Cracking the Nazi Code, Jason Bell
Cracking the Nazi Code, Jason Bell
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Cracking the Nazi Code
The Untold Story of Agent A12 and the Solving of the Holocaust Code

Author: Jason Bell

Narrator: Christopher Grove

Unabridged: 10 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/30/2024


Synopsis

The thrilling true story of Agent A12, the earliest enemy of the Nazis, and the first spy to crack Hitler’s deadliest secret code: the framework of the Final Solution.

In public life, Dr. Winthrop Bell was a Harvard philosophy professor and wealthy businessman.

As an MI6 spy—known as secret agent A12—in Berlin in 1919, he evaded gunfire and shook off pursuers to break open the emerging Nazi conspiracy. His reports, the first warning of the Nazi plot for World War II, went directly to the man known as C, the mysterious founder of MI6, as well as to various prime ministers. But a powerful fascist politician quietly worked to suppress his alerts. Nevertheless, Dr. Bell’s intelligence sabotaged the Nazis in ways only now revealed in Cracking the Nazi Code.

As World War II approached, Bell became a spy once again. In 1939, he was the first to crack Hitler’s deadliest secret code: Germany’s plan for the Holocaust. At that time, the führer was a popular politician who said he wanted peace. Could anyone believe Bell’s shocking warning?

Fighting an epic intelligence war from Eastern Europe and Russia to France, Canada, and finally Washington, DC, Agent A12 was a real-life 007, waging a single-handed struggle against fascists bent on destroying the Western world. Without Bell’s astounding courage, the Nazis just might have won the war.

About Jason Bell

Jason Bell, PhD, is a professor of philosophy at the University of New Brunswick. He has served as a Fulbright Professor in Germany (at Winthrop Bell’s alma mater, the University of Göttingen), and has taught at universities in Belgium, the United States, and Canada. He was the first scholar granted exclusive access to Winthrop Bell’s classified espionage papers. He lives in New Brunswick, Canada.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on April 10, 2024

Spies come in many different forms. Some are the James Bond types who are constantly in shootouts with death knocking at their door. Some are more subtle. Jason Bell introduces us to Winthrop Bell (no relation) in his book Cracking the Nazi Code. First things first, this is not really a spy book. Th......more

Goodreads review by George on December 09, 2024

A Canadian student in Germany, studying philosophy, is imprisoned after World War I broke out, and then, in 1919, wrote a report identifying the conditions that would nurture the rise of an authoritarian nationalist party (not yet labeled as the Nazis) and lead to another world war. Winthrop Bell's......more

Goodreads review by Joan on November 10, 2023

This book is well-written and is such an eye-opener. The critically important role that Winthrop Bell played in the world really needs to be taught in our schools. He was brilliant!......more

Goodreads review by Jim on July 12, 2024

Interesting reading if you like to read history (which I do). Learned many new things I wasn’t aware of in that time period ( early 1900 to post world war 2). It’s hard to imagine a Canadian was so involved in both world wars, and I hadn’t heard of him.......more

Goodreads review by Juanita Gaulton Broadbent on January 17, 2024

W Bell’s is a great story. Not sure this book did it justice.......more


Quotes

“A remarkable book about a remarkable man heretofore unknown. Bell provides vivid, exciting descriptions of Winthrop Bell’s often harrowing experiences, observational powers, and yeoman efforts to warn those in power in Great Britain and elsewhere of what was really happening in Germany and how to stop it. This book is a significant and timely achievement, and the author should be commended for bringing to colorful life the story of the courageous, intelligent, and infinitely interesting Winthrop Bell. A masterful profile of a significant historical figure.”

"An extraordinary story of one man’s efforts to stop the Nazi regime. Bell has penned a remarkable account of the life of Winthrop Bell, a spy also known as A12 who uncovered the emerging Nazi conspiracy in 1919 Berlin from a careful reading of Hitler’s Mein Kampf. The book vividly documents the spy’s efforts to alert the British of Nazi plans.”

"In detail-rich prose, Canadian academic Bell (no relation) tells the incredible story of ‘quite possibly history’s greatest spy.’ Years before the mainstream media reported on the horrors of the Holocaust, Winthrop Bell told his intelligence contacts all about it. How would things have turned out if Bell had been more impactful? That is the poignant question at the heart of this unputdownable narrative.”