---
product_id: 8030569
title: "Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition"
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# Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition

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## Description

Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition [Hodges, Andrew, Hodges, Andrew, Hofstadter, Douglas] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition

Review: Did he have to "bite the apple"? - British author Andrew Hodges' biography, "Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film "The Imitation Game" (now that's a mouthful!) is going to appeal to a self-selected readership: history readers and math readers. I doubt anyone else is going to pick up this book and read it for the fun of it. So, I am pitching my review to those historians and mathematicians who will read this book. Andrew Hodges does an excellent job in telling the story of Alan Turing and his "times". Beginning with his early life in England as one of two sons of an India Service official and his wife, his years in "public school", and his time at Kings College, Cambridge, Hodges is a very literate biographer. I can judge this part because I know a fair bit of history. What I cannot say with any certainty is if Hodges gets the math part correctly. I am a math-moron and I could sort of follow his writing. If the reader is good in math, he should have no problem in understanding what Alan Turing accomplished in both the World War 2 and after. As the master code breaker at Bletchley Park, Turing broke German cypher codes from their Enigma machine and was instrumental in helping save the North Atlantic allied shipping from German Uboats. He was also considered one of the fathers of computer science, working after the war until his suicide in 1954. The "death by poisoned apple" in my review's title refers to the method of suicide Turing used. Alan Turing was a homosexual in a time when homosexuality was illegal. He pled guilty of "gross indecency" in a British court in 1952 and rather than serve time in jail, he chose to take "hormonal" treatment to reduce his libido. He found the treatments a life-altering and they, along with losing his government security clearance, may have contributed to his decision to commit suicide. Alan Turing was treated very shabbily in life and in death, many honors were denied him. He and his contributions to computer science and mathematics began to be recognised in 1966 when the "Turing Award" was first awarded by the Association for Computer Machinery. Other honors - both by governmental and collegiate officials - have followed, as well as plays, movies, and biographies of Alan Turing. Andrew Hodges' biography was originally issued in the 1990's. It is now being reissued as an adjunct to the movie, "The Imitation Game", starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and Kiera Knightly as fellow-code breaker, Joan Clarke. In the previews of the movie, Knightly is shown as the "love interest" of Cumberbatch. In reality, the two were engaged during their work at Bletchley but broke it off short of marriage. I'm curious to see how the movie handles Turing's homosexuality, but that's for another review. As for this biography, it is very, very well done.
Review: Too many digressions and diversions at the beginning! - I am upgrading my review from *** to **** as I plow through the book. The book is quite good, but quite detailed or technical. Not for a general reader. It is quite good to see the role that Turing played during WW II and how effective he was. He was also very ineffective at times because he was clueless about social clues and unwilling/unable to understand military/war hierarchies. Still a fascinating and detailed, detailed, and more detailed book. My original review: Digression after digression, especially at the beginning of the book. Do I really need to know what letters Turing sent to a friend's mother or how she replied? Quite distracting. Too many digressions about historical figures, too. There is too much of that in the first 15% or so of the book. Once the book gets into Turing's post-graduate work and his work to create computers, that kind detail is very useful -- and relevant. I ordered this book as a Kindle book, because there were too many complaints about the small font in the print copies. It's easy to read on a Kindle app.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN  | 069116472X |
| Best Sellers Rank | #49,137 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #8 in Computing Industry History #25 in Mathematics History #77 in Scientist Biographies |
| Customer Reviews | 4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (3,009) |
| Dimensions  | 5 x 2 x 8 inches |
| Edition  | Updated |
| ISBN-10  | 9780691164724 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0691164724 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 768 pages |
| Publication date  | November 10, 2014 |
| Publisher  | Princeton University Press |

## Images

![Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81WxZ5g9ASL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Did he have to "bite the apple"?
*by G***L on November 11, 2014*

British author Andrew Hodges' biography, "Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film "The Imitation Game" (now that's a mouthful!) is going to appeal to a self-selected readership: history readers and math readers. I doubt anyone else is going to pick up this book and read it for the fun of it. So, I am pitching my review to those historians and mathematicians who will read this book. Andrew Hodges does an excellent job in telling the story of Alan Turing and his "times". Beginning with his early life in England as one of two sons of an India Service official and his wife, his years in "public school", and his time at Kings College, Cambridge, Hodges is a very literate biographer. I can judge this part because I know a fair bit of history. What I cannot say with any certainty is if Hodges gets the math part correctly. I am a math-moron and I could sort of follow his writing. If the reader is good in math, he should have no problem in understanding what Alan Turing accomplished in both the World War 2 and after. As the master code breaker at Bletchley Park, Turing broke German cypher codes from their Enigma machine and was instrumental in helping save the North Atlantic allied shipping from German Uboats. He was also considered one of the fathers of computer science, working after the war until his suicide in 1954. The "death by poisoned apple" in my review's title refers to the method of suicide Turing used. Alan Turing was a homosexual in a time when homosexuality was illegal. He pled guilty of "gross indecency" in a British court in 1952 and rather than serve time in jail, he chose to take "hormonal" treatment to reduce his libido. He found the treatments a life-altering and they, along with losing his government security clearance, may have contributed to his decision to commit suicide. Alan Turing was treated very shabbily in life and in death, many honors were denied him. He and his contributions to computer science and mathematics began to be recognised in 1966 when the "Turing Award" was first awarded by the Association for Computer Machinery. Other honors - both by governmental and collegiate officials - have followed, as well as plays, movies, and biographies of Alan Turing. Andrew Hodges' biography was originally issued in the 1990's. It is now being reissued as an adjunct to the movie, "The Imitation Game", starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and Kiera Knightly as fellow-code breaker, Joan Clarke. In the previews of the movie, Knightly is shown as the "love interest" of Cumberbatch. In reality, the two were engaged during their work at Bletchley but broke it off short of marriage. I'm curious to see how the movie handles Turing's homosexuality, but that's for another review. As for this biography, it is very, very well done.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Too many digressions and diversions at the beginning!
*by I***R on December 9, 2014*

I am upgrading my review from *** to **** as I plow through the book. The book is quite good, but quite detailed or technical. Not for a general reader. It is quite good to see the role that Turing played during WW II and how effective he was. He was also very ineffective at times because he was clueless about social clues and unwilling/unable to understand military/war hierarchies. Still a fascinating and detailed, detailed, and more detailed book. My original review: Digression after digression, especially at the beginning of the book. Do I really need to know what letters Turing sent to a friend's mother or how she replied? Quite distracting. Too many digressions about historical figures, too. There is too much of that in the first 15% or so of the book. Once the book gets into Turing's post-graduate work and his work to create computers, that kind detail is very useful -- and relevant. I ordered this book as a Kindle book, because there were too many complaints about the small font in the print copies. It's easy to read on a Kindle app.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Turing gave an illuminating proof of uncomputability; this book does the same for a life
*by C***R on November 22, 2014*

This outstanding biography of a unique, outstanding and challenging human being is full of integrity and insight. The author is himself a mathematician / logician, and is able to communicate Turing's work and scientific principles in an accessible yet rigorous way. Plus, the author's broad knowledge of the modern social history of homosexuality brings a good mix of depth, objectivity and empathy to his view of Turing and the essential dilemmas of Turing's life. To label one's subject an "enigma" might seem at first a cop-out. But here it is a forthright statement of the stubborn and mysterious existential inner conflict and puzzle of the man's life, which his genius could not solve. Turing prized truth above all, but had the same subjective longings as all of us, that defeat logic at every turn. One of Turing's achievements was to prove the uncomputability of certain values; this book does the same for a life.

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*Last updated: 2026-02-14*