Codes and Ciphers

by Adrian Gilbert

The enduring appeal of spies and their technology, codes and mysterious ways are explored in this engaging series of four colorful books. Each explores a different aspect of the spy trade, interspersing historical tidbits with tales of spies from popular culture and contemporary movies. Other titles in this series Secret Agents , Spy School , and Top Technology . Codes and Ciphers covers everything from Caesar's alphabetic substitution system and Morse code to the Enigma machines and microdots of World War II. Sidebars explain how to create a cipher, how to craft invisible ink messages using wax and crayons and how to make a one-time pad.

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

Adrian Gilbert is a British author and historian who writes primarily on the subject of military history – particularly relating to wars of the 20th century.

Reviews

[Duane]

For young readers who are interested in learning about codes and secret spy techniques, then this is a great book for them! Filled with great photographs and illustrations, the book goes through the history of codes/ciphers and how they've advanced through the years. A great bonus is that each type of code is explained in detail and there are exercises for the reader to experiment with. A great book for anyone's collection.