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The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

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Average customer rating: 5 stars

A pleasant read, though a bit dated

I bought this book because I'm interested in cryptology but do not have the time to dig deep into specialist books. The book did not dissapoint me - it is well written, not too technical but doesn't 'dumb down' the essence of cryptology too much. The only reason why I wouldn't want to give it 5 stars is that it is a bit dated. Written quite obviously before 9/11, it is a bit too optimistic on the outcome of the battle between code makers and code breakers.

A good book, fun to read, and relatively easy to grasp.

Excellent, Involving, and Satisfying

"The Code Book" presents readers with a beautifully composed account of the history of cryptography. It is written in such a way to keep the technically inclined satisfied without overloading the average reader. Singh does an excellent job at presenting technical material.

This book maintains a high level of drama and excitement, constantly sparking imagination and occasionally encouraging readers to try their own hand at cryptography.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in history, information technology, or politics. It's an excellent read.

An illustrative and entertaining book

More than a history of cryptography, this book could be called a set of
stories about the topic. Which is not a demerit, on the contrary, adds
amenity to a topic that on one hand is interesting and entertaining (who
doesn't like to keep one's secrets and break those of others?) but on
the other hand may be hard (the mathematics and algorithms). The author
copes very well with the fun part and really quite well with the other
part, taking into account that this is not a text book but a informational
and even recreational book.
A reader not familiar with algorithms or computing may still be able to
grasp most of the ideas and every reader will surely enjoy of the well
documented stories on which the book is built. The language is clear
and simple (I am not an English native speaker and nevertheless I can
read it quite easily) so I think that even children of about 12 y.o.
and up may find the book interesting.

Enlightening, intreguing, fascinating. Excellently written

In the Code Book, Simon Singh takes us on a fascinating journey through cryptography from ancient Egypt to to the modern. He touches on many historical figures and their contributions to modern day cryptography. Personalities such as: Charles Babbage (the grandfather of computing), Alan Turing (creator of the Turing Machine, the father of modern computer science), Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leon Adleman (the men behind RSA encryption), and Phil Zimmermann.

This book was enlightening as it put the cryptography mechanisms we employ today into a historical context while describing their complex inner workings and presenting the rich history that lies behind all innovation. Like other reviewers, I was also disappointed that the book came to a close so soon. I'm looking forward to reading Singh's other books.

secret communications makes the history

You will learn all about how secret communications through code have created the history of europe, middle east and other nations. Just get this book.