The women found by each author were in their nineties, but seemingly quite sound in mind and memories. The oaths of secrecy that they all took were taken very seriously, and it was only after many decades that, finally, some of the facts came out. The authors of both books had managed to find relatively few survivors of those code-breaking activities. In a way, as you might expect, this book (about the British women who were so crucial towards breaking the enemy codes in WW2) was rather similar.

I had read a similar book not too long ago about the American side of this topic, Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II. This paperback book has 341 pages and measures: 19.7 x 12.8 x 2.2cm. Through the voices of the women themselves, this is a portrait of life at Bletchley Park beyond the celebrated code-breakers, it's the story of the girls behind Britain's ability to consistently out-smart the enemy, and an insight into the women they have become. By meeting and talking to these fascinating female secret-keepers who are still alive today, Tessa Dunlop captures their extraordinary journeys into an adult world of war, secrecy, love and loss. In the middle of the night, hunched over meaningless pieces of paper, tending mind-blowing machines, sitting listening for hours on end, theirs was invariably confusing, monotonous and meticulous work, about which they could not breathe a word. But they all have one common bond, the war and their highly confidential part in it. A refugee from Belgium, a Scottish debutante, a Jewish 14-year-old, and a factory worker from Northamptonshire - the Bletchley Girls confound stereotypes.

There had always been girls at the Park but soon they outnumbered the men three to one. From 8 million working women just over 7000 were hand-picked to work at Bletchley Park and its outstations. The scale of female involvement in Britain during the Second World War wasn't matched in any other country. Firm friendships were made as their epic journey unfolded on paper. It is their story, told in their voices Tessa met and talked to 15 veterans, often visiting them several times. The Bletchley Girls weaves together the lives of fifteen women who were all selected to work in Britain's most secret organisation - Bletchley Park.

The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop