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The Man They Called Prof
Alan Turing was an extraordinary man who crammed into his 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist and biologist. He is widely regarded as a war hero grossly mistreated by his unappreciative country, and it has become hard to disentangle the real man from the story. Now Dermot Turing has taken a fresh look at the influences on his uncle’s life and creativity, and the creation of a legend. He discloses the real character behind the cipher-text, answering questions that help the man emerge from his legacy: how did Alan’s childhood experiences influence him? How did his creative ideas evolve? Was he really a solitary genius? What was his wartime work after 1942, and what of the Enigma story? What is the truth about the conviction for gross indecency, and did he commit suicide? In Alan Turing Decoded, Dermot’s vibrant and entertaining approach to the life and work of a true genius makes this a fascinating and authoritative read.
‘A cracking read.’
Nick Smith,
‘For anyone seeking a more nuanced picture of the human side of Turing . . . this book makes a useful and sometimes poignant contribution.’
Clare Mulley,
‘Deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the history of Bletchley Park and in the development of the computer.’
David Hamer,
‘[Dermot Turing] has done a fabulous job of translating the complexities of mathematics and the early computer science to the lay person.’
Walter Myer,
14th August, 2025 in Military, Women in History
Bletchley Park is perceived as a world of male intellectuals supported by a vast staff of women in menial roles – a place where men helped sway the course of the Second World War. But women were not just typists and clerks. They had serious, full-on codebreaking roles. And not ju…
24th September, 2018 in History, Military
2018 marks the centenary of the invention by Arthur Scherbius of the Enigma machine. Enigma was probably the most famous of the mechanical cipher devices used in World War Two, its fame assured by the feats of code-breakers at Bletchley Park who devised ways to uncover which of t…
30th October, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Military
On 30 October 1942, two Royal Navy men serving on HMS Petard drowned whilst capturing codebooks from a German U-boat. A teenager, who helped them, tragically died two years later. Able Seaman Colin Grazier, from Tamworth in Staffordshire, was 22 and had been married for just two…
10th November, 2016 in Biography & Memoir, History, Society & Culture
Alan Turing is best known for helping to crack the Nazi’s Enigma cipher machine at Bletchley Park during World War II. Turing’s work helped the Allies to shorten the conflict by at least two years. However, Turing was more than an incredible codebreaker. He was a brilliant mathem…
