Codes, Ciphers and Spies
Description
When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, it was woefully unprepared to wage a modern war. Whereas their European counterparts already had three years of experience in using code and cipher systems in the war, American cryptologists had to help in the building of a military intelligence unit from scratch. This book relates the personal experiences of one such character, providing a uniquely American perspective on the Great War. It is a story of spies, coded letters, plots to blow up ships and munitions plants, secret inks, arms smuggling, treason, and desperate battlefield messages. Yet it all begins with a college English professor and Chaucer scholar named John Mathews Manly.
In 1927, John Manly wrote a series of articles on his service in the Code and Cipher Section (MI-8) of the U.S. Army's Military Intelligence Division (MID) during World War I. Published here for the first time, enhanced with references and annotations for additional context, these articles form the basis of an exciting exploration of American military intelligence and counter-espionage in 1917-1918. Illustrating the thoughts of prisoners of war, draftees, German spies, and ordinary Americans with secrets to hide, the messages deciphered by Manly provide a fascinating insight into the state of mind of a nation at war.
Reviews / Votes
"There is significant explanation of how codes and ciphers were constructed and solved, how the use of mathematics regulated code breaking, and the process of producing and distributing thousands of code books during the war. This volume will be of great interest to faculty and students in this specialized subject area. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty." (D. K. Blewett, Choice, Vol. 54 (3), November, 2016)More details
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Content
An Introduction and a Few Words on Codes and Ciphers.- PART I: The AEF .- The Americans Embark: Getting to France 1917 - 1918.- Introduction to Communications, Codes, and Ciphers in the AEF.- The AEF and Colonel Moorman.- Cryptology at the Front.- The AEF: Breaking Codes and Ciphers.- The AEF: German Codes and Ciphers.- The AEF Fights: 1918.- PART II: MI-8 and the Home Front .- MI-8 and Civilian Messages.- Civilian Correspondence: Foreign Letters and Hoaxes.- Civilian Correspondence: Prisoners and Spies.- Civilian Correspondence: Families and Love Letters.- PART III: German Spies in America, 1914 - 1918 .- Spies Among Us: The New York Cell, 1914 - 1915.- Spies Among Us: Baltimore, Germs, Black Tom, and Kingsland, 1916 - 1917.- The Waberski Cipher: A Spy is Condemned.- Madame Victorica Arrives in New York.- Madame Victorica and German Agents in the U.S..- More GermanSpies.- Madame Victorica and Invisible Inks.- Madame Victorica - Captured!.- Part IV: Epilogue .- Epilogue.
