The evolution of the U.S. signals intelligence capability from Pearl Harbor to the establishment of the National Security Agency in 1952 is the subject of a newly declassified NSA history volume.

The internal history traces "the struggle between centralized and decentralized control of SIGINT, interservice and interagency rivalries, budget problems, tactical versus national strategic requirements, the difficulties of mechanization of processes, and the rise of a strong bureaucracy."

The document was originally produced in classified form in 1990 under the title "The Origins of NSA" (which is also the title of an unclassified NSA public affairs brochure).

The declassified version, published by the NSA Center for Cryptologic History earlier this year in hard copy only, is now entitled "The Quest for Cryptologic Centralization and the Establishment of NSA: 1940-1952."

A scanned copy of the 129 page volume is available here in a large
6.6 MB PDF file:

http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/quest.pdf

A hardcopy original may be obtained while supplies last by sending a request with mailing address to history@nsa.gov.