The Ultra-Magic Deals and the Most Secret Special Relationship, 1940-1946: And the Mose Secret Special Relationship, 1940-1946

This thoroughly researched, information-packed study traces the growth of cooperation in military intelligence between Britain and the U.S. during WW II, primarily in code-cracking of German electronic communication by the British (the Ultra program) and of the Japanese ciphers by the Americans (Magic). The BRUSA agreement, formalized in 1943, established a transatlantic information-swapping partnership, which, as Smith ( The Shadow Warriors ) reveals here for the first time, continued long into the Cold War. This was the first time in history that two major powers shared code-breaking methods. An instructive but not very accessible work, the book will be of interest mainly to military-intelligence buffs. (Jan.)