Oxford University Press Colossus: The secrets of Bletchley Park's code-breaking computers

It saved countless lives, but the Colussus project has stayed under the surface of history until very recently. Copeland (philosophy, U. of Canterbury, New Zealand and director of the Turing Archive for the History of Computing) has succeeded at getting fascinating narratives of the planning, building and operating of the Colussi from their designers, builders, theorists, codebreakers, testers and operators, and also provides a dozen technical appendices for those who want to dig deeper into the inner workings of what was the world's first large-scale digital computer. This is a paperback reprint of a book first published in 2006. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) The American ENIAC is customarily regarded as the first electronic computer. In this fascinating volume, Jack Copeland rewrites the history of computer science, arguing that in reality Colossus--the giant computer built in Bletchley Park by the British secret service during World War II--predates ENIAC by two years. Until very recently, much about the Colossus machine was shrouded in secrecy, largely because the code-breaking algorithms employed during World War II remained in use by the British security services until a short time ago. Copeland has brought together memoirs of veterans of Bletchley Park--the top-secret headquarters of Britain's secret service--and others who draw on the wealth of declassified information to illuminate the crucial role Colossus played during World War II. A must read for anyone curious about code-breaking or World War II espionage, Colossus offers a fascinating insider's account of the world's first giant computer, the great-great-grandfather of the massive computers used today by the CIA and the National Security Agency. Autorid: B. Jack Copeland