Reviewed by Gudrun Hutchins

Not only did I read The Rose Code by Kate Quinn for our book group, but also Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers during World War iI. It is the story of the American Women who decoded the Japanese Codes after Pearl Harbor.

While Rose Code is historical fiction incorporating a few real people, Code Girls is a biography of many of the breakers of Japanese code who worked in Washington DC. The American secret files were eventually declassified and the author interviewed more than 20 still living code breakers who were living in senior housing, etc. They told her their stories which they had so far not told anyone including their family members.

It is particularly interesting how the government recruited seniors from the seven sister colleges who were skilled in math, science, and astronomy, taught them a code breaking course on campus under the highest security, and then hired the women who passed (more than half didn’t). There was a real competition between navy and air force decoders. Many of the Navy decoders became WAVES and were treated by the public like their military brothers. There was no such possibility for the Air Force decoders and they were not happy about that.

I highly recommend this book which details how these college educated women provided a vital service that saved many American lives during World War II. You will also enjoy reading the first five-star review on the Amazon site which is written by the daughter of one of the code girls.

 

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