DEADLY MAGIC - A Personal Account of Communications Intelligence inWorld War II in the Pacific ( by Van Der Rhoer, Edward

ROBERT HALE, LONDON, 1979, UK FIRST EDITION,, hard bound in dust jacket, FINE/FINE CONDITION ( dj price clipped) , 6 x 9, 194 pages, illus., index.------------------------------------------One of the most closely guarded secrets of World War II was the success of American code-breakers in reading the messages of the Japanese armed forces and diplomatic service. Probably no single achievement played a greater part in the U.S. victory in the Pacific following the appalling setback at Pearl Harbor.---------------------------------------------------------------------From the Battle of Midway to the final surrender of Japan, Communications Intelligence (Comint) provided the American High Command with virtually continuous knowledge of Japanese plans and operations. On the one hand, the information enabled the U.S. Navy to avoid being taken by surprise in engagements that might have proved disastrous; and on the other it made it possible to inflict heavy losses on the enemy, sometimes against great numerical odds.The reader of Deadly Magic is brought into the middle ofthis round-the-clock intelligence-gathering effort by one who worked at the centre of the Navy's communications intelligence operation throughout the war.