Capturing Enigma by Stephen Harper

by Stephen Harper

The incredible story of how HMS Petard and her gallant crew seized priceless German Enigma codebooks from a sinking U-boat is one of the greatest stories of the Second World War. With the use of vivid eyewitness accounts, the author describes how this operation changed the course of the entire war.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published October 25, 1999

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Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much more about the general exploits of HMS Petard which therefore includes a brief mention of the capture of the papers needed to break into Germany's naval Enigma codes. Vast, unacknowledged bravery (at the time, due to security) for sure.

I got a little irritated at the bulk of the book which chronicled various other wartime missions with nothing at all to do with Enigma. Interesting in its own right - though occasionally reading a little like a list of diary entries: "went here, did that; dry-docked; went there, did this; ..." - it was not what I expected from a book with this title.

[Kevin Holland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heavy but interesting read on the GPS Pretoria ship, which played several key roles during the second world war.

[Jesper Jorgensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although it was of paramount importance that the Allies had captured an Enigma code machine, it was not a story that caught me for real.