Kahn on Codes: Secrets of the New Cryptology

by David Kahn

In Kahn on Codes, David Kahn, America's foremost authority on codes, ciphers, and spies, gives us a far-ranging look at the new cryptology - from its standard use in warfare to its growing impact on industry. "Cryptology has gone public," Kahn writes. "A field that was once the exclusive domain of governments has become a concern of businesses and individuals."

In this absorbing and eclectic collection, Kahn expertly explores the crytographer's world, leading us into and through its dark labyrinths. We learn about the legendary Herbert O. Yardley's "lost manuscript," investigate the origins of polyalphabetic substitution, and follow the adventures of Hans-Thilo Schmidt- whom Kahn calls the greates spy of World War II.

Among the other fascinating sections in Kahn on Codes:

* Codebreaking in World Wars I & II: Their Major Successes and Failures, Their Causes and Effects
* Lgcn Otuu Wllwgh W1 Etfown, or, "They Will Attack at Midway"
* Ciphers and Computers
* The Soviet Spy Ciphers used by Reino Hayhanen and Rudolf Abel
* Public Versus Private Cryptology
* Codes in Context
* Opportunities in Cryptology

Kahn on Codes also includes a list of cryptological terms, endnotes, and index.

Genres: Science

343 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

A specialist on the history of cryptography and military intelligence, David Kahn worked as a reporter and op-ed editor for Newsday until his retirement in 1998, and was selected in 1995 as scholar-in-residence at the National Security Agency. Kahn earned a D.Phil in modern German history from Oxford University in 1974 under the supervision of the then-Regius professor of modern history, Hugh Trevor-Roper.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the time, this was a great book if you were looking for something to cover cryptography in its various forms.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good collection of article on cryptography through the early 80s, but some of the technical portions are a bit dated.

[Marco Bitetto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another of Kahn's works that is a must read...
It highlights the modern day connections between codes,
computers and mathematics...