Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Second Edition

I've owned this book for two years and have been picking away at it since January of this year. This is absolutely the best book on encryption. I strongly recommend it.

Contains both an excellent introduction to information security and the cryptographic problem as well as detailing implementations for many algorithms. Includes a section on real world case studies, but given the book's age, those should be taken with a grain of salt and a heavy dose of research.

Bought this after seeing Bruce Schneier give a talk and never got around to working through it, but from skimming this appears to be an excellent introduction to the theory and implementation of cryptographic algorithms. If I were serious about learning this subject, this book is where I'd start.

Contains both an excellent introduction to information security and the cryptographic problem as well as detailing implementations for many algorithms. Includes a section on real world case studies, but given the book's age, those should be taken with a grain of salt and a heavy dose of research.

I read this book back in 1998, and it was the first serious cryptography book I'd read.

It's the classic reference book, and it covers a lot of ground.

It's over 15 years old now, so it's missing some of the recent algorithms and techniques. Notable omissions include 128-bit blocksize block ciphers like AES, Twofish and Serpent; and elliptic curve cryptography that's often used on mobile devices.

The go-to book on cryptography for programmers.

Simply the best book out there for the programmer that needs to learn and understand the fundamentals of *applied* cryptography.