Cryptic: From Voynich to the Angel Diaries, the Story of the World's Mysterious Manuscripts

by Garry J. Shaw

An absorbing history of Europe's nine most puzzling texts, including the biggest mystery of all: the Voynich Manuscript

Books can change the world. They can influence, entertain, transport, and enlighten. But across the centuries, authors have disguised their work with codes and ciphers, secret scripts and magical signs. What made these authors decide to keep their writings secret? What were they trying to hide?

Garry J. Shaw tells the stories of nine puzzling European texts. Shaw explores the unknown alphabet of the nun Hildegard of Bingen; the enciphered manuscripts of the prank-loving physician Giovanni Fontana; and the angel communications of the polymath John Dee. Along the way, we discover how the pioneers of science and medicine concealed their work, encounter demon magic and secret societies, and delve into the intricate symbolism of alchemists searching for the Philosopher's Stone.

This highly enjoyable account takes readers on a fascinating journey through Europe's most cryptic writings--and attempts to shed new light on the biggest mystery of all: the Voynich Manuscript.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Books About Books, Medieval

352 pages, Hardcover

First published June 18, 2025

About the author

Garry J Shaw is an author and journalist, writing about archaeology, history, and travel. He studied archaeology and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, and afterwards moved to Egypt to teach for the American University in Cairo. He has lectured in the UK, Egypt, and Canada, appeared in documentaries, and taught an online introduction to ancient Egypt for Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education.

Reviews

[Diane Jeske · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

I picked this book up primarily because I’ve been curious about the mysterious Voynich manuscript for awhile. I found the discussions of that manuscript interesting, especially the author’s showing of how many of its features would have been familiar to contemporary readers. He suggests that they would have assumed that the odd writing was a code that could be cracked and they would then be rewarded with esoteric knowledge on these topics. The author thinks that most likely it is a hoax and it is all meaningless.

There are also interesting discussions of John Dee and the language of the angels, and of others who encoded their manuscripts. But there is also much that is tedious: I didn’t find the discussions of the provenance of the manuscripts at all interesting. On balance, worth reading for those curious about medieval manuscripts who are willing to wade through some dull detail.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick impressions: As a whole, this is an interesting book. The author looks at a text, and then we get to look at the text writer's life followed by a look at the context of the time and history around a document or book. By looking at the historical context we can better understand the books discussed.

(Full review with additional reading notes available on my blog soon.)

[Jenny Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are many ancient manuscripts whose authors used codes and ciphers to disguise the contents of their work and this book explores nine of these European texts.

I had great expectations of this book, anticipating an exploration of codes and ciphers over the ages. And I suppose this is sort of what I was given, although the emphasis was very much on the whys and wherefores, rather than on the codes themselves. Extensive research was obviously undertaken to write the book and I appreciated the work that had gone into it.

However, unfortunately I was disappointed in the end result. All of the manuscripts under discussion were very old and, when the author was known, the chapter dedicated to that manuscript was basically a biography of the author, followed by a history of the manuscript and its whereabouts throughout its history. Speculations were made about the reasons for the encoding, which included secret societies hiding their discoveries from the uninitiated, alchemists and medics adding mystery to their work to encourage investors and curry favour with the royal courts as well as bare-faced hoaxes. On the whole, the delivery was dull, often tedious and it read more like an academic textbook than a book aimed at a mass market. Ultimately I am afraid that my interests lay more with the codes themselves and I was also expecting some more recent contributions.

Whilst this book is undoubtedly of interest to somebody with a particular fascination with the niche area of ancient encoded manuscripts, I am not sure that I would recommend it to a wider market.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and measured argument for interpretation of the Voynich manuscript as ancient forgery made for profit hidden in a book about other cryptic documents. It presents historical context, argumentation and clear claims in a very well organised manner while being entertaining and informative at the same time.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting stories about religious nuts.

[Rosemary Chapell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book to read by my book club and wasn't sure that it wouldn't be way over my head. Just goes to show I for one should never judge a book by it's cover/ title. A lot of it was a bit cryptic, but more was highly enjoyable, especially the social history. There were a few things that made me laugh out loud, rather unexpectedly.