Fwd: BOOK : "Alastair Denniston : Code-Breaking from Room 40 to Berkeley Street and the Birth of GCHQ" by Dr Joel Greenberg

Sunday 03 September 2017

Unsung hero of Bletchley Park to finally be
recognised as book 'rectifies damage of Imitation Game'
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By Hannah Furness, Arts Correspondent

In life, he was the first head of GCHQ, who spotted the talent of Alan 
Turing and helped win the Second World War. By the time Hollywood got 
their hands on him, he was turned into a “pompous prat” obsessed with 
hindering the efforts of Bletchley Park’s stars.

The true story of Commander Alastair Denniston’s life is now to be 
revealed to the public, after historian, GCHQ and his own family team up 
to set the record straight.

Cdr Denniston’s grandchildren said they hoped a new biography would 
“rectify the damage done” to his reputation by 'The Imitation Game, in 
which Charles Dance played him as a “baddie”.

The film, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, won an 
Oscar for best adapted screenplay, but left Cdr Denniston’s descendants 
“hurt” by what they condemned as an unfair portrayal.

Speaking in 2014, Nick Denniston, Cdr Denniston’s grandson, said that 
those who knew him well had been “deeply offended” by the character, 
adding that there had been “quite a lot of bitterness” over how the 
public would now remember him.

Candida Connolly, Cdr Denniston’s granddaughter, said of the family’s 
hopes for the biography : “To rectify the damage done by the 'Imitation 
Game', that would be a good start.”

The book will detail the beginning of his career in the Admiralty’s Room 
40, spending the First World War as a cryptanalyst before going on to 
lead the Government Code & Cypher School.

Running Bletchley Park, he is credited with establishing the beginnings 
of the “special relationship” by liaising with the US, and recruited the 
team which cracked the enigma code.

Mrs Connolly described how Cdr Denniston had refused to speak about his 
experiences in life, understanding the importance of intelligence 
secrecy and fearing his small pension would be taken away if he shared 
too much even decades on.

Research, she said, was therefore a “big project”, started by his son 
Robin and continued by Dr Joel Greenberg.

“He was a victim of his own success,” she said of her grandfather.

“He was very secret, and that’s how it should be. “The book, in 
conjunction with GCHQ, puts my heart at rest.

“It will shed light on actually what was going on - his work, his values 
- and that makes me very pleased.

“And I think my dad would be pleased, because he was very troubled by 
the lack of recognition and knowledge.”

Dr Greenberg said he had agreed to research and write the book after 
completing a biography of Gordon Welchman, another little-known key 
figure at Bletchley Park.

He said the family had assembled “mountains of material” thanks to Cdr 
Denniston’s late son Robin. He also used information held by the 
National Archives, Bletchley Park, and GCHQ.

“It was not easy because he was very secretive,” said Dr Greenberg. 
“Some said he was the most secretive person they ever met. “He was just 
pushed out [ of Bletchley Park ] before the war ended, on a small pension.

“When he died in 1961 there was no recognition from the intelligence 
community, there were no obituaries in the national press. He’s the only 
head of GCHQ never to receive a knighthood.

“What he should be recognised for is playing a key role in establishing 
the relationship between the United States and Britain in sharing 
intelligence.

“His legacy is GCHQ. He created that organisation.”....


The book, "Alastair Denniston : Code-Breaking from Room 40 to Berkeley 
Street and the Birth of GCHQ", is available through Frontline Books and 
will officially be launched at GCHQ next week.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/03/unsung-hero-bletchley-park-finally-recognised-book-rectifies/

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11256888/Bletchley-Park-commander-not-the-baddy-he-is-in-The-Imitation-Game-family-say.html

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"Alastair Denniston :
Code-breaking From Room 40 to Berkeley Street and the Birth of GCHQ"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
by Joel Greenberg

Product details
---------------
     Hardcover
     308 pages
     Publisher : Frontline Books
     01 Sept. 2017
     ISBN-10 : 1526709120
     ISBN-13 : 978-1526709127
     Product Dimensions : 15.6 x 3 x 23.4 cm

Some of the individuals who played key roles in the success of Bletchley 
Park in reading the secret communications of Britain s enemies during 
the Second World War have become well-known figures. However, the man 
who created and led the organisation based there, from its inception in 
1919 until 1942, has, surprisingly, been overlooked until now. In 1914 
Alastair Denniston, who had been teaching French and German at Osborne 
Royal Navy College, was one of the first recruits into the Admiralty s 
fledgling codebreaking section which became known as Room 40. There a 
team drawn from a wide range of professions successfully decrypted 
intercepted German communications throughout the First World War. After 
the Armistice, Room 40 was merged with the British Army s equivalent 
section MI.1 to form the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS). 
Initially based in London, from August 1939 GC&CS was largely located at 
Bletchley Park, with Alastair Denniston as its Operational Director. 
Denniston was moved in 1942 from military to civilian intelligence at 
Berkeley Street, London. Small at first, as Enigma traffic diminished 
towards the end of the Second World War, diplomatic and commercial 
codebreaking became of increasing importance and a vital part of Britain 
s signal intelligence effort. GC&CS was renamed the Government 
Communications Headquarters ( GCHQ ) in June 1946, and moved to the 
outskirts of Cheltenham. It continues to be the UK s signal intelligence 
gathering organisation. With the support and assistance of the both the 
Denniston family and GCHQ, Joel Greenberg, author of Gordon Welchman, 
Bletchley Park s Architect of Ultra Intelligence, has produced this 
absorbing story of Commander Alexander Alastair Guthrie Denniston OBE, 
CBE, CMG, RNVR, a man whose death in 1961 was ignored by major 
newspapers and the very British intelligence organisation that was his 
legacy.

About the Author
----------------
Joel Greenberg is an author and historian who researches and writes 
about signals intelligence and its impact on two world wars. He is the 
author of "Gordon Welchman, Bletchley Park s Architect of Ultra 
Intelligence". His book is the basis of a joint BBC/Smithsonian Network 
2015 documentary about Welchman "The Forgotten Genius of Bletchley Park".


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alastair-Denniston-Berkeley-Street-Birth/dp/1526709120

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1qJ7z0aufL.jpg