The Hidden History of Code-Breaking: The Secret World of Cyphers, Uncrackable Codes, and Elusive Encryptions

by Sinclair McKay

Overview

A fascinating exploration of the uncrackable codes and secret cyphers that helped win wars, spark revolutions and change the faces of nations.

There have been secret codes since before the Old Testament, and there were secret codes in the Old Testament, too. Almost as soon as writing was invented, so too were the devious means to hide messages and keep them under the wraps of secrecy.

In The Hidden History of Code Breaking, Sinclair McKay explores these uncrackable codes, secret cyphers and hidden messages from across time to tell a new history of a secret world. From the temples of Ancient Greece to the court of Elizabeth I; from antique manuscripts whose codes might hold prophecies of doom to the modern realm of quantum mechanics, we will see how a few concealed words could help to win wars, spark revolutions and even change the faces of great nations.

Here is the complete guide to the hidden world of codebreaking, with opportunities for you to see if you could have cracked some of the trickiest puzzles and lip-chewing codes ever created.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639364343
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	08/01/2023
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,017,577
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Sinclair McKay is the London-based literary critic for the Telegraph and the Spectator and is the author of The Secret Life of Codebreakers and Bletchley Park Brainteasers.

Editorial Reviews

09/04/2023

Journalist and historian McKay (The Secret Lives of Codebreakers) offers a sweeping examination of codes, ciphers, and other types of encrypted communication from ancient Greece to today’s intelligence agencies. In brief sections, McKay catalogs “50 codes that changed the world,” delving into their origins, uses, and how to decipher them. Topics covered include an ancient Greek system of rods and strips of paper used for battlefield communication (the jumbled message on the strip of paper could only be deciphered when wound around a rod in a certain way); the ciphers used by the Venerable Bede in medieval England (religious correspondents dabbling in heretical affairs, fearful of interference from the authorities, would use ciphers to prove the authenticity of their letters); and Samuel Morse’s system of dots and dashes. A more extensive treatment is given to Bletchley Park, the top-secret British compound where computer scientist Alan Turing and his team cracked the Nazis’ Enigma coding machine. Presented in a breezy style, with each section capped by a historically based puzzle for the reader to solve, this delights and intrigues. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"McKay takes readers through history, from Julius Caesar’s coded communiqués to the Nazis’ formidable Enigma code, giving historical context about the codes’ necessities, with details about how they were both created and broken. For history buffs and puzzle meisters, [the book] will doubtless prove endlessly intriguing."

Booklist

A portrait of one of the most remarkable brain factories the world has ever seen.”

Max Hastings

A stunning plunge into the social and political complexities surrounding the men and women who broke the Enigma code. A gripping read.

authors of Code Talker< Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila

A stunning plunge into the social and political complexities surrounding the men and women who broke the Enigma code. A gripping read.

authors of Code Talker Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila

Praise for The Secret Life of Codebreakers

From the Publisher

"An eloquent tribute to a quite remarkable group of men and women, whose like we will not see again."

Mail On Sunday

Re-create[s] the unique atmosphere of this extraordinary place... remarkable.

Daily Telegraph (London)

This very readable and competent book captures well the extraordinary atmosphere of eccentrics working hard together in almost complete secrecy.

The Guardian

06/09/2023

Journalist, critic, and popular historian McKay (Secret Lives of Codebreakers) traces the increasingly sophisticated use and decryption of coded texts to wage and win wars, to woo lovers, and to conceal esoteric or scientific knowledge throughout the centuries. Each of the book's 50 entries paints a picture of how a particular cypher was invented, used, or broken and the personalities behind these codes. McKay employs a broad definition of code to include translations of unknown languages or pictograms, artistic symbolism, alchemical conjecture, and scientific discoveries, in addition to the straightforward concept of a code as an intentionally obscured message. Nearly a third of the chapters are devoted to McKay's particular expertise in the cryptography of the First and Second World Wars and of the 20th century in general, and these are the strongest sections. Each chapter concludes with a handful of word and number puzzles, which are only occasionally thematically connected to the specific codes discussed in the chapter. These pencil-and-paper games add an interesting element for readers but may pose problems for ebook users and shared library copies. VERDICT An accessible history of decryption with elements that will appeal to casual history buffs and solvers of word puzzles.—Wade Lee-Smith

Library Journal

The Hidden History of Code-Breaking is a worthwhile introduction to the world of codes and ciphers that offers a glimpse into the fascinating realm of encryption and how codes have been used throughout history.

Science

The Hidden History of Code-Breaking is a worthwhile introduction to the world of codes and ciphers that offers a glimpse into the fascinating realm of encryption and how codes have been used throughout history.

Science