Harris, Robert (1957- ). Enigma

Harris' fast-paced World War 2 thriller about British efforts at breaking Germany's top-secret Enigma military codes is played against the background of a very real Mar. 1943 North Atlantic merchant convoy under attack by German U-boat wolf packs. Most of his action takes place in England's top-secret research base at Bletchley Park as Allied code breakers attempt to unravel the "Shark" Enigma code variant which was used by the German Navy to maintain communications with U-boats at sea. Failure to quickly break the code at this critical juncture in the War would lead to the destruction of the North Atlantic convoy system and indeed place Britain's very survival in question. Harris' novel is a page-turner, no mean feat given the abstract, mathematical nature of cipher breaking. In real life, as in Harris' novel, the "Shark" Enigma code variant was successfully broken, helping the Allies ensure the continued flow of goods and armaments across the North Atlantic from the U.S. and Canada to wartime Great Britain and Russia.