My Secret Life in Hut Six: One woman's experiences at Bletchley Park

An excellent book. The writer provides and excellent description of what it was like to work at Bletchley during the Second World War.It also reveals the effect on the individual of having to comply with the Official Secrets Act for 35 years.

tempo di consegna rispettato, involucro resistente e molto solido. Libro molto interessante, che svela aspetti della vita a Bletchley Park, come vissuti da una delle sue protagoniste. Lo consiglio a chi vuole saperne di più di quella meravigliosa epopea vissuta per tutti noi da persone davvero speciali.

Considering this book was written when the protagonist was in her late 80's and had suffered from various ailments (including a stroke), this book gives a very good insight into the life and activities of one of the women who worked with Welchman - a peer of Alan Turing's - to investigate the logistics behind the codes being deciphered. Mair was a young college graduate who was approached and hired by the British Government to work on the top secret activities at Bletchley Park dealing with breaking the German codes. While the format is chronological, the anecdotal nature of the book makes for somewhat uneven reading. Mair (pronounced My-r, according to the book - but I'm still not sure how it's supposed to sound, only that Mare is incorrect), was a staunch Christian, and, in the book, her activities in this area almost have equal priority with her decoding work. While this fact gives a picture of what was important to her, it doesn't help much with informing the reader of exactly what she did at Bletchley - in fact, I got the idea that she wasn't very good at at her job - either that, or she is very modest. Those with whom she worked are mentioned in passing; she really liked Turning, and thought Welchman was a good manager, but that's pretty much the total of what one learns about these men. The most dramatic part of the book covers the termination of two of the women who were arguing over a man they both liked. Each attempted to prove who was most important to the guy, by telling the other (and everyone within earshot) secret things he had told each of them, in a sort of 'see if you can top this' contest. The whole episode was rather sad, but it proved that telling secrets, even in the work environment, was grounds for being fired. The major parts of the book cover her romance with a pacifist (whom she married after the war), and her problems with her family, most of whom just didn't believe that she was doing anything of importance. The inference being that women just couldn't be that important during a war. The reader gets the impression it was quite frustrating for her, but the Official Secrets Act was still in effect for about 50 years, and she was precluded from telling her story to most of her relatives who refused to believe her, and most of whom died before this book was written. It's a short book, thus was a quick read, and it was interesting. I just wish there were more details about the actual code breaking and analysis being done.

Mair Russell-Jones was my two daughters' piano teacher. Little did we know then about her well kept secret working at Bletchley Park as a code breaker! We admire her even more now. This is a remarkable story written by her son in conjunction with his mother. The tale takes us from her religious upringing in the Swansea valley, through her university education in Cardiff, being approached by a stranger to contribute to the war effort, the jealousy of some of her relations in not knowing what she was actually involved in, the romantic pursuit of her future husband and her secret work as a code breaker as well as her admiration for fellow code breakers.. The story is tinged with guilt and sadness in many ways. Mair Russell-Jones has to be admired for her well kept secret over so many years. A very readable book.

I read this cover to cover in a week, feeling transported back to a time before I was born that has always been one of great personal interest to me, and discovering a whole new story. Mair Russel-Jones is a woman worthy of spending the time to get to know through this book and Gethin Russel-Jones has beautifully pieced it all together in a way that completely captures the reader and gives honour to a huge and vital part of British history.