Misread Signals

How History Overlooked Women Codebreakers

Dermot Turing

$54.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

HISTORY PRESS
01 November 2025

Biography: science, technology & engineering; History; Second World War; Gender studies: women; Espionage & secret services

Bletchley Park was so we're told staffed by a majority of women, who had menial roles while a handful of pipe-smoking male boffins did the brainy codebreaking stuff. As with many urban myths, it's not true: women as well as men had serious full-on codebreaking roles. And not just at Bletchley, but in codebreaking agencies in the US and even in Germany. Yet, when the histories were written, the codebreaker women somehow got left out. Who were they? What did they achieve? How come they vanished? What happened to them after the war?

AUTHOR: Dermot Turing is the acclaimed author of Prof, a biography of his famous uncle, The Story of Computing, and most recently X, Y and Z the real story of how Enigma was broken. He began writing in 2014 after a career in law and is a regular speaker at historical and other events. As well as writing and speaking, he is a trustee of The Turing Trust and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford. Dermot is married with two sons and lives in Kippen in Stirlingshire.

25 b/w illustrations

By: Dermot Turing
Imprint: HISTORY PRESS
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781803997933
ISBN 10: 1803997931
Publication Date: 01 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

DERMOT TURING is the author of X, Y and Z: the Real Story of how Enigma Was Broken; Alan Turing Decoded; and Enigma Traitors, which reveals the inadequacies of Allied codes during the Second World War. He began writing in 2014 after a career in law. He is a trustee of The National Museum of Computing and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford. Dermot is married with two sons and lives in Kippen in Stirlingshire.

Reviews for Misread Signals: How History Overlooked Women Codebreakers

‘For far too long the female codebreakers have been overlooked in the history of code-breaking and cryptanalysis. Dermot’s groundbreaking research finally places on record their incredible contribution. It is inspirational…’ -- Helen Fry, author of <i>Women in Intelligence</i> ‘Exploding the myth of the one, exceptional, woman, Dermot Turing decodes the archives ... to reveal the hugely important role played by female cryptanalysts ... An important and exciting contribution to the history.’ -- Clare Mulley, author of <i>Agent Zo</i>