Behind the celebrated code-breaking at Bletchley Park lies another secret

The men and women of the Y (for Wireless) Service were sent out across the world to run listening stations from Gibraltar to Cairo, intercepting the German militarys encrypted messages for decoding back at the now-famous Bletchley Park mansion.

Such wartime postings were life-changing adventures travel out by flying boat or Indian railways, snakes in filing cabinets and heat so intense the perspiration ran into your shoes - but many of the secret listeners found lifelong romance in their far-flung corner of the world. Now, drawing on dozens of interviews with surviving veterans, Sinclair McKay tells their remarkable story at last.

SINCLAIR MCKAY is the acclaimed author of history and historical true crime including the best-sellingThe Secret Life of Bletchley Park. HIs previous Aurum titles includeMile End Murder, The Lost World of Bletchley Park, The Secret Life of Fighter Command andThe Secret Listeners for Aurum, as well as histories of Hammer films and the James Bond films. He writes features for the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday and lives in London.