10-15-2020, 12:28 AM | #1 | |
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The Secret Life of Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay
It's time to discuss our book for October, 2020 -- The Secret Life of Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay
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Reminder: This discussion is open to ALL MobileRead members, regardless of whether they participated in the nomination or voting. However, we do, emphatically, ask that you follow the basic rule of expressing your opinions of the book in a collegial manner, and that you refrain from personal comments but stick to the book at hand. Thank you, and welcome! |
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10-15-2020, 12:30 AM | #2 |
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FYI, I'm still waiting for this book from either of my libraries, so I might be a bit late to the party. I'll be avoiding this thread for a week or so (book should be available by the weekend, if I've read the Overdrive tea leaves accurately.)
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10-15-2020, 07:31 AM | #3 |
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For those inclined - Melvin Bragg's excellent programme for the BBC In Our Time featured Alan Turing this week. You can listen to or download the episode HERE.
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10-15-2020, 12:15 PM | #4 | |
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I really enjoyed this book. |
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10-15-2020, 01:51 PM | #5 |
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Did anyone else have the set of The Imitation Game visualized while they read this book? I think that made it a more interesting book for me. Excellent movie about Alan Turing if you have not seen it.
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10-15-2020, 02:30 PM | #6 |
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I too was thinking of the movie. I've have seen it. I may give it another go as it's available for me to watch.
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10-15-2020, 03:40 PM | #7 |
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Here are some links to supplemental information fur further reading about codebreaking and WWII, including articles about some of the people mentioned in the book.
https://www.gchq.gov.uk/section/advi...tart=0&rows=20 |
10-16-2020, 03:09 PM | #8 | ||
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astrangerher thanks for the great link! I’m really looking forward to listening to the Turning episode, and exploring the others. What a goldmine. Bookworm_Girl thank you very much for the movie reference! I can’t wait to see it, and plan to rent it this weekend. |
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10-16-2020, 05:05 PM | #9 | |
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10-16-2020, 05:19 PM | #10 |
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The book mentions a fiction thriller Enigma by Robert Harris which sounded interesting. I just discovered that it was made into a movie in 2001 and starred Kate Winslet, Saffron Burrows and Dougray Scott.
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10-18-2020, 11:19 AM | #11 |
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As I was reading I noticed a reference to an expert Chess player, Hugh Alexander. I wondered if that was C. H. O’D Alexander who was an International Master player and twice British Chess champion. And it was indeed he. Alexander was born in Cork, Ireland in 1909. He wrote under the name given above (The O’D stood for O’Donel) and he did generally go by Hugh Alexander (His full name was Conal Hugh O’Donel Alexander).
He isn’t given all that much time in the book other than that the ladies considered him a “blonde bombshell” but he was a very significant figure in Bletchley and a close associate of Alan Turing. After the war he became head of the British Cryptanalysis Section until he retired. He died in 1974. As a chess player Alexander was very impressive. He won games against several Chess Grandmasters including one against Botvinnik in 1946. Two years later Botvinnik won the world championship after Alekhine’s death (Botvinnik almost certainly would have beaten Alekhine.) Alexander was never able to become a Grandmaster as his Government job prevented him from travelling to important tournaments—especially those in Russia. But then Chess was basically an avocation. I do have one of the last books he wrote before his death. A Book of Chess Published by Hutchinson & Co, London (1973) is exactly that. It covers the nature of Chess and it’s history and development in the first two chapters and in the final three, “Chess for blood”, “Chess for fun”, and “The Iconography of Chess”. I wonder if Hugh Alexander ran some sort of Chess club at Bletchley. Last edited by fantasyfan; 10-18-2020 at 04:35 PM. |
10-18-2020, 03:19 PM | #12 |
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OK, I'm still carefully avoiding spoilers, but at least I now have a copy on my Kindle, and it's moved right to the top of my TBR. Back soon -- I'm actually quite looking forward to this book.
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10-19-2020, 10:36 AM | #13 | |
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From http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/ar...debreakers.htm ”On December 2, 1944, there was a 12-board chess match between the Oxford University Chess Club and the Bletchley Chess Club. The Bletchley team won, scoring 8-4. For Bletchley, board 1 was Alexander, board 2 was Golombek, board 3 was Aitken, board 4 was Good, board 5 was Perkins, board 6 was Sgt Jacobs, board 7 was Sgt Gilbert, board 8 was Arthur Chamberlain, board 9 was Peter Hilton, board 10 was W.R. Cox, board 11 was D. Rees, and board 12 was Lt. Art Levenson.” It’s an interesting article. I knew the British actively recruited chess players, but didn’t realize they had the crème de la crème. Last edited by Victoria; 10-19-2020 at 10:46 AM. |
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10-19-2020, 02:27 PM | #14 | |
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Last edited by fantasyfan; 10-19-2020 at 02:29 PM. |
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10-21-2020, 09:26 AM | #15 |
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The audiobook is read by Gordon Griffin who does an excellent job throughout.
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