This book investigates the technical and political challenges Alan Turing faced while attempting to design and construct the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) at the National Physical Laboratory. B. Jack Copeland, a leading authority on Turing’s work, utilizes archival documents and technical schematics to reconstruct the development process of the ACE. The text argues that Turing’s vision for a high-speed, stored-program computer was significantly more advanced than contemporary projects, yet it was hampered by bureaucratic inertia and institutional resistance. By examining the primary source materials, the author clarifies the specific architectural innovations Turing proposed for the machine.

Experts recognize this work as a definitive technical account of Turing’s post-war computing efforts. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which requires a foundational understanding of early computer architecture to fully appreciate.