--=[ Seizing the Enigma ]=-- --=[ A Working Stiff's Manifesto ]=--
Strangely enough, this book sat in the trunk of my car for about eight months until I finally grabbed it during a long car trip. Amazing how these things work out.
A medium-length book focussed on Bletchley Park's (and Britain's) work during WWII to 'break' the cryptography used by the Kriegsmarine. Break is a strong word since the most progress was made during the times when they had recovered keys from the Germans. When they were not in posession of the keys, progress was rather slow.
This is not to say that they couldn't break the Naval code, it's just that it was mostly computationally infeasible to produce timescale relevant results without the keys. Without them, they generally could crack the codes, but if it would take something like three weeks, most of the information was stale at best, if not outright useless by then.
A very well written book that remained focussed throughout. While I would've preferred more information regarding things such as the German rationale/procedure for determining that the codes were not broken (when they most emphatically were), but this is a minor nit for an otherwise excellent book.
Hands down, the most entertaining book that I have read this year. A short (~150+ pages) chronicle of Iain taking and losing/quitting a number of low-paying/hard-working jobs. Very, very, very funny. From working the fishing boats in Alaska to pumping heating oil to a variety of temping jobs, I think that Iain has produced the finest blue-collar tome since Studs Terkel's Working.
If I have a complaint, it's that it was just too short. I finished it in a day.
A little more gushing? It's a great book. Iain knows the hollowness inherent in the empty promises that the jobs offer and lays it bare time and time again with his experiences. A damn good book. Damn.