.
The University Press of Kansas, 1992, 296 pp.
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The SIGINT Secrets
by Nigel West (pseudonym for Rupart Allason)
A history of British signals intelligence from 1900 to today. Nice complement to Hinsley and Stripp's Codebreakers, providing historical context and information about subsequent developments.
For a review, see Cryptolog, V17N4.
Quill (William Morrow), 1990, 347 pp.
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Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How it was Read by the Allies in World War Two
by Wladyslaw Kozaczuk
According to David Kahn, "This book celebrates the unassuming men who performed one of the greatest intelligence feats of all time. It assembles on the bright stage of history the Polish codebreakers who solved Germany's Enigma cipher machine. Using human and documentary sources in Polish, English, French and German, Wladyslaw Kozaczuk has written what may become the definitive account of an accomplishment that, during World War Two, determined the fates of thousands." Three appendices, written by Marian Rejewski and extending over 51 pages, detail the methods used by the Poles in breaking the Enigma machine. A fourth appendix (28 pages) by Kasparek and Woytak, describe Polish and British methods of solution. This is the second English edition of W kregu Enigmy, originally published in Warsaw in 1979. It was translated and edited by Christopher Kasparek.
University Publication of America, 1985, 348 pp,
POS.
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At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor
by Gordon W. Prange
Penguin Books, 1982, xvi + 873 pp.
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The Zimmermann Telegram
by Barbara W. Tuchman
It was 1917 and World War I was bogged down. Britain wanted desperately for the USA to join in the fight against Germany but President Wilson was firmly neutral. Then a telegram from the German Foreign Secretary to the President of Mexico was intercepted by the British and decoded in Room 40. It offered Mexico the return of its lost territories if it would join Germany and Japan in an invasion of the United States. The rest, as they say, is history, but with a twist. The story, by a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, reads like a spy thriller. (Also see the book by W. F. Friedman and C. J. Mendelsohn, above.)
Ballatine Books, 1958 and 1966, xii + 244 pp.
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The Origin and Development of the Army Security Agency, 1917-1947
Aegean Park Press (C-16), 1978, x + 51 pp.
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The History of Codes and Ciphers in the United States Prior to WW I
by Wayne G. Barker (Editor)
Aegean Park Press (C-20), 1978, x + 159 pp.
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The History of Codes and Ciphers in the United States During WW I
by Wayne G. Barker (Editor)
Aegean Park Press (C-21), 1979, vi + 263 pp.
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The History of Codes and Ciphers in the United States During the Period between the World Wars, Part I 1919-1929
by Wayne G. Barker (Editor)
Aegean Park Press (C-22), 1979, vi + 186 pp.
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The Origin and Development of the National Security Agency
by George A. Brownell
Aegean Park Press (C-35), x + 98 pp.
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The American Black Chamber
by Herbert O. Yardley
Aegean Park Press (C-52), 375 pp.
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The History of Codes and Ciphers in the United States During the Period between the World Wars, Part II 1930-1939
by Wayne G. Barker (Editor)
Aegean Park Press (C-54), 1989, viii + 99 pp.
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Secret Ciphers of the 1876 Election
by D. Beaird Glover
Aegean Park Press (C-57), 1991, vi + 149 pp.
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Investigation of Pearl Harbor Attack
by Joint Committee, US Congress
Aegean Park Press (M-1), xvi + 560 pp.
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War Secrets in the Ether
by Wilhelm F. Flicke
Aegean Park Press (M-2), x + 234 pp.
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The Anatomy of Two Traitors
by W. Barker and Rodney E. Coffman
Aegean Park Press (M-4), 131 pp.
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