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Codes And Ciphers: Secret Writing Through the Ages
An explanation of the development, methods, and use of cryptography throughout history
- GenresNonfictionHistory
134 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
3 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
John Laffin
118 books6 followersJohn Laffin was a prolific author with nearly 130 books to his name. Many of his books concerned military history.
Laffin's parents both served in WWI, his father in the 20th Battalion and his mother as a nurse. In 1940, aged 24, having worked with Smith's Weekly and The Wagga Advertiser, he enlisted in the 2nd AIF. He trained as an infantryman and later completed an officer course before serving in New Guinea. While convalescing in Sydney in 1943 he met his wife Hazelle.
After the war Laffin worked for a number of newspapers and magazines, wrote short novels and began his own feature service and editing unit. With his family he left for England in 1956 where he resided for nearly 40 years. He wrote articles for Australian newspapers and taught English, history and geography in secondary colleges.
Laffin traveled extensively in Europe, especially the Western Front areas of WWI and in the Middle East. He returned to Australia in 1995 but Hazelle developed heart problems and died in early 1997. He is survived by his two daughters, Bronwen and Pirenne, and a son, Craig.
Laffin's parents both served in WWI, his father in the 20th Battalion and his mother as a nurse. In 1940, aged 24, having worked with Smith's Weekly and The Wagga Advertiser, he enlisted in the 2nd AIF. He trained as an infantryman and later completed an officer course before serving in New Guinea. While convalescing in Sydney in 1943 he met his wife Hazelle.
After the war Laffin worked for a number of newspapers and magazines, wrote short novels and began his own feature service and editing unit. With his family he left for England in 1956 where he resided for nearly 40 years. He wrote articles for Australian newspapers and taught English, history and geography in secondary colleges.
Laffin traveled extensively in Europe, especially the Western Front areas of WWI and in the Middle East. He returned to Australia in 1995 but Hazelle developed heart problems and died in early 1997. He is survived by his two daughters, Bronwen and Pirenne, and a son, Craig.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 28, 2017
I'll admit that I bought this book because of the movie Zodiac. The movie is one of my favorites and I've always been curious about ciphers, so when I found the same edition as was in the movie, I snatched it up for myself.
This is a fascinating book that doesn't just talk about how to encrypt a message, but also goes into the history of secret writing and how it was used over the centuries. There were certain historical topics that I wished Laffin could have gone more in depth on, but for an overview and book that, I'm assuming, was written for kids, it was pretty informative without being too dry. What I appreciated the most, though, was all the opportunities Laffin gives to practice enciphering/deciphering throughout the text. Each time a new type of cipher is introduced, Laffin includes an example message that has already been encrypted using that cipher, so you can follow along with his explanation or even attempt to decipher it on your own and see how you did. There's even a section in the back with sample cryptograms for you to practice with.
This is such a fun and informative book, especially if your interested in ciphers or just want to feel a little bit more like Jake Gyllenhaal's character in Zodiac.
This is a fascinating book that doesn't just talk about how to encrypt a message, but also goes into the history of secret writing and how it was used over the centuries. There were certain historical topics that I wished Laffin could have gone more in depth on, but for an overview and book that, I'm assuming, was written for kids, it was pretty informative without being too dry. What I appreciated the most, though, was all the opportunities Laffin gives to practice enciphering/deciphering throughout the text. Each time a new type of cipher is introduced, Laffin includes an example message that has already been encrypted using that cipher, so you can follow along with his explanation or even attempt to decipher it on your own and see how you did. There's even a section in the back with sample cryptograms for you to practice with.
This is such a fun and informative book, especially if your interested in ciphers or just want to feel a little bit more like Jake Gyllenhaal's character in Zodiac.
January 4, 2017
Great introduction to codes and ciphers. Gives you a lot of examples of simple codes and ciphers punctuated with narrative of how these were used in history. The book is concluded with a glossary and a set of encrypted messages for the reader to crack.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews