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  • The Woman Who Smashed Codes

  • A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies
  • Written by: Jason Fagone
  • Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
  • Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (24 ratings)

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The Woman Who Smashed Codes

Written by: Jason Fagone
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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Publisher's Summary

Joining the ranks of Hidden Figures and In the Garden of Beasts, the incredible true story of the greatest codebreaking duo that ever lived, an American woman and her husband who invented the modern science of cryptology together and used it to confront the evils of their time, solving puzzles that unmasked Nazi spies and helped win World War II.

In 1912, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shakespeare expert Elizebeth Smith went to work for an eccentric tycoon on his estate outside Chicago. The tycoon had close ties to the US government, and he soon asked Elizebeth to apply her language skills to an exciting new venture: code breaking. There she met the man who would become her husband, groundbreaking cryptologist William Friedman. Though she and Friedman are in many ways the Adam and Eve of the NSA, Elizebeth's story, incredibly, has never been told.

In The Woman Who Smashed Codes, Jason Fagone chronicles the life of this extraordinary woman, who played an integral role in our nation's history for 40 years. After World War I, Smith used her talents to catch gangsters and smugglers during Prohibition, then accepted a covert mission to discover and expose Nazi spy rings that were spreading like wildfire across South America, advancing ever closer to the United States. As World War II raged, Elizabeth fought a highly classified battle of wits against Hitler's Reich, cracking multiple versions of the Enigma machine used by German spies. Meanwhile, inside an army vault in Washington, William worked furiously to break Purple, the Japanese version of Enigma - and eventually succeeded, at a terrible cost to his personal life.

Fagone unveils America's code-breaking history through the prism of Smith's life, bringing into focus the unforgettable events and colorful personalities that would help shape modern intelligence. Blending the lively pace and compelling detail that are the hallmarks of Erik Larson's best sellers with the atmosphere and intensity of The Imitation Game, The Woman Who Smashed Codes is riveting popular history at its finest.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Jason Fagone (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The Woman Who Smashed Codes

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A female hero emerges from the shadows

Stories like this one, of smart women who conquered, are so important for the self image of women, the image of women perceived by men and children, and for the common psyche.

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Absolutely outstanding

What an important story - I am grateful to the author for the research and effort to pull it together. Elizabeth and William Friedman were at the forefront of cryptology both in the United States and internationally, but I liked how the book was written around Elizabeth, as her husband received more recognition. They were truly equals, separately playing key roles in World Wars I and II that they couldn’t even talk about to each other.
One aspect of the book I really enjoyed was learning about South American involvement in espionage in WWII.
Anyone who enjoys puzzles will enjoy this book (any the PDF that comes with the audiobook). The way they used coded messages in their private lives is especially fun listening.
The reviewer on audible.ca who referred to this book as a novel is incorrect. This is an important non-fiction book!

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amazing story

I truly enjoyed reading this novel. It had been on my TBR pile for Lmost two years now and was a worthwhile read. I have heard of Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park girls. Yet, this unknown story was something completely new and exciting.

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