‘A first-rate presentation of the life of a first-rate scientific mind… it is hard to imagine a more thoughtful and warm biography than this one.’  —  Douglas Hofstadter, New York Times Book Review

‘One of the finest scientific biographies I’ve ever read: authoritative, superbly researched, deeply sympathetic and beautifully told.’  —  Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

‘Andrew Hodge’s book is of exemplary scholarship and sympathy. Intimate, perceptive and insightful, it’s also the most readable biography I’ve picked up in some time.’  —  Time Out

‘One of the finest scientific biographies ever written.’  —  New Yorker

‘This rather shadowy figure has now finally been lifted into the light of day… it has to be said that Andrew Hodges has put together an extraordinary story.’  —  Sunday Telegraph

‘Hodges’s biography is sensitive, sympathetic and uncompromisingly intellectual. The maths is extremely hard work – but helps the lay reader to appreciate the scale of Turing’s achievements.’  —  Brandon Robsaw, Independent on Sunday

‘Life and work are both made enthralling by Hodges, himself a scientist.’  —  Sunday Times

‘Andrew Hodges, in this fine biography… brings Turing the thinker and Turing the man alive for the reader and thus allows us all to share in the privilege of knowing him.’  —  Financial Times

‘This book has a great deal to offer: clear technical descriptions set against their backgrounds; the story of a man largely at odds with the system he lived in; and the puzzle of Alan Turing himself.’  —  Times Higher Education Supplement

‘Save your money for the forthcoming new edition of Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges, regarded by many as one of the greatest biographies of anyone, let alone Turing.’  —  Robert Matthews, BBC Focus Magazine

‘Researched and written extraordinarily well. It’s a first-class contribution to history and an exemplary work of biography.’  —  Nature

‘This is not a book to be argued about. It is a book to be read.’  —  New Scientist

‘A major work at any level.’  —  Personal Computing World

‘This book stands the test of time. It is a labour of love… compelling.’  —  Energy and Technology

‘A rich and fascinating portrait of a genius whose life was tragically ended before its time.’  —  Gay Times

‘On the face of it, a richly detailed 500-page biography of a mathematical genius and analysis of his ideas, might seem a daunting proposition. But fellow mathematician and author Hodges has acutely clear and often extremely moving insight into the humanity behind the leaping genius that helped to crack the Germans’ Enigma codes during World War II and bring about the dawn of the computer age. Rather than receiving proper recognition after the war, Turing—along with everyone else who had worked at the British codebreaking center Bletchley Park—was obliged to keep his Enigma successes utterly secret. Always remarkably open about his sexual orientation, Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 for his relationship with a young man; the sentence involved a form of chemical castration, and he committed suicide in 1954. But here this melancholy story is transfigured into something else: an exploration of the relationship between machines and the soul and a full-throated celebration of Turing’s brilliance, unselfconscious quirkiness and bravery in a hostile age.’  —  Wall Street Journal