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The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography (Paperback)

by Simon Singh (Author) "On the morning of Saturday, October 15, 1586, Queen Mary entered the crowded courtroom at Fotheringhay Castle ..." (more)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (205 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (Aug 29 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385495323
ISBN-13: 978-0385495325
Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.4 x 2.5 cm
Shipping Weight: 409 g

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (205 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #7,535 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories:

#2 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Algorithms > Cryptography
#3 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > Security & Encryption > Encryption
#6 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > History

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

People love secrets. Ever since the first word was written, humans have sent coded messages to each other. In The Code Book, Simon Singh, author of the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, offers a peek into the world of cryptography and codes, from ancient texts through computer encryption. Singh's compelling history is woven through with stories of how codes and ciphers have played a vital role in warfare, politics, and royal intrigue. The major theme of The Code Book is what Singh calls "the ongoing evolutionary battle between codemakers and codebreakers," never more clear than in the chapters devoted to World War II. Cryptography came of age during that conflict, as secret communications became critical to both sides' success.

Confronted with the prospect of defeat, the Allied cryptanalysts had worked night and day to penetrate German ciphers. It would appear that fear was the main driving force, and that adversity is one of the foundations of successful codebreaking.

In the information age, the fear that drives cryptographic improvements is both capitalistic and libertarian--corporations need encryption to ensure that their secrets don't fall into the hands of competitors and regulators, and ordinary people need encryption to keep their everyday communications private in a free society. Similarly, the battles for greater decryption power come from said competitors and governments wary of insurrection.

The Code Book is an excellent primer for those wishing to understand how the human need for privacy has manifested itself through cryptography. Singh's accessible style and clear explanations of complex algorithms cut through the arcane mathematical details without oversimplifying. --Therese Littleton

From Publishers Weekly

In an enthralling tour de force of popular explication, Singh, author of the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, explores the impact of cryptographyAthe creation and cracking of coded messagesAon history and society. Some of his examples are familiar, notably the Allies' decryption of the Nazis' Enigma machine during WWII; less well-known is the crucial role of Queen Elizabeth's code breakers in deciphering Mary, Queen of Scots' incriminating missives to her fellow conspirators plotting to assassinate Elizabeth, which led to Mary's beheading in 1587. Singh celebrates a group of unsung heroes of WWII, the Navajo "code talkers," Native American Marine radio operators who, using a coded version of their native language, played a vital role in defeating the Japanese in the Pacific. He also elucidates the intimate links between codes or ciphers and the development of the telegraph, radio, computers and the Internet. As he ranges from Julius Caesar's secret military writing to coded diplomatic messages in feuding Renaissance Italy city-states, from the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone to the ingenuity of modern security experts battling cyber-criminals and cyber-terrorists, Singh clarifies the techniques and tricks of code makers and code breakers alike. He lightens the sometimes technical load with photos, political cartoons, charts, code grids and reproductions of historic documents. He closes with a fascinating look at cryptanalysts' planned and futuristic tools, including the "one-time pad," a seemingly unbreakable form of encryption. In Singh's expert hands, cryptography decodes as an awe-inspiring and mind-expanding story of scientific breakthrough and high drama. Agent, Patrick Walsh. (Oct.) FYI: The book includes a "Cipher Challenge," offering a $15,000 reward to the first person to crack that code.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
On the morning of Saturday, October 15, 1586, Queen Mary entered the crowded courtroom at Fotheringhay Castle. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

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	87% buy the item featured on this page: The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography 4.8 out of 5 stars (205) CDN$ 14.56
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Customer Reviews

205 Reviews

5 star:		(166)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (205 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A technical book wrapped in stories, Sep 21 2002

By	Andrew Mueller "xxyy47" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you want to understand how cryptography works, why it was developed and how it is broken this is one of the best books you can find on that subject. It includes cipher texts at the end to see how much you've learned...a fun way to learn about actually cracking ciphers. Written from a mathematical point of view, with plenty of stories and lore mixed in this book is fun for people with both no calculus experience and people with advanced degrees in applied math. I truly enjoyed this book and the analytical thinking it brought me.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Highly readable, Sep 30 2009

By	Susannah - See all my reviews

This book is a highly readable history of cryptography covering such diverse topics as Mary, Queen of Scots, the Rosetta Stone, and government secrecy. Singh is a marvellous writer, and makes even the trickier aspects of the subject (such as quantum cryptography) understandable.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A Review Of “The Code Book” By Simon Singh, Dec 28 2005

By	Jody Cairns "Steel White Table" (NB, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I tried reading this book five years ago when I bought it, giving up within the first 50 pages where the author started explaining how to decrypt a ciphertext. It bored me then. I’m glad I stuck through that minor hump this time around; this is an engrossing, fascinating book about cryptography’s role in history.

Singh begins the history with Mary Queen of Scots and how she used a cipher to encrypt letters to her cohorts to plan the assasination of the Queen of England. Besides learning a lot of history, Singh describes the ciphers used in an easy to follow manner, using lots of useful examples.

For those with a computer science background, the book gets really interesting about two-thirds of the way in, when computers come into play for breaking codes developed during World War II. The history of DES, RSA and PGP are compelling, especially when you already know about those standards but didn’t know the history of them; and the author describes how all are implemented in layman terms; it is easy to follow if you know little mathematics, although it will make the programmer in you want to start coding the algorithms he describes.

The author has published a less technical version of the book: The Code Book for Young People: How to Make It, Break It, Hack It, Crack It.

I picked up this book because I read the author’s previous book, Fermat’s Enigma, which is a lot more technical than The Code Book, but it’s an interesting tale nevertheless; non-technical readers can skip the meaningless stuff. That book is about how Fermat’s Last Theorem was solved after almost 400 years.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece!
This book is truly an achievement! SimonSingh takes up a seemingly esoteric, difficult, mysterious, exhaustive subject of Cryptography (or in simple terms Coding and decoding)... Read more

Published on Jul 17 2004 by Raja Mannar

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating subject!
This author did a fantastic job of taking what could be a very dry subject and making it quite interesting. Read more

Published on Jul 10 2004 by Michael Freeman

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book
I'd like to put this out there first. If you dont like math and science, get a clue you wont like this book. I however do enjoy math and science, especially computers. Read more

Published on Jun 2 2004 by Patrick H. Wiseman

4.0 out of 5 stars History and Geek stuff blended
Fasinating. I've lent this book to several dubious reader and they have never stopped thanking me for this fasinating account. I've referred back to it several times. Read more

Published on April 23 2004 by U Might B Wrong