Amazon.co.uk Review
Mark Urban's
The Man who Broke Napoleon's Codes is, strictly speaking, something of a misnomer as the book is actually as much a detailed and engaging history of Wellington's campaign in the Peninsular War between 1809 and 1813, as the story of George Scovell, the junior officer who was entrusted with handling all communications. The book is firmly rooted in the modern historical genre of the "small, previously un-regarded, footnote that made a difference", but where other authors have fleshed out the lives of their characters by imputing thoughts and imagining events, Urban has restricted himself to relying purely on documented evidence. This has the benefit of historical rigour, but it does sometimes mean that Scovell is a slightly shadowy character at times, someone whom the reader has to work hard to get to know. The portrait that emerges here is of an army riven by class warfare, in which the rich and the aristocratic bought commissions and dictated orders, while the lowborn and the un-moneyed made up the also-rans. Scovell fell firmly into the latter category. Beginning the Peninsular campaign as a lowly deputy assistant quarter-master general, through hard work and an intelligence superior to many of his seniors, he soon drew himself to Wellington's attention and was appointed head of communications. As the campaign progressed, Napoleon became aware that many of his messages were being intercepted, giving the British vital intelligence, so over time he devised a series of ever more complicated ciphers to escape detection. Urban is at his best during this particular narrative: unlike the story of the breaking of Enigma during World War Two which is still really only intelligible to post-graduate mathematicians despite the best efforts of popular historians to render it accessible, the Napoleonic ciphers do lend themselves to explanation, and it is to the author's credit that he makes the process so compelling. What's more, his conclusion that it was the information obtained from the broken ciphers, rather than astute command, that was critical to the campaign's success, and that Wellington's suppression of the truth was based in class, professional jealousy and self-aggrandisement is powerfully convincing.
Plus ca change, as Napoleon might have said. --
John Crace
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
A compelling account of the officer who waged the intelligence battle against Napoleon's army: a forerunner to the great code-breakers of the 20th century. In 1812, with two great armies manoeuvering across the Spanish plains, each struggles to gain an advantage. Wellington was aware that he might turn the tide of the war if he defeated the French. Good intelligence was the key, but the impenetrable code used by the French, the "Great Paris Cipher" seemed indecipherable. One man, Major George Scovell, was given the impossible task. This remarkable man of low birth who struggled for advancement in the ranks of better-connected officers was the perfect subject for a fascinating, multi-faceted study.
The title suggests an emphasis on cryptography, but in fact, the story of George Scovell's decryption of Napoleon's 'Great Cypher' is only a small part of this magisterial work. The greater portion of Urban's book is a dynamic and fluid account of the Peninsular War, combining a solid and scrupulously accurate rendering of the plain military and tactical facts with the sort of three-dimensional modelling made possible by Scovell's own campaign diaries. Having been at the centre of the action for much of the war, Scovell was in a position to give revealing portraits of many of the protagonists, including the Iron Duke himself, and new light is thrown upon Wellington's character and command technique through Scovell's accounts and the way Urban incorporates them into the bigger picture. The breaking of the 'Great Cypher' itself proves to be crucial to the outcome of the war, and the detail of Scovell's laborious and inventive chipping away at its secrets makes a nice counterpoint throughout to the almost Homeric story of epic battles and great armies sweeping back and forth across the plains of Europe from Corunna to Waterloo. (Kirkus UK)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
by Mark Urban
by Mark Urban
by Richard Holmes
