Fireside Chat | The Codebreakers, Part 1: Bletchley Park and the Brits who Broke the Code

In-person or Online

Join us in-person in the library or online for a presentation by Fireside Chat host Paul Sparrow and Science & Society's Fred Dylla.

Behind the ornate exterior of a beautiful country estate in Buckingham Shire, a top secret team of men and women broke the Nazi codes and helped win the war for the Allies. Working tirelessly for years, they built the world's first digital computer, decrypted Hitler's Enigma machine, and gave Winston Churchill vital intelligence on German military plans. The "dark art" of writing in code dates back to the ancient Egyptians and Romans. And the efforts to break those codes go back just as far. Codebreaking was a vital weapon used in the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War, World War I and II, and through the Cold War right up to today.

Bletchley Park was the epicenter of British Intelligence codebreaking, and 75% of the people doing the work were women. They worked in top secrecy, and many of them were never able to reveal their contributions to winning the war due to the Official Secrets Acts. Some of the most brilliant mathematicians and electrical engineers in the world were pitted against each other – working to create unbreakable codes, while at the same time trying to decipher their enemy's unbreakable codes.

Fred Dylla and Paul Sparrow will present a detailed exploration of Bletchley Park during the darkest days of World War II, the impossible task that the codebreakers faced, and how they were able to change the course of the war. Part 2 will be presented on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET. Register for that presentation.

The Fireside Chat series is organized and moderated by Paul Sparrow, a writer, historical consultant, and the former Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Before moving to the FDR Library, he was the Deputy Director and Senior Vice President at the Newseum in Washington, DC. He is the author of the book, Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR's War of Words With Charles Lindbergh—and the Battle to Save Democracy.

Fred Dylla has three degrees in physics from MIT and spent 15 years as a research scientist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, followed by 16 years as the Chief Technology Officer at the Department of Energy’s Jefferson Lab in Newport News, VA. He finished his formal (paid) career as the Executive Director of the American Institute of Physics in College Park, MD, from 2007-2015. Fred is the co-host of the library's “Science and Society – Making Sense of the World Around Us” lecture series.

President Franklin Roosevelt broadcast his first Fireside Chat on March 12th, 1933, just eight days after his inauguration. During his 12 years in office he delivered dozens of Fireside Chats, guiding America through the Great Depression, and guiding a global audience through the horrors of World War Two. FDR’s Fireside Chats were a new form of political communication, using radio to connect with Americans in an intimate setting – right in their living rooms. His compelling and persuasive broadcasts encouraged Americans to believe in democracy and its future. Paul Sparrow, a nationally recognized expert on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the former director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, hosts this series of programs that build on the foundation laid by FDR’s Fireside Chats, and find their relevance to our world today.

NOTE: this session is available to attend in-person or through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER and indicate which you prefer. Each individual attending must register.

If you have need assistance with registration or getting your Zoom invitation, please email us.

Basic written instructions for using Zoom may be found here and a brief video tutorial may be found here. Closed captioning is available for all our sessions. Information on enabling closed captioning in Zoom may be found here.