Picture of author.

Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Author of Enigma : The battle for the code

5+ Works 1,594 Members 21 Reviews 2 Favorited

About the Author

Hugh Sebag-Montefiore is an attorney and journalist who has written for numerous British newspapers, including the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph, and the Observer
Disambiguation Notice:

Don't combine with Rt. Rev. Hugh William Montefiore (1920-2005) born Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, Anglican bishop and theologian.

Image credit: Nicholas Hugh Sebag-Montefiore talked to David Freeman when his book 'Enigma' was first published - ‎2008-01-22

Works by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Associated Works

MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Spring 2008 (2008) — Author "The Mechelen Affair" — 9 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh
Legal name
Sebag-Montefiore, Nicholas Hugh
Birthdate
1955-03-05
Gender
male
Nationality
UK
Education
Magdalene College, Cambridge University
Harrow School
Occupations
barrister
journalist
historian
Relationships
Sebag Montefiore, Simon (brother)
Montefiore, Santa (sister-in-law)
Montefiore, Moses (great-great-uncle)
Burnstock, Aviva (wife)
Organizations
Auteur
Advocaat
Journalist
Short biography
Hugh Sebag-Montefiore was born to a famous Anglo-Jewish family. He trained as a barrister before becoming a journalist and then a nonfiction writer. He is the brother of Simon Sebag Montefiore. They are descended from a line of wealthy Sephardic Jews who were diplomats and bankers throughout Europe. At the start of the 19th century, his great-great uncle, Sir Moses Montefiore, became a banking partner of N. M. Rothschild & Sons and an international philanthropist. The family owned the estate of Bletchley Park until they sold it to the British government in 1938. Hugh's first book was Enigma: The Battle for the Code, the story of breaking the German Enigma machine code at Bletchley Park during World War II (2000). His second book was Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man, published in 2006.
Disambiguation notice
Don't combine with Rt. Rev. Hugh William Montefiore (1920-2005) born Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, Anglican bishop and theologian.

Members

Reviews

A bit slow at first but good in the way it brings all the stories together as 1 summary.
 
Flagged
SteveMcI | 10 other reviews | Dec 25, 2023 |
I've read at least one book on this topic before. This one is quite detailed on the mechanics of the machine and how the codes work.
 
Flagged
markm2315 | 10 other reviews | Jul 1, 2023 |
Interesting book about how the British were able to figure out the German codes during the War. I skipped the detailed mathematical explanations of how they did it, though, which was mostly at the end, in the Appendixes.
I found out Alan Turing did a lot, but he worked with much decoding already done by a Polish team earlier, and had help from others too. The vanquished U-Boats and the rescuing of their codebooks, and other stories, such as the espionage in France were interesting too. This book gives a more complete story than the movie, The Imitation Game, which was very oversimplified.… (more)
 
Flagged
kslade | 10 other reviews | Dec 8, 2022 |
In depth, comprehensive and excellent. Can be a bit dry because of the factual nature, but well worth reading to understand the intricacies and difficulties of keeping and breaking the Enigma codes. Lots of explanations of the various codes and how they were broken - this author definitely understands the subject matter.
 
Flagged
tarsel | 10 other reviews | Sep 4, 2022 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
5
Also by
1
Members
1,594
Popularity
#16,183
Rating
3.8
Reviews
21
ISBNs
44
Languages
6
Favorited
2

Charts & Graphs