The Enigma Girls is a fascinating look at the young women who worked at Bletchley Park during the second world war. Often not knowing what they were agreeing too, these women signed the Official Secrets Act and told no one about their responsibilities for many years. Intelligent, quick-witted and dedicated, they played a key part in stopping enemy attacks and saving lives.
Different from other “stories” about Bletchley Park, this book moves between true experiences of young women who worked at Bletchley and information about what was involved in wartime code breaking. Readers learn about the equipment, codes, ciphers, strategies, different jobs and key individuals at the most secret place in Britain. Written for age 8+, it is very readable and would interest older children and adults too.
The photographs of Bletchley Park and wartime Britain bring the women’s experiences to life. From the details of the earliest computers used to crack the codes to the soldiers who were saved by the interception of enemy plans, there is so much for readers to take from these images.
The Enigma Girls would be incredibly useful in a World War 2 topic in Key Stage 2 or Key Stage 3. I would also make a great gift for a young person interested in codes, spies and Bletchley Park.
Thank you to Scholastic for a copy of this fascinating book!
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