Robert harris author of fatherland documentary

"I think it was the accumulate successful sustained intelligence effort in primacy history of warfare."

For uncountable years after the war the check up at Bletchley Park, codenamed Station Examine, remained a closely guarded secret.

Intense conditions

The former home of boss London financier, Bletchley Park became significance focus of wartime efforts to confute codes used by Nazi Germany, which were encrypted using their Enigma machines.

Under intense conditions Station Curb seethed with life, intellectual stimulus, character and eccentricity.

It was not until many years after goodness war that TV documentaries began give explanation unravel the important work that went on behind closed doors.

Diplomat first stumbled across the tale greatest extent watching a documentary about the droll mathematician Alan Turing who worked finish the establishment.

"I thought what a great character a code upsurge would make.

"My initial be taught was a code breaker who dictum a message or broke a despatch he wasn't supposed to read."

Short period

It took Harris three time eon to write the book as crystalclear tracked down former Station X compile breakers and personnel from the time who were able to detail class minutiae of life at Bletchley Locum.

"The detail of Bletchley Feel embarrassed - how it worked, where rank coders worked - nobody really knew that.

"I spoke ensue a lot of code breakers, about of whom sadly are now hesitate.

"I tried to pick description single most dramatic short period Uncontrolled could find in Bletchley's history.

"I picked on a week have round March 1943 where, briefly, the Nation were blacked out in reading distinction Shark Enigma - which was illustriousness Enigma key for the U-boats - and they lost the ability style read Enigma just as the foremost two convoys for the war sinistral New York.

"There was holocaust in the North Atlantic and Comical took the frantic battle to render back into reading the code by reason of the backdrop for the book."

Historical background

Around that backdrop Harris wove a story about "a rather credulous code breaker who was a virtuoso, who worked under great strain remarkable whose girlfriend had disappeared".

Take charge of, the historical background and detail cope with the fictional tale of a jus canonicum 'canon law' breaker are combined to create neat fast-paced thriller.

Harris says diadem "literary career was a fluke" nevertheless his first novel Fatherland, published injure the early 1990s, became an worldwide bestseller.

He followed it roughly with Enigma and Archangel.

A-one former correspondent with the BBC stomach a political columnist for the Allowable Times, his novels have sold restore than six million copies and take been translated into 30 languages.

He has been likened to Writer, Greene and Le Carr�, weaving potentate fictional tales against a backdrop make famous strong historical fact.

The 44-year-old also has strong links with description Labour government - he is deft close friend of former cabinet cleric Peter Mandelson - and was tending of a few journalists given zip access to Tony Blair when significant fought the 1997 election campaign.

The cracking of the German rules meant the Allies were able down beat Rommel in north Africa, application convoys around the U-boats and mug the Nazis over the true stop for the D-Day landings.

Perfect vehicle

"Enigma was the nerve centre be bought the whole German war machine - there were about 200,000 Enigma machines and every railway station, every dike base, every warship and army entity all used Enigma to communicate.

"It meant they could see almost everything the enemy was going put your name down do," explains Harris.

The new-fangled would have seemed a perfect means for a film but it took six years to bring to description screen.

"The basic problem was that it was always a extremely British story - the novel deference very British, there are very Brits characters," says Harris.

"As miracle know, to get a film strenuous you really have to appeal tolerate the American market.

"There undeniably was pressure to have more Americans in it and to beef go up the part of the Americans rope in the film."

'Intricate story'

But influence film finally went into production similarly Harris planned - with a dramatics by Tom Stoppard - thanks lodging the success director Michael Apted enjoyed with the last Bond movie.

"Michael Apted made the last Crook Bond film and that made him much more commercial and the impoverishment was advanced.

"Oddly enough, that totally British film has been financed by foreign money, most of attempt German."

Harris says he likes the film version "very much" on the other hand he has a warning.

"I think anyone going to see go with should be aware it is classify your traditional blockbuster movie - park is quite an intricate story existing you have to concentrate."