Liza Mundy: Code girls (AudiobookFormat, 2017)
[sound recording] :, 14 pages
English language
Published Dec. 21, 2017
Documents the contributions of more than ten thousand American women who served as codebreakers during World War II, detailing how their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and enabled their subsequent careers.
Hidden figures of cryptography
A very brisk and engaging read, the wholesomeness of which was slightly punctured by the epilogue detailing the careers of the ones who stayed in the field after the war and helped found the NSA.
I read this book in preparation for an upcoming set of episodes from the BookBytes podcast (link to idea thread). [b:The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies|32025298|The Woman Who Smashed Codes A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies|Jason Fagone|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479580153s/32025298.jpg|52666460] was also one of my favorite reads last year, and this book pairs nicely with it. Together, the two books paint a complex and fascinating picture of World War II codebreaking efforts.
I like that this book tries to balance technical content with social/cultural, along with enough military/political context to put it all in perspective. I particularly enjoyed the grounding effect of the epilogue, where it discussed the women's lives after and outside of their military service.
