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From the Publisher
This is an unashamedly modest booklet, designed to provide basic information for those who know little or nothing about Colossus. It is based on a talk which the author gives to visitors to Colossus at Bletchley Park. As he was repeatedly asked by these visitors if they could have a written version of his talk, he decided to meet their requests by preparing this booklet. It thus fills a genuine need for an authoritative introduction to its subject - and who is better able to provide it than the man who masterminded the rebuild of Colossus? It may be brief, and it's certainly cheap, but that doesn't make it worthless. Even in 2008 you can still find writers in (for example) The Times claiming totally erroneously that Colossus was used to break Enigma codes.
If such writers had read Tony Sale's excellent booklet, they might get the story right. Until then, I suggest that the vitriol be reserved for writers who get things wrong, not for writers who provide useful introductions to complex subjects.
If such writers had read Tony Sale's excellent booklet, they might get the story right. Until then, I suggest that the vitriol be reserved for writers who get things wrong, not for writers who provide useful introductions to complex subjects.
About the Author
Tony Sale is a retired Intelligence Officer who now devotes his time to preserving Britain's WW2 codebreaking centre at Bletchley Park, and to developing exhibitions on that site. He tackled, and completed, the daunting task of building a working replica of the world's first computer - Colossus - used by the codebreakers in their attack on high-level German crypto systems.
The replica was switched on by the Duke of Kent in 1996, and has since been admired by thousands of visitors to Bletchley. Tony is very often in attendance to give a first-hand account of the reconstruction and operation of Colossus.
The replica was switched on by the Duke of Kent in 1996, and has since been admired by thousands of visitors to Bletchley. Tony is very often in attendance to give a first-hand account of the reconstruction and operation of Colossus.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A general overview only,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Colossus Computer (1943-1996): And How it Helped to Break the German Lorenz Cipher in WWII (Paperback)
The author describes this book as "a slightly expanded text of the short talk that I have presented since 1996 at open week ends in Bletchley Park in the Colossus viewing room". That is a fair description. It's addressed to a general readership, who might find a few of the phrases used a bit bewildering, e.g. "the gate delay time is 1.2 microseconds". There is no attempt to explain such phrases, or to go into great detail about any aspect of Colossus. You won't find a detailed description of Colossus, how it worked, or how it was used to break the Lorenz cipher. Worth reading if you know nothing about Colossus, otherwise it probably won't add to your knowledge.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Absolute waste of paper,
By
This review is from: The Colossus Computer (1943-1996): And How it Helped to Break the German Lorenz Cipher in WWII (Paperback)
Despite Tony Sales reputation as the builder and archivist for the new Colossus machines,the very thin booklet gives no new information or background to that in any published works.Forget it. Read "Secret War" or the "Ultra Secret" or "Station X" or... Visit the museum at Bletchley Park, and don't ever forget the debt we owe them all.
2.0 out of 5 stars
curates Egg,
By Rick (Suffolk, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Colossus Computer (1943-1996): And How it Helped to Break the German Lorenz Cipher in WWII (Paperback)
There are far better books on the subject with more of the history of this rather fine piece of Engineering that, what with the British Official Secrets Act allowed the US to grab the lead on encryption and computers.
If you are happy with a "pamphlet" that you can read in very few minutes, buy this, er book.
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