Secret Warriors: Key Scientists, Code Breakers and Propagandists of the Great War - Softcover

Exactly what you want from a history of the boffins and technological pioneers of the First World War. There are bluff military adventurers and clumsy gentleman scientists (The Times)

[A] fascinating new take on the Great War (Daily Express)

Secret Warriors is a compelling insight into the role intellectuals can play in the business of war (History of War magazine)

Unique and timely, interesting and useful (Military History)

[A] fascinating study (New Statesman)

Lucid and entertaining . . . Secret Warriors is full of interesting characters . . . The straightforward story Downing tells is a refreshing change from older treatments of science and war (Nature)

The war started the long road to the world of cyber warriors, electronic eavesdropping and large-scale chemical weapons we know today. It is a fearsome legacy, and Downing charts its birth with knowledge, wit and skill (Literary Review)

Downing delivers a riveting account (Starred Review Publisher's Weekly)

A very successful work. Downing's voice is clear and highly readable (Library Journal)

an ingenious history that sets aside WWI's immense slaughter in order to concentrate on those who labored behind the scenes . . . Downing delivers a riveting account (Publishers Weekly)

A fresh, new take on the Great War that uncovers how wartime research laid the foundations for much scientific progress in the twentieth century.