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Secret codes, hidden messages, and cryptic clues—these are nothing to a code breaker worth their salt. Code breakers, also known as cryptanalysts, use a fascinating blend of mathematics, analysis, translation, and intuition to decipher codes. Code breaking has been integral to many war efforts and is perhaps most well-known for the role it played in WWII. According to the University of Cambridge’s NRICH Project (which aims to enrich math experiences for all learners), the breaking of the Enigma code in WWII, which enabled the British to read encrypted German messages, may have shortened the war by two years. If that doesn’t prove just how incredible and important code breaking is, I don’t know what will.
Code breaking isn’t just for wartime, either. Individuals throughout history have used codes to encrypt their diaries and personal correspondence to keep them private. Modern cryptanalysts have been able to decrypt ciphers used in letters by Mary Queen of Scots, and even famous author Beatrix Potter used a code of her own invention to keep her diaries safe from prying eyes. If you want to find books where you can learn even more about the history of code breaking, particularly that of WWI and WWII, keep reading.
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New Releases
The Codebreaker Girl by Gosia Nealon
Release date: August 13, 2024
When Beata joins the Polish Cipher Bureau, she hopes their work to decipher the Enigma Code will help stave off German invasion. But just as they’re meeting with British Intelligence, the Nazis invade. Now Beata and a handsome British Intelligence officer, each drawn in different directions, must flee. Their only hope is to make it to Bletchley Park, where the Polish Cipher Bureau’s work on cracking the Enigma Code won’t go to waste.
The Game Changer by Embassie Susberry
Release date: August 15, 2024
A reporter and a budding tennis star who share a complicated past are brought back together when Hettie Carlin is tasked with covering Althea Gibson’s meteoric rise. Althea isn’t interested in the lime light, especially if it’s being covered by Hettie. But as she faces media bias and discrimination head-on, she realizes Hettie might be the only person who can tell her real story. The Game Changer follows the true story of Althea Gibson, a civil rights icon and the first Black athlete to win a Grand Slam.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Follow these incredible stories from Bletchley Park to Arlington Hall as we learn about the history of women in code breaking.
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Explore the fascinating world of Bletchley Park in this novel by bestseller Kate Quinn. During World War II, three very different women find themselves working side by side as part of the code-breaking team at Bletchley Park. One works as a translator, one on the code-breaking machines, and the third as one of the few female cryptanalysts. But in this high-pressure environment, secrets and betrayal soon tear them apart in their quests to serve their country. Years later, on the eve of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding to Prince Philip, the three are brought back together by an encrypted letter connected to their Bletchley Park past.
Lady Codebreaker by K.D. Alden
A woman looking to trade her small town for a life of adventure finds more than she bargained for when she’s hired by an eccentric billionaire to learn codebreaking. Now, she’s helping head the United States’ fledgling cryptanalysis unit and using her skills to track down rum runners during Prohibition and crack codes as the world hurtles from one world war to another. But in a world run by men, balancing life as a pioneering cryptanalyst, woman, and mother often proves just as challenging as cracking any code.
Code breaking is a fairly niche topic in the world of historical fiction. I always do my best to highlight a diverse array of books from authors of different backgrounds. Unfortunately, in this case, either my research skills—or the publishing world—failed me. This is especially disappointing since an entire unit of African American women served as Army code breakers in Arlington, Virginia, during WWII. Liza Mundy, author of Code Girls, laments the lack of information and documentation about these women, but I hope we’ll learn more in the future. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get a historical fiction book about them in the future. You can find a bit more information about the African American Code Breakers of Arlington Hall here.
Similarly, the role that many Native American groups played as code talkers during both world wars is often overlooked. During WWI, when it was realized that U.S. Army transmissions were being overheard by Germans, a group of Eastern Band Cherokee used the Cherokee language to communicate for the 105th Field Artillery Battalion, 30th Infantry Division, and Choctaw Soldiers from the 142nd and 143rd Infantries, some of whom spoke dialects that had never been written down, helped coordinate attacks leading to much-needed victories according to the National Museum of the United States Army. Additionally, the National WWII Museum cites 14 different Indigenous American nations, including the Diné, Cherokee, Comanche, and Choctaw, who served among the code talkers of World War II. You can read more about what life as a code talker was like for one man in Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez.
If you want to talk books, historical or otherwise, you can find me @rachelsbrittain on most social media, including Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy.
Right now, I’m reading The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse, a novel about a former “Hello Girl” who operated switchboards for the US Army during WWI and has now been drawn back into the world of espionage when her past catches up with her.