National Bestseller
NPR Best Book of the Year
“Not all superheroes wear capes, and Elizebeth Smith Friedman should be the subject of a future Wonder Woman movie.” —The New York Times
Joining the ranks of Hidden Figures and In the Garden of Beasts, the incredible true story of the greatest codebreaking duo that ever lived, an American woman and her husband who invented the modern science of … codebreaking duo that ever lived, an American woman and her husband who invented the modern science of cryptology together and used it to confront the evils of their time, solving puzzles that unmasked Nazi spies and helped win World War II.
In 1916, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shakespeare expert Elizebeth Smith went to work for an eccentric tycoon on his estate outside Chicago. The tycoon had close ties to the U.S. government, and he soon asked Elizebeth to apply her language skills to an exciting new venture: code-breaking. There she met the man who would become her husband, groundbreaking cryptologist William Friedman. Though she and Friedman are in many ways the “Adam and Eve” of the NSA, Elizebeth’s story, incredibly, has never been told.
In The Woman Who Smashed Codes, Jason Fagone chronicles the life of this extraordinary woman, who played an integral role in our nation’s history for forty years. After World War I, Smith used her talents to catch gangsters and smugglers during Prohibition, then accepted a covert mission to discover and expose Nazi spy rings that were spreading like wildfire across South America, advancing ever closer to the United States. As World War II raged, Elizebeth fought a highly classified battle of wits against Hitler’s Reich, cracking multiple versions of the Enigma machine used by German spies. Meanwhile, inside an Army vault in Washington, William worked furiously to break Purple, the Japanese version of Enigma—and eventually succeeded, at a terrible cost to his personal life.
Fagone unveils America’s code-breaking history through the prism of Smith’s life, bringing into focus the unforgettable events and colorful personalities that would help shape modern intelligence. Blending the lively pace and compelling detail that are the hallmarks of Erik Larson’s bestsellers with the atmosphere and intensity of The Imitation Game, The Woman Who Smashed Codes is page-turning popular history at its finest.
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This book is fantastic! Move over, Bletchley Park, you have met your match. While not a feminist manifesto, the story of Elizabeth Smith is the absolute best argument that I have ever encountered regarding women’s inherent worth in any endeavor, especially those dominated (should I say protected?) by men. News flash: Women are as valuable as men and should be acknowledged, rewarded, and honored for their contributions.
A must read for anyone interested in code breaking and women’s studies. This is a true story about a woman who was able to break coded messages from the prohibition era through world war 2. Her skills at seeing patterns helped the United States break the enigma code at a time when Great Britain was also working on this at Bletchley Park. Neither country informed the other of having broken the code. The story reveals how women were not treated fairly or acknowledged for their contributions in the covert world. This is a page turning book full of intrigue. Amazing!
So far a waste of time. Read about 60.pages and disappointed. I am not a code breaker so do not need to learn the details of codes and ciphers.
Loved learning about this important smart and under appreciated woman. I/we as citizens are wise to know about bullies and egotists like J Edgar Hoover. There were parts of this book that totally grabbed my attention but someone needs to edit it for length wordiness and unnecessary content. Keep it interesting!!
Excellent book
Another great biography of a woman’s fantastic contributions, whose work was taken for someone else’s credit
Would not read!
What a great story of our early code breakers. I loved it.
It explored a part of American life I had never known about. Real people doing extraordinary things for their country.
An interesting introduction to methods and history of codebreaking, although not as easy to understand as I had hoped. While it does give credit to a female pioneer in these methods, one who did not receive proper credit at the time, the author seems to acknowledge the facts, but not necessarily the unfairness, of this.
I’ve read a lot about code breaking in England during WWII, but didn’t know anything about American code breaking. Fascinating story. So much pressure was on these people and they performed!
Well-written and informative about a fascinating couple and their work.
Great read about code breaking in WWII, by a genius code-cracking woman, who was quite unheralded because she was a woman, and in the ‘40’s women were not taken very seriously.
A slow beginning, but once the characters are explained and are doing the real work of code breaking, it was terrific.
I am always interested in the acomplishments of women, so seldom mentioned in the history books. This was a great book to read and also pick up tidbits of real history as well. Many times I caught myself thinking wow…so that is why that is or happened.
While reading about this remarkable woman and her romantic husband I was amazed at a world behind the scenes of political intrigue, rum-running and Nazis! This is an opportunity to see behind the scenes, learn how one woman impacted the safety of our country and Hollywood MUST see this as a blockbuster! Hidden Figures made us stand and cheer for those unsung ladies. This is even MORE amazing!!!
This is such a powerful story in this era of Women who are robbed of their accomplishments by self-centered men who can’t stand the thought of a woman being smarter and more accomplished than they are. I can see this being a very powerful movie to inspire girls and young women to reach higher, and not blink when they out- muscle men try to push them down.
This a wonderful view of WWII history and how complicated the code breaking work draw you in. I was amazed at how expansive the challenges were.
Wonderful book about one particular woman who made contributions to the war effort without expectation of recognition. Great role model for young women.
Excellent true account of Elisabeth Smith Freidman codebreaker during WW II. Great read…