Australian Code Breakers: Our top-secret war with the Kaiser's Reich
About this audiobook
The extraordinary story of a headmaster turned cryptographer, and our top-secret war with the Kaiser's Reich.
On 11 August 1914, just days after war had been declared, Australian Captain J.T. Richardson boarded a German merchant vessel fleeing Melbourne's Port Phillip and audaciously seized a top-secret naval codebook. The fledgling Australian Navy had an opportunity to immediately change the course of the war. But what exactly had they found? Enter the Australian code breakers ...
Recruited by savvy top brass, maths whizz and German speaker Frederick Wheatley worked night and day to fathom the basic principles of the code and start tracking the German Navy's powerful East Asia Squadron, led by the brilliant Maximilian von Spee. Soon Melbourne was a hub of international Allied intelligence.
This is the untold story of how a former Australian headmaster and his mostly female team cracked one of Germany's most complex codes, paving the way for the greatest Allied naval victory of World War I.
About the author
James Phelps is an award-winning journalist and acclaimed author known for his bestselling true-crime prison series, which delves into the gritty and captivating lives of Australia's most notorious inmates and the histories of the nation's most infamous prisons. He is the author of eleven books, including Australian Heist, Australian Code Breakers, and the Riley Jax crime thriller, Inside Man. Phelps is also an award-nominated biographer, having worked with Dick Johnson, Johnathan Thurston and Curtis McGrath on their memoirs. With a background in sports and crime reporting for major publications, his Phelps's meticulous research and vivid storytelling have cemented his reputation as one of Australia's most compelling contemporary writers and its most popular true crime author.
