Most Secret War
by R. V. Jones · first published 1998
59% recommend37% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
First-hand account of British scientific intelligence in WWII, from the war of the beams, radar and jamming to the V-2. Reads as witty, anecdotal cat-and-mouse stories, suiting hacker-minded and technical readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Most Secret War is R V Jones's account of his part in British Scientific Intelligence between 1939 and 1945. It was his responsibility to anticipate the German applications of science to warfare, so that the British could counter their new weapons before they were used. Much of his work had to do with radio navigation, as in the Battle of the Beams, with radar, as in the Allied Bomber Offensive and in the preparations for D-Day and in the war at sea. He was also in charge of the British intelligence against the V-1 (flying bomb) and V-2 (rocket) retaliation weapons and, although fortunately th
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2018–2023The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Giles Milton
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2010–2024The Wizard war
Jones, Reginald Victor
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 42 recommend · 4 mention2 recommend · 42 recommend
2009–2026Between Silk and Cyanide
Leo Marks
Recommended by 18 · mentioned by 2018 recommend · 20 mention18 recommend · 2018 recommend
2009–2026Glasshouse
Charles Stross
Recommended by 19 · mentioned by 3219 recommend · 32 mention19 recommend · 3219 recommend
2015–2026Incerto
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Recommended by 32 · mentioned by 4132 recommend · 41 mention32 recommend · 4132 recommend
2008–2025The Hacker Crackdown
Bruce Sterling
Recommended by 35 · mentioned by 4935 recommend · 49 mention35 recommend · 4935 recommend
2011–2026Ghost in the wires
Kevin D. Mitnick
Recommended by 63 · mentioned by 8663 recommend · 86 mention63 recommend · 8663 recommend
2007–2026The Soul of a New Machine
Tracy Kidder
Recommended by 260 · mentioned by 376260 recommend · 376 mention260 recommend · 376260 recommend
Also, in the same vein, I highly recommend R.V. Jones' 'Most Secret War' on his experience as Chief Boffin in the UK during WWII. Chapter after chapter devoted to figuring out what the Germans were up to on the technology front, then one-upping them. Lots of engineering…
on “The Thing” ↗…information back to the Germans. As a result, the aimers never really got a grip on ranging accurately. The bombs started landing to the south east of London. There's considerably more detail about this in Most Secret War by R V Jones, who was involved in all sorts of ruses to confuse the enemy. Well worth a read. Eddie Chapman (Agent ZigZag) was played by Christopher Plummer in the film Triple Cross. It seems to be on…
on “What does randomness look like?” ↗"Most Secret War" by Dr. R.V. Jones is also good -- it covers the role of British Scientific Intelligence during the war, and the "War of the Beams", which was the subverting/jamming of the German navigation radio beacon…
on “When Ian Fleming picked my grandfather to steal Nazi secrets” ↗…distinguish between it and a functioning station, and concluded that approach wasn't going to work. Can't remember my source for it, a quick check of the index indicates it wasn't R.V. Jones' superb Most Secret War.
on “V2 rockets on London and surrounding counties” ↗…So in some cases we are still discussing what were really cover stories, either for the use of airborne radar or code breaking. Quite old now but a decent first-hand account can be read in Prof Jones "Most Secret War" : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Victor_Jones Something I suspect not widely known, and covered in that book is that many night time british bombing raids later in the war were successful because…
on “Norden bombsight” ↗In this vein, R V Jones "Most Secret War" is great if you haven't read it -- about the cat & mouse game of radar development, from a guy deeply involved: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033806QY/
on “Packard Merlin: How Detroit Mass-Produced Britain’s Hand-Built Powerhouse (2015)” ↗…a weapon. Anyway, just a reminder that ultimately it's all about politics not technology. A good source I can remember about the V2 story during the war, from the UK point of view, was this book: Most secret war, by R.V. Jones
on “The V-2” ↗I’d highly recommend Most Secret War which covers the role of Scientific Intelligence in Britain’s battle with Germany during WWII. https://www.amazon.com/Most-Secret-Penguin-World-Collection/...
on “Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advantage wins wars?” ↗…Design Manual, CLRS, etc.) 4. Things that bring me joy to reread or even just look at and reminisce about reading (this is for anyone a personal list - for me it's things such as Ignition!, R.V. Jones' Most Secret War, the works of Neal Stephenson and Robert Caro, and more) There are of course exceptions, such as the unspoken category 5 (virtue signaling) - I'm probably never actually going to read those Knuth tomes…
on “Does Your Office Have a Library?” ↗…know, the 1 star reviews like this one: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2TK8WK4POCIF3/ref=cm_cr_rdp_pe... make me view it with suspicion. While it's not of the same scope, I can recommend R. V. Jones' Most Secret War without reservation: http://www.amazon.com/Most-Secret-Wordsworth-Military-Librar...
on “Briefcase 'that changed the world' (2007)” ↗For sheer engineering fun, R.V. Jones' "How I Won the War" (No, not really; it is called "Most Secret War") is hard to beat; it is the memoirs of Britain's chief scientist during WWII; hundreds of pages of one-upping their Axis counterparts - the birth of electronic warfare. Excellent read.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗...and in a related vein, anyone with a hacker mindset ought to check out R.V. Jones’ ‘Most Secret War’; Jones was the UK senior scientific adviser during WW2 and the book reads like an endless string of anecdotes about one-upping the Germans. I guess tricking early IFF and radionavigation systems could…
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗Listed in no particular order: Title, author - publisher (topic) Most Secret War, R.V.Jones - Coronet Books (W.W.2 tech) Light Years, Brian Clegg - Piatkus (about light) Faraday, James Hamilton - Harper Collins (biography) The Code Breakers, David Kahn - Sphere (cryptography)
on “Ask HN: Best trivia/novel topic books?” ↗Anyone who browses HN regularly will probably enjoy the book "Most Secret War" by R.V. Jones (or the accompanying TV show "The Secret War"). Jones was a physicist working for Churchill directly by the end of the war. Everyone has heard of Bletchley park and the Manhattan project,…
on “Ask HN: What's your favorite book that nobody you know has heard of?” ↗…this, he guessed it was a radio navigation system using a single radio beam. This proved correct, and the Royal Air Force was able to quickly render it useless through jamming." Read R.V. Jones book "Most secret* war" if this kind of war-engineering interests you. * Pay attention to "most secret" rather than the ghastly Americanism "top secret"!
on “O.mg Cable” ↗