DAVID A. PRICE was educated at the College of William and Mary, Harvard University, and the University of Cambridge. He is the author of The Pixar Touch and Love and Hate in Jamestown. Price lives with his wife in Richmond, Virginia.
Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of the Year
Winner, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Middleton
Award
“A remarkable book. Highly accessible, with many historical
details formerly unknown to me. The book is empathetic and engaging
with a three-dimensional and rich texture. I felt as if I were
there. What was accomplished, especially with Colossus, is nothing
short of amazing. Reading excerpts from correspondence about
predictions for artificial intelligence and networks was
astonishing for its accuracy looking back nearly 75 years. Price
deserves great praise for a historical gem.” —Vint Cerf, father of
the Internet
“David Price has produced the riveting story of how a team of
colorful geniuses in Bletchley Park, England broke the most secure
German World War II codes. The tale of Alan Turing and the Enigma
machine is well known, but Price describes the very secret
code-breaking project that Turing and his colleagues tackled later
in the war, which involved building the world’s first electronic
computer. Thus was the digital age born.” —Walter Isaacson, author
of The Innovators
“World War II opened two legendary gateways to the modern age: Los
Alamos and Bletchley Park. A declassified report on the
construction of the atomic bomb was released just six days
after Hiroshima, while the Official Secrets Act lingered for thirty
years over the codebreaking at Bletchley Park. David Price has
distilled the available knowledge into an authoritative yet
fast-paced account, lending the characters behind Colossus
a voice that was silenced for far too long.” —George Dyson,
author of Turing's Cathedral
"A methodical account of the secret British code-breakers
working to decode Adolf Hitler’s wartime communications. . . .
Gripping. . . . A narrative worthy of James Bond." —Foreign
Policy
"[Price] weaves a superb narrative, at once compelling and
relatable. . . . Incredibly well-written and well-researched, this
fast-paced book reads like a novel. Highly recommended to readers
with an interest in World War II and 20th-century history, as well
as anyone looking for an exciting story of code breaking and
intrigue.” —Library Journal (starred)
“Fresh. . . . Page-turning. . . . Price delivers a fascinating
account of the problems Flowers and his team overcame before the
massive machine called Colossus arrived. . . . He tells a terrific
story. An entertaining history of brilliant minds at work
against the Nazi behemoth.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“An entertaining introduction to Bletchley Park and the era’s
technological innovations.” —Publishers Weekly
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