The Woman Who Smashed Codes

A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies

De: Jason Fagone

Narrado por: Cassandra Campbell

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

Remarkable story

The early section of the book that covers Elizabeth’s early life is necessary but a bit tiresome. But when the story gets to her code-breaking work it becomes totally thrilling & engrossing. Really remarkable how much she and her husband contributed to the success of the United States in both world wars.

A surprising well-documented THRILLER

This is a well-written, true to life thriller based on recently unclassified documents. It increases my respect for the Coast Guard, more than confirms the bastardy of J. Edgar Hoover, and shows the role of British intelligence in creation of the CIA. Not only is it incredibly, historically interesting, but the pressure to keep ahead of our enemies in World War II reaches across the ages and pages to hit the reader in the chest. It starts out slowly and pleasantly, touches on bootlegging and drug running, then keeps building to a crescendo to the end of the war. The author carefully explains the personalities and what many may perceive as the weaknesses of the main characters. But I see only incredible sacrifice to the national interest and love between partners.

Fascinating Story

Well written and narrated. Moves well and keeps you interested. Would highly recommend and has some interesting comments re the FBI

Fascinating History

The book relates the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith’s unique evolution as a cipher decoder. Highly recommended!

Wonderful true story! Not my fav author though...

An amazing true story. The author’s journalistic writing emotionally removed the reader from the story, however. I observed the story, but didn’t feel it, despite there being so much stress, pressure, worry, joy, and love in the story that I could have felt... that I *wished* to feel. But the writing never went deeper than just to tell the events.

I also could tell it was a journalist instead of a typical author because of the cliffhanger hooks sprinkled throughout, that gave the ending away before the story was even told. For example, “...little did she know she would be one of the greatest code breakers of her time.” I almost expected to read, “coming up after the break!”

However, the story is definitely worth reading just to learn the history behind it. It’s a fascinating story about an extraordinary woman. I am glad I read it.

Interesting story

This is a book that tells a real story with historical points , as a person with cyber background I can say this is a semiprofessional book

Fascinating and well-read

This story was fascinating. It is a story worth reading to learn one more case of women not being recognized for their contributions and accomplishments. But in addition, the history is most interesting, the story well-written, and the reader quite good. Highly recommended.

Brilliant! Engaging, luminous!

It’s impossible to overstate how much I enjoyed this audiobook! The author’s treatment of what might have been a difficult subject was a pure pleasure to ingest. I now have a new American heroine ( and spouse). Fagone brings this couple to life in a way that is unforgettable. I am a fan of audiobooks, and this is my very favorite. The text answers elucidates so very many areas of murky history for me. The narrator brings such warmth and intelligence to the text, and the choice of a female narrator is much appreciated. I wish I could give them both more than five stars!

Smashing

Usually biographies can be dry, but this one is full of life. Elizabeth was a very real, very smart, and very human. I loved the author is no fan of J. Edgar Hoover.

Reads like historical fiction

Wonderful book. I don’t normally go for non fiction but this book was a great surprise. So interesting and well written!