Book review: The Secret Life Of Bletchley Park

Dammit. The BBC already has a sitcom based in Bletchley Park (Hut 33). I'm no Croft and Perry but the potential for culture clash comedy is immense, judging from Sinclair McKay's rich social history.

The place was a baffling mix of titled "gels", bonkers boffins, eccentrics, ingenues fresh from university and clueless locals crushed together by the immense pressure of the task.

Bletchley Park is legend. Winston Churchill called it the "goose that laid the golden egg and never cackled".

The breakthrough in cracking the German's unfathomable Enigma codes shortened the war by two years and saved thousands of lives. And it was, of course, the birthplace of the computer.

Authors, including Robert Harris, have mined this code-breaking hive for drama and adventure. McKay is more fastidious and factual. He looks at food, lodgings, sex, rows, entertainment, booze and class.

He talks to ordinary workers about how life - a blend of brilliance and boredom - was conducted against a backdrop of high stakes and secrecy.

The Bletchley veterans kept their stories to themselves for decades. But as they pass into history, this illuminating peek at a place hailed as one of the greatest triumphs of the 20th century is a fitting tribute to their fortitude and ingenuity.

– From July 2010