Decryption and deception

Two books just out from small publishers throw interesting light on the more secret corners of the British handling of the world war against Hitler’s Germany. Each covers a subject that was deadly secret at the time, but of critical importance for winning the war. Joan Bright Astley’s war autobiography, published to much less acclaim than it deserved in 1971, is now reprinted for a fresh generation to read; Robin Denniston describes his father’s life’s work in decipher.

The Reverend Robin Denniston, publisher turned country priest, has written a work of filial piety — a charming, even old-fashioned gesture, but one that deals with a subject of both topical and historical weight. A. G. Denniston, born in 1881, was teaching German at the naval cadet training college when war broke out in 1914, and was summoned to the Admiralty to help start from scratch, what became Room 40, Old Buildings (where it was located), and a major source of intelligence about the movements of the German High Seas Fleet.