The Code Book

[b:The Code Book|17994|The Code Book The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography|Simon Singh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320438401s/17994.jpg|1031975] is an excellent account of the history of cryptography that spawns many generations. The book is an account of codes and ciphers and how are they a fundamental building block in the evolution of mankind. It tells the story of the most important intellectual weapon ever known: Secrecy.

Since human beings started writing they have been writing in codes and [a:Simon Singh|10894|Simon Singh|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1263127928p2/10894.jpg] has a very powerful way of narrating this amazing story. A story where we came to know about much known and some lesser known people. How their creation has altered history and continues to do so everyday. The writing is fresh crisp and will incite the interest even in readers who dislike this field. His insight into the role played by codes and ciphers is exemplary. The various anecdotes are well suited and add up to the fun quotient of the book. Through his book you will be transferred to a different world, where you are tirelessly trying to break German Enigma machines in World War II or sympathizing with Queen Mary of Scots who is trapped by her own code.

The book is a must read for everyone. For its a story less known and even rarely told. To top it off, there's a sneak peak into the future. Overall, read it for such a story deserves to be read if just for the sake of freedom of speech that we enjoy or have the illusion which is shattered in this book. ( )

Strange that I recently wrote a whiny review, complaining about how the info in [b:Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World|1067424|Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World|John G. Gager|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180705476s/1067424.jpg|1054083] was sliced and diced, and then included mostly as notes. In this book, the opposite was true: All the info was diluted into a peat bog of narrative. (I'm sorry Mr. Gager! As soon as I finish with this review, I will go back and give your curse tablet book another star.)

So...if you're willing to do some wading, this book will reward you with an interesting history of the battle between encryption and decryption folks. I had thought that the history would be primarily military applications. Nope. Turns out the birth of encryption happened because Arab accountants wanted to keep their records secret. And I had no idea that Victorian era lovers would send encrypted messages to one another by posting them in the newspaper. This book is now over a decade old, so I bet lots of innovations have been thought up since it was printed. But this is surely a good stepping stone to get started with the science of secret writing.

P.S. There was a cool decryption contest at the back of the book, but the deadline to enter was 2010. Ah well. ( )

Need to re- read never finished it ( )

Extremamente interessante para quem se interessa por códigos ou pela segunda guerra, já que uma boa parte do livro é dedicada aos códigos usados (e quebrados) durante a guerra. ( )

Outstanding; this history of codes, and the part codes have played in history, and continue to play in everyday life enthralled even a lay person like me. Mr Singh has authored a non-fiction book that reads like a thrilling mystery. ( )