Unbreakable

Starred review from September 2, 2022

Gr 5-8-Deciphering the infamous German military code-helping to end the Second World War-began with the mistaken delivery of an early Enigma code machine to a Polish customs office in 1929. But the focus here is mostly on the heroic work done in the 1930s and 1940s by Polish, French, and British spies and mathematicians, around the clock and under tremendous, often life-threatening, pressure. Some readers will be familiar with computing pioneer Alan Turing and his significant work on the codebreaking project at England's Bletchley Park. But Barone brings much deserved attention to some fascinating figures not often celebrated in popular histories, from Hans Thilo-Schmidt, a German spy and brother of a prominent military officer who secretly shared intelligence with French counterparts for years; to the Polish electronics expert Antoni Palluth, who worked to reverse-engineer the Enigma machine; and British undergraduate Harry Hinsley, whose behavioral insights and math wizardry helped the team at Bletchley Park find new ways of thinking about the code. A showdown between a Gestapo officer and Palluth's wife, Jadwiga, is particularly harrowing. Historical photos highlight important figures and war machinery throughout the text, though the mostly unbroken layout will appeal more to stronger readers. The volume concludes with an annotated time line, extensive bibliography, and a dozen pages of meticulous source notes. VERDICT Engagingly told as a grim race against time, deeply researched, and with ample space for the play of differing perspectives and outsized personalities, this titles is highly recommended for upper elementary and middle school libraries.-Bob Hassett

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 24, 2022
“It was unlike anything codebreakers had seen before.… No one could break the German Enigma.” Imparting urgency and drive to a telling that begins well before WWII, Barone (Race to the Bottom of the Earth) writes a thriller-like chronicle of the high-stakes quest to decipher the German Enigma machine. The narrative highlights both the complexity of the machine’s encryption and the extensive machinations involved in deciphering it, starting with the machine being inadvertently sent to Polish customs in 1929, an event that offered insight into its make and assembly. Vivid portrayals describe the individuals involved in myriad countries’ intelligence efforts, including French Intelligence Bureau agent Rodolphe Lemoine; German civil servant Hans-Thilo Schmidt, who sold information to the French government; and Britain’s network at Bletchley Park, which included computing pioneer Alan Turing as well as thousands of members of the Women’s Royal Navy Service. It’s a breathlessly told account of clandestine operations whose success contributed to the war’s end. Maps and b&w photographs throughout offer insight to both the mechanical and the historical. Back matter includes an epilogue, timeline, and extensive bibliography. Ages 10–14. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

Starred review from August 15, 2022
A meticulous accounting of the marathon race to crack the military code the Germans thought was unbreakable. The story begins 10 years before the start of World War II, when the German Embassy demanded the immediate return of a box accidentally mailed to the customs office in Warsaw. Intrigued, Polish intelligence officers dismantled, examined, and reassembled the machine inside before doing so. It was an Enigma machine, a new device for encrypting German military transmissions. Now the Poles had seen the secret machine. A few years later, a German spy sold the French information on how Enigma operated. But the machine could be set in an astronomical number of ways. Alan Turing, a genius British cryptographer working at Bletchley Park, invented the bombe, a machine designed to test the different possibilities. But actually breaking Enigma required code books recovered by British naval officers searching captured German ships--as well as the labor of thousands of enlisted women from the Women's Royal Navy Service who ran the actual bombes. Their grueling cooperative efforts are estimated to have shortened the war by three years. It's an engrossing, complex story, and Barone tells it exceptionally well, with a fluidity and clarity that bely the number of people, not to say countries, involved. Historic photographs illustrate the account, and an epilogue tells what happened to the major players after the war. A riveting true-life adventure story combining brains, courage, and heart. (author's note, map, timeline, bibliography, endnotes) (Nonfiction. 10-16)

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Starred review from March 1, 2023
Barone (Race to the Bottom of the Earth, rev. 5/21) delivers another impressive feat of narrative nonfiction storytelling. In the years following World War I, Germany developed a virtually unbreakable code, called Enigma, with the help of a complicated machine. One such machine fortuitously fell into the hands of Poland, enabling their ­codebreakers to duplicate the machine and crack the code -- until the Germans added layers of complexity. As Hitler rose to power, the threat of military aggression became obvious, increasing the stakes substantially; the code was central to military operations, particularly the German naval strategy. France, England, and Poland now had extra motivation to cooperate with one another to break the code; and break it they did, but not before an extensive game of ­cat-and-mouse with Germany. ­Accompanied by occasional ­black-and-white ­photos, Barone's suspenseful text introduces a sprawling cast of characters, with the epilogue updating readers on what happened afterward to the central ­players. A timeline, bibliography, and source notes are appended. Jonathan Hunt

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from October 15, 2022
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* British mathematician Alan Turing may be the best known of the Enigma machine code breakers, but as this absorbing book attests, he wasn't the only one. Polish ciphers Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski, and Jerzy R�życki were the first to identify the Enigma machine after it was mistakenly mailed to Poland instead of Germany in 1929. Short, lively chapters recount the Nazis' horrific path of destruction across Europe. At the same time, the book tells the stories of the spies, military men, scientists, mathematicians, and code breakers working in Poland, France, and England and their race against time, and each other, to break the code and stop the war. German U-boats carried Enigma machines so the British navy desperately tried to capture the boats before the crew destroyed the machines. Stories of lesser-known key players are vividly described--like that of larcenist and counterfeiter Rodolphe Lemoine of the French Intelligence Bureau, his asset, German informant Hans-Thilo Schmidt, and Jadwiga Pulluth, Polish underground member who bluffed her way out of being arrested by the Gestapo more than once. Historical photos, first-person quotes, and well-sourced back matter support suspenseful writing, especially when it's describing how the code breakers fled for safety as the Germans advanced. This resource recounts what became of all the players after the war and includes a time line, bibliography, and endnotes. Highly recommended.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2023
Barone (Race to the Bottom of the Earth, rev. 5/21) delivers another impressive feat of narrative nonfiction storytelling. In the years following World War I, Germany developed a virtually unbreakable code, called Enigma, with the help of a complicated machine. One such machine fortuitously fell into the hands of Poland, enabling their codebreakers to duplicate the machine and crack the code -- until the Germans added layers of complexity. As Hitler rose to power, the threat of military aggression became obvious, increasing the stakes substantially; the code was central to military operations, particularly the German naval strategy. France, England, and Poland now had extra motivation to cooperate with one another to break the code; and break it they did, but not before an extensive game of cat-and-mouse with Germany. Accompanied by occasional black-and-white photos, Barone's suspenseful text introduces a sprawling cast of characters, with the epilogue updating readers on what happened afterward to the central players. A timeline, bibliography, and source notes are appended.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)