RaveThe Washington Post...a fascinating combination of love story, spy novel and war tale, all of it true … Fagone tells Elizebeth’s tale briskly over 340-or-so pages, seamlessly mixing her efforts with little side stories showing the fruit her labor bore … The Woman Who Smashed Codes is short but rarely simple, as the subject matter may require: There’s nothing easy about breaking Enigmas, the legendary German device. But it’s a story that anyone with interest in the time period has to read, a key piece of the puzzle about America’s war effort.
Hadley Freeman
MixedThe Wall Street JournalMs. Freeman’s love for the films she discusses is often infectious. Her analysis of the lasting appeal of 'The Princess Bride' (1987), for instance, is spot on ... Less infectious is her tendency to judge films for their political value rather than their artistic merit ... Readers who require their films to pass the Bechdel Test, which requires that any work of fiction has two named female characters who talk to each other about something apart from men, and come with a serving of social justice, will likely find much to appreciate in Ms. Freeman’s lively, footnote-infused writing. The rest of us are better off catching a re-run of the classic 1988 action film 'Die Hard.'
