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Anchor Books

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

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Description

In his first book since the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logisitical breakthrough that made Internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy. Throughout the text are clear technical and mathematical explanations, and portraits of the remarkable personalities who wrote and broke the world's most difficult codes. Accessible, compelling, and remarkably far-reaching, this book will forever alter your view of history and what drives it. It will also make you wonder how private that e-mail you just sent really is. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reprint edition (August 29, 2000)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385495323


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 25


Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1310L


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.15 x 0.88 x 7.98 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #44,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #8 in Web Encryption #33 in Linguistics Reference #101 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)


#8 in Web Encryption:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Fun book!
Full of history! Good read!
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2024 by Hellza Kummin
    • Fascinating read
My old boss used to keep a copy of this lying around in the office (think, "throne room"), and I eventually read the whole thing. It was a well written, fascinating and well paced read of the history and technology of cryptography. That was years ago. I recently decided to buy my own copy and give a re-read. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2024 by Phigg
    • The Code Book--Masterpiece of Historical Significance & Present Secure Communications Quandaries.
From describing very descriptive ancient codes to the fascinating world of quantum computing this author touches on it all with very well illustrated examples to help clarify a very difficult and highly complex subject of cryptanalysis--- with its modern employment of linguists, mathematicians, and computer engineers. It's an ongoing quest to keep our PRIVACY from intrusions of all sources such as governments, business competitors, or prying eyes. There are many privacy issues that both governments and private citizens alike must face in today's technological world. These questions are posed and answered in many ways within the book. One caveat---recalling what our esteemed Statesman Benjamin Franklin once expressed---"Any one who will trade freedom for security deserves neither" The quandary is how government protects its citizens from acts of terror or how citizens may be protected by a tyrannical government--read this book Simon Singh has produced a manuscript that not only gives one a deeper insight into the world of cryptanalysis from a historical prospective but also the men and women involved in this complex field of science through out the ages,----the brilliant people from various and varied walks of life who have contributed immensely to this science past and present . It covers the humanist aspect from those involved with their various idiosyncrasies of behavior from the selling of data to foreign powers as well as personal behavior that could cause one to be blackmailed by enemies. This book is a can of worms in many respects since it opens up to the reader a world fraught with possible invasion of privacy -one of the most fundamental rights we should all hold dear--especially in America--and what avenues we have at our disposal to solve these dilemmas. The writing style Simon uses to explain the complex theories and problems that code breakers or code makers must use is exemplary and easily understood for the average layman--although he helps to have some advanced understanding of the sciences ---but it is not necessary in comprehending what the author conveys in this book. I found the Appendix in the rear especially helpful in my study of the very basic science of cryptanalysis as well as his simple examples on how it all pieces together to form the whole picture. Even though this book was written in 1999--- for those of us who are concerned about CURRENT EVENTS in this science the last chapter offers deeper insights and may be used as a springboard to investigate further developments of cryptanalysis and how we may apply it to our everyday life of sending emails, buying merchandize or researching various subjects. While the wide world of the internet has opened our vast horizons to knowledge and communications within a multitude of domains ---rest assure there is an army of cryptanalyst struggling to keep our messages and correspondence secure daily---or at least we HOPE THERE IS--or we may involve ourselves with political action to ensure our freedom of privacy? ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2013 by frogman
    • Entertaining and enlightening
This is a very well written and entertaining book that covers codes from the earliest ones to quantum computer codes. I liked the balance between historical information and some details about how codes and ciphers are created and broken. The book is written for a general audience, but also contains a lot of somewhat technical information, but is not so mathematical as to be inaccessible for most readers. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in codes, ciphers and some of the privacy issues that are entailed with the use and decryption of them. What is in the book – The book goes beyond many others in the area of codes and ciphers in that it discusses very up to date topics (at least up to 1999 when the book was written), such as the ciphers being used for Internet transactions and questions of privacy and code breaking. The book also covers material on the deciphering of hieroglyphics and Linear-B, which are not covered in other books on codes. I found the sections on the techniques used to decipher messages enciphered with a Vigenére table and the algorithms employed by the DES and RSA systems to be very clear and enlightening. The book contains information on the Enigma machine and the work at Bletchley Park in Britain to decipher the messages sent on it. However, this material is not as detailed as the material in books such as Budainsky’s “Battle of Wits”, Kahn’s “Seizing the Enigma” or Sebag-Montefiore’s “The Battle for the Code”, so if this is your primary interest I would direct you to these sources. However, if your interest is more general then I think that “The Code Book” is an excellent choice. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2014 by Metallurgist
    • Interesting and Captivating
Originally got this book as it was a required reading for one of my linguistic courses. However, I eventually found myself reading this book purely for leisure as the storytelling and content is extremely interesting and captivating even for someone not particularly familiar with the content at first. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2024 by Jake
    • A Great Way To Start Digging Into Cryptography
I've been developing an interest in physics as well as cryptography. I was turned on to Singh's The Code Book simply because it mentioned quantum physics in the title, a happy intersection between my two new hobby subjects. Soon after cracking it open, I realized that I'd picked up one of my favorite books in the past few years. Singh does a great job of laying out the history of cryptography (code writing) and cryptanalysis (code breaking, essentially) as well as explaining the logic behind each of the codes he discusses. It's a fascinating history that builds and builds upon itself, making it clear to the reader how the cryptography readily available to him/her now was born. All the while, Singh's explanation of the thought behind the codes is clear enough for a non-math major to quickly grasp (i.e. myself). I admit that the subject matter was right up my alley and this might not be the case for everyone, but I feel Singh's ability to weave a narrative into a convoluted subject (as it would be) is excellent and warrants a pick up. The history is sturdy enough to support just about any reader and the analysis of the logic is clear and simple to latch on to, even as it delves into some deeper details. In all, this was a great read and I'd highly recommend picking it up. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2009 by Ryan

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