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  • The Secret Life of Bletchley Park

  • By: Sinclair Mckay
  • Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
  • Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (432 ratings)
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The Secret Life of Bletchley Park cover art

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park

By: Sinclair Mckay
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
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Summary

Bletchley Park was where one of the war’s most famous - and crucial - achievements was made: the cracking of Germany’s “Enigma” code in which its most important military communications were couched. This country house in the Buckinghamshire countryside was home to Britain’s most brilliant mathematical brains, like Alan Turing, and the scene of immense advances in technology - indeed, the birth of modern computing. The military codes deciphered there were instrumental in turning both the Battle of the Atlantic and the war in North Africa. Plenty has been written about the boffins, and the code breaking, fictional and non-fiction.

Sinclair McKay’s book is the first history for the general listener of life at Bletchley Park, and an amazing compendium of memories from people now in their 80s - of skating on the frozen lake in the grounds, of a youthful Roy Jenkins, useless at code breaking, of the hijinks at nearby accommodation hostels - and of the implacable secrecy that meant girlfriend and boyfriend working in adjacent huts knew nothing about each other’s work.

©2012 Sinclair Mckay (P)2012 Audible Ltd
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about The Secret Life of Bletchley Park

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Lots of repetition

The story of Bletchley is fascinating and truly British in its brilliance, however this book was over long, covered some information twice but from a different angle and at times felt very superficial. Not for me I'm afraid.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

What disappointed you about The Secret Life of Bletchley Park?

Plodding style detracts totally from a Fascinating subject

What did you like best about this story?

The subject

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Gordon Griffin?

Needed rewriting, not a change of narrator

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Secret Life of Bletchley Park?

The endless repeats of facts about people that had already been disclosed

Any additional comments?

Read like a degree thesis or a serialisation stuck together without editing

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Good stories, terrible writing

It seems to me that this book was written in a much different order to the way it appears. Too often do we get re-introduced to veterans that we already know about and on various occasions hear about the exact same story as was in previous chapters!
Although the collation of veteran accounts and stories is very intriguing and pertinent, the manner in which it is laid out did not allow me to enjoy it as I think it should. This, I believe, could be easily fixed with decent editing.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

They've kept this secret for so long!

Yes, I vaguely knew what they did there, and perhaps even a bit about how they did it, but what astonished me were the names of the politicians involved, and how they filtered the decoded messages, and even how people I knew at university and my next-door neighbour were involved at various levels. Every chapter showed me a new aspect and how the politicians acted very strongly (perhaps wisely, or not) on the information. What it did not cover were the technicalities of Enigma which may have gone over my head, or personalities such as Turing and his input. It's one of those books that stay with you so you can chat over dinners and score points about what you know. Absolutely fascinating. Definitely not a light read but not heavy going at all. I could pick it up and start again after a long break.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

This is an amazing insight into a very important place. Totally underestimated at the time of its working, this book highlights the many ordinary men and women who took on the role as code breakers and managed to shorten the Second World War by 2 years.
Would highly recommend this book to anyone and feel a definite listen to teenager brought up it a world where there are so many computers. This book gives a great insight into the start of our computer world. The narration is brilliant, exceptionally well read, clear and easy to understand.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

An important study, disappointingly told

Utterly brilliant subject matter revealed by no doubt excellent research, but in my view worthy of a more analytical, less gossipy style. Narrator is OK, but often gets the emphasis wrong.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Informative

Enjoyable story of life at Bletchley Park. This tells the story of the people who worked there. How could so many people work in one location and keep it a secret.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating and Enthralling

A book that drags you in and does not let go until the very end.
The excellent narration of the story really brings it to life, and gives accurate insight into the way people thought at the time.
This book is a mere scratch on the surface of the honours due to the men and women who worked at Bletchley Park in WWII. Their efforts saved a multitude of lives, for which they have gone unrecognised for so long.
As more time passes, their sacrifice, hard work, and regular leaps of genius are gradually forgotten, but this book transports the reader, giving them a real insight into the hearts and minds of the generation who achieved what they did. For non-British readers, it will also give some small insight into the psychology of our little island fortress, and how we love her so.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very Interesting

I enjoyed this book. It provided a different angle to that of the well known movie. Narrated well too.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Intriguing story

A very informative and fascinating book throughout it. The narrator was very good as well.

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2 people found this helpful