This book contains fascinating accounts of Colossus, of code-breaking, and of the extraordinary role played by the staff of Bletchley Park in WWII - including personal recollections by those who designed and built Colossus, recently declassified information, and historical essays considering its impact on the generations of computing technology that followed. - ;At last - the secrets of Bletchley Park's powerful codebreaking computers.

This is a history of Colossus, the world's first fully-functioning electronic digital computer. Colossus was used during the Second World War at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, where it played an invaluable role cracking enemy codes. Until very recently, much about the Colossus machine was shrouded in secrecy, largely because the codes that were employed remained in use by the British security services until a short time ago. This book has only become

possible due to the recent declassification in the US of wartime documents.

With an introductory essay on cryptography and the history of code-breaking by Simon Singh, this book reveals the workings of Colossus and the extraordinary staff at Bletchley Park through personal accounts by those who lived and worked with the computer. Among them is the testimony of Thomas Flowers, who was the architect of Colossus and whose personal account, written shortly before he died, is published here for the first time. Other essays consider the historical importance of this

remarkable machine, and its impact on the generations of computing technology that followed. - ;An engaging book that will be essential reading for historians of twentieth-century technology and warfare. - Nature;formidably detailed - Guardian;compelling compilation - New Scientist  less