The Code Breakers of WW II - America's Great Secret Weapon
The code breakers of WW II ultimately were the ones who helped most to win the war both in the Pacific and Europe. Elizabeth Friedman was a key part of the American code breaking team. In "The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A true Story of Love, Spies and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies, "Jason Fagone weaves a mesmerizing story of this young American and her amazing skills in dealing first with smugglers on the high seas, the Japanese JN-25 code and ultimately Germany's Enigma.
Top Recommendation for November
The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies, by Jason Fagone (2018 - 482 pp)
Elizabeth Friedman was 24 when she left Iowa to find work in Chicago. Her life transformed when she took a job first as a young code breaker in the 1920's tracking bootleggers for the US Coast Guard and blossomed into a career breaking codes for the US during World War II. With her husband, an equally gifted code breaker, the two cracked the Japanese codes and help the Brits with Enigma.