‘You are to report to Station X at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, in four days time ... That is all you need to know.’ This was the terse
telegram hundreds of young women throughout the British Isles received in the spring of 1941 as World War II raged. As they arrived
at Station X, a sprawling mansion in a state of disrepair surrounded by Spartan-looking huts with little chimneys coughing out thick
smoke—these young people had no idea what kind of work they were stepping into. Who had recommended them? Why had they
been chosen? Most would never learn all the answers to these questions. Bletchley Park was a well-kept secret during World War
II, operating under the code name Station X. The critical work of code-cracking Nazi missives that went on behind its closed doors
could determine a victory or loss against Hitler’s army. Amidst the brilliant cryptographers, flamboyant debutantes and absentminded
professors working there, where teenage girls kept Station X running. Some could do advanced maths, while others spoke a
second language. They ran the unwieldy bombe machines, made sense of wireless sound waves and sorted the decoded messages.
They were expected to excel in their fields and most importantly: know how to keep a secret. Candace Fleming is the award-winning
and highly acclaimed author of Crash from Outer Space, The Curse of the Mummy and many other nonfiction books for young readers.
With her canny and compelling narrative voice, she makes history come alive. The recipient of five-star reviews and thick with
tension and suspense, The Enigma Girls is an extraordinary and relatively unknown story of World War II that will fascinate readers
who will be thrilled to see young people playing such an important role in the wartime effort.
Title: Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II (Scholastic
Format: Hardback Book
Release Date: 01 Oct 2024
Type: Candace Fleming
Sku: 3068555
Catalogue No: 9781338749571
Category: Childrens Fiction Books