The Secret Listeners: How the Y Service Intercepted the German Codes for Bletchley Park - Hardcover

McKay, Sinclair

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845137639 ISBN 13: 9781845137632

Verlag: Aurum, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

352pages. 24x15x4cm. Relié. Ils s'étaient connus en 1944, à leur sortie de l'ombre. L'un, paysan ccmmuniste autodidacte d'esprit missionnaire, s'engageait dans le militantisme syndical et politique, l'autre, étudiant frustré de sa course aux diplômes, s'élançait dans le journalisme de témoignage ccmme correspondant de guerre. Durant 40 ans, ils se retrouvèrent ainsi aux quatre coins du monde, le premier à la pointe des hautes affaires de l'agro-alimentaire, le second à l'avant-scène du grand reportage. Et, fidèles à leurs origines, ils revenaient se replonger ensemble, avec délices, dans la fraîcheur intacte de leur première rencontre. Mais brutalement, à la sortie d'un hiver, -cinq autres déjà-, sonna l'heure de la dernière. Et le paysan dit à l'étudiant: Si les médecins ne se sont pas trompés, qui m'accordent de six mois à un an de vie, je viendrai chez toi, dans les Pyrénées, en mai, et nous finirons de parler tous les deux, sur ta terrasse, face aux sommets. Neuf jours après, hélas, il s'en allait. Alors, surmontant sa peine et ses scrupules et avec l'appui de témoins de tous bords, humbles ou grands, l'étudiant s'est décidé à ccmbler ce mou de conversation. Car il connaissait le désir profond du Gavroche de Noé, qui avait relevé l'extravagant défi de jouer au milliardaire rouge: Je ccmpte sur toi pour que l'on sache, un jour, qui j'étais vraiment. La révélation, dans toute la rigueur de l'amitié, est bouleversante.

Über diesen Titel

Críticas

'As McKay argues in this well-told story, the Y Service has been "sadly and curiously" uncelebrated. Yet were it not for all those encoded messages relayed with such care, the codebreakers at Bletchley would have had little to go on. It was their efforts that made the revolutionary leaps of Bletchley possible. They should be commemorated properly as having played their parts in one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, he says. And he has done them proud.'

(Brian MacArthur Daily Telegraph)

'The Secret Listeners draws our attention to the important contribution made by modest, patriotic men and women engaged in war work where individual decorations were rarely awarded and secrecy demanded that even their closest relatives were denied an insight into their contribution to the Allied victory.’

(Times Literary Supplement)

‘Sinclair McKay’s account of this secret war of the airwaves is as painstakingly researched and fascinating as his bestselling The Secret Life Of Bletchley Park, and an essential companion to it.’

(Daily Mail)

‘McKay’s focus is rather on the personal experiences of the individual Y Service operators — it brings home not only the reality of what these people were doing but also the daily privations endured with remarkable resilience by so many in that war. As with those at Bletchley, the silence of that generation, their disciplined restraint for decades afterwards, is as impressive as their achievements. They felt the powerful pull of common cause and (mostly) had the privilege of knowing that their contribution was significant. Awful as it was for much of the time, for many nothing that followed ever quite lived up to it. We should be grateful that the survivors are talking now.’

(Alan Judd Spectator)

'The veterans who monitored radio traffic and transcrived Morse code are given full, overdue credit in this intriguing book'

(Saga Magazine)

'McKay’s story of the wireless interceptors is one of willing amateurs and gifted eccentrics, of patience, accuracy, and endurance. A fine book with a genuinely new angle on a familiar topic, full of vivid and fascinating characters.’

(Military History Monthly)

'Author Sinclair McKay has once again unearthed a fascinating compendium of memories from surviving veterans whose vital contribution to the war effort had been shrouded in secrecy.'

(Bicester Review)

‘Their contribution enabled the code-breakers to achieve their break-through, something that, in turn, shortened the war and saved countless lives.’

(Good Book Guide)

'A fascinating read'

(Milton Keynes Citizen)

‘Sinclair McKay has gathered together memories, from published works and from interviews with surviving veterans. This book is full of delightful episodes.’

(The Book Dad)

Reseña del editor

Behind the celebrated code-breaking at Bletchley Park lies another secret...

The men and women of the ‘Y’ (for Wireless’) Service were sent out across the world to run listening stations from Gibraltar to Cairo, intercepting the German military’s encrypted messages for decoding back at the now-famous Bletchley Park mansion.

Such wartime postings were life-changing adventures – travel out by flying boat or Indian railways, snakes in filing cabinets and heat so intense the perspiration ran into your shoes - but many of the secret listeners found lifelong romance in their far-flung corner of the world. Now, drawing on dozens of interviews with surviving veterans, Sinclair McKay tells their remarkable story at last.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Aurum
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1845137639
• ISBN 13: 9781845137632
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 352