David Kahn (1) (1930–2024)
Author of The Codebreakers
For other authors named David Kahn, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Image credit: David Kahn, American writer on the history of military cryptology. Image on Wikimedia Commons.
Works by David Kahn
Associated Works
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Autumn 1991 (1991) — Author "Why Weren't We Warned?" and "A Japanese Cryptographic System" — 17 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Winter 1990 (1989) — Author "The Wreck of the Magdeburg" — 12 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Autumn 2007 (2007) — Author "Unveiling World War II's Greatest Spy" — 11 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Winter 1995 (1994) — Author "Toward a Theory of Intelligence" — 9 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Winter 2000 (1999) — Author "Greatest Spy: Hans-Thilo Schmidt" — 9 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Autumn 2005 (2005) — Author "The Black Code" — 7 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1930-02-07
- Date of death
- 2024-01-23
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Bronx, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Washington, D.C., USA
Paris, France
Germany
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Great Neck, New York, USA - Education
- University of Oxford (PhD|1974)
Bucknell University (AB|1951) - Occupations
- journalist
writer
historian - Organizations
- American Cryptogram Association
International Association for Cryptologic Research
American Historical Association
American Committee on the History of the Second World War
New York Cipher Society
World War II Studies Association (show all 7)
International Intelligence History Association - Awards and honors
- Pulitzer finalist 1968 (The Codebreakers)
Members
Reviews
The Code-Breakers (The Story of Secret Writing) by David Kahn
chronicling the history of cryptography from ancient Egypt to the time of its writing. The United States government attempted to have the book altered before publication, and it succeeded in part. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Codebreakers
The author passionately tries to make a potentially dull story exciting…and occasionally pulls it off. The final chapter summarizes it all, but "the devil is in the details", inasmuch as the Enigma code was broken by luck, stupidity and intuition--with a little mathematical know-how thrown in for seasoning. Actually, the code was not "broken", only illuminated occasionally; knowing how the enigma machine was built and how it functioned will only take you so far--it's knowing the initial "key" that provided any clear solutions. And the "key" changed often enough to make life miserable for the British code breakers. The stories of the people--on both sides of the equation--provide a lot of the entertainment in the book, along with the many plots and plans to steal or hide information (Ian Fleming’s efforts on the war front were original and definitely entertaining); and the tensions & fears & deaths--on both sides--do help the narrative move along. But it quickly becomes clear that the invulnerable Enigma code was broken and fixed and broken again and again throughout the entire war.
Meanwhile, Kahn does not let us forget how hard the Nazis were working on breaking our codes. In the end, it’s as Tartakower said: “The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.”… (more)
Meanwhile, Kahn does not let us forget how hard the Nazis were working on breaking our codes. In the end, it’s as Tartakower said: “The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.”… (more)
Well written and eminitely readable book. The German navel enigma was more protected cryptographically speaking, than the army/air force enigma, and thus required greater effort to break it. The 'breaks' came in the way of seizures of document keys from captured German weather ships and U-boats. The many factors leading to the Allies ultimate success in the North Atlantic is the basis of this book.
A very comprehensive history of hidden writing, codes, ciphers and other such things. It goes pretty well into depth with how it describes ancient codes and ciphers, how new ones were made and how they were then broken.
It doesn't cover internet security or anything, since this edition of this book was published in 1967. So it is still in the midst of the Cold War. Interestingly, most code breaking was done by linguists and language experts, but that eventually turned into mathematicians.
It doesn't talk about Alan Turing, since at the time of this book being published, it was classified, or at least I think it was.
Anyway, a wonderful tome on how people tried to keep their messages secret.… (more)
It doesn't cover internet security or anything, since this edition of this book was published in 1967. So it is still in the midst of the Cold War. Interestingly, most code breaking was done by linguists and language experts, but that eventually turned into mathematicians.
It doesn't talk about Alan Turing, since at the time of this book being published, it was classified, or at least I think it was.
Anyway, a wonderful tome on how people tried to keep their messages secret.… (more)
1 
Floyd3345 | 11 other reviews | Jun 15, 2019 |
Floyd3345 | 11 other reviews | Jun 15, 2019 | Lists
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 9
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 2,129
- Popularity
- #12,093
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 18
- ISBNs
- 71
- Languages
- 2
- Favorited
- 1
