Everyone knows the story of Enigma and secret codebreaking in the Second World War: the triumph of Bletchley Park over world-class cipher technology. Except that excellence in codebreaking was nearly betrayed by incompetence in codemaking. German codebreakers were effective and Allied codes and ciphers were weak. With both sides reading each other’s codes, the biggest secret of all – that the codes had been broken – was now at risk. Sooner or later, on one side or the other, the cipher failures would become known, the systems would be changed and the most valuable source of intelligence would dry up.
Join Spy Museum Honorary Board Member Dermot Turing as he reveals a very different perspective on the Enigma story. Building on decades of research and his unique position as Alan Turing’s nephew, Turing has recently written Enigma Traitors: The Struggle to Lose the Cipher War. In this evening’s talk, Turing will explore the obstinacy, overconfidence, and ostrich-like behavior on both sides and why he believes this made the codebreakers’ contest a race to fail first! Turing will pull back the veil on the treachery, betrayal, and deception of the Enigma traitors and shed light on the people who fought behind the scenes for cipher security.
Following his presentation, the audience will have a chance to ask their own questions.
Enigma Traitors will be available for sale and signing at the program and online.
The in-person event will have open seating available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Assistive listening devices will be available for the in-person program.
Auto-generated closed captioning will be available for this program when viewed online.