The film Imitation Game has its problems. But I recommend it, if only because the subject, breaking the German Enigma Code during World War II, is arguably the most intriguing accomplishment of the most cataclysmic event in human history.

The resulting moral dilemma was as interesting as breaking the code. If the Germans discovered Enigma was compromised, they could change the settings, forcing code-breakers to start all over again. Lives were sacrificed for the greater good time and again to keep what became the ULTRA Secret secure.

Another fascinating dimension is how the 12,000 or so code-breakers and administrative staff kept the secret until it became public 40 years later.

The pressing reality in the 1980s, as the Ultra Secret leaked out, was the need to re-write the history of World War II. For example, in 1941 the accepted view that Field Marshal Montgomery had outwitted Rommel in the North Africa campaign had to be revised. Due to Enigma intercepts, Montgomery knew of German troop movements and positions.

The declassification of Ultra, scarcely covered in the U.S. media, was a reminder that World War II created the world we live in: computers, radar, rocket technology, nuclear weapons, the Cold War, the UN, NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the Berlin Wall and the establishment of Israel all have their antecedents in World War II.

Alas, teaching the war on the college level is nearly non-existent, which prompted me, in 1986, to donate funding for a seminar keying on war Prime Minister Winston Churchill in his role as Ultra Officer 1.

The department of history department chairman told me, “We don’t teach war in the Department of History at UNC. Wouldn’t the money be better spent on the role of women and minorities in the armed forces, and the problems facing homosexuals in the modern army?”

I replied that he and his comrades were ruining higher education by replacing traditional courses with multicultural, politically correct pabulum.

I held the program anyway – with the Department of Peace War and Defense, the post-Kent State name for ROTC. (The 1970 confrontation between Ohio National Guard and anti-Vietnam student demonstrators led to demands that colleges “Teach war no more” and ban ROTC military uniforms from campus. Some schools closed down ROTC training, while most of the others changed the name.)

Cambridge don Christopher Andrew was flown from the UK to deliver the lecture about Churchill’s relationship with his country’s secret services. The newly installed president of the UNC system joined our pre-lecture dinner group. He asked how many people I expected for the talk. I said 50 would be good, and 100 a home run.

“Then why is the event at Memorial Hall, which holds 800?” he asked. I explained that I could not find a venue in the usual campus buildings because the word was out about my rumpus with the history chair.

Our group walked across the main campus for the 8 PM presentation. Our mouths fell open and quickly transformed to wide smiles. Over 1100 people showed up. The UNC professoriate is still miffed at the success of the talk.

My point was made: students, traditional faculty and ordinary people are eager to learn about World War II, and also the role of code-breaking and espionage since the Cold War ended and the war on terrorism began.