The Code Book : The Evolution Of Secrecy From Mary, To Queen Of Scots To Quantum Crytography

Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: This is one of the few books in the last year that I actually couldn't wait to get home from work to finish reading. As a history of Cryptography and how it works it is a good book. But when injected with the effects of Cryptography on all History and short stories about the genesis behind creating and breaking the codes, makes this a fascinating read. Also the book does a great job of explain cryptography without making it to technical. I would tell anyone interested in History, Science, Language, or just a good story to read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and FUN
Review: I must admit to some bias, since I am a former cryptanalyst myself (I cracked Captain Midnight's secret code when I was 12 years old--that was the beginning and end of my career--and I was delighted to see a picture of the Code-o-Graph which I never had to order, in Singh's new book). The Code Book is every bit as fascinating as Fermat's Enigma, and it was a treasure-trove of annecdotes which spiced my conversation every day while I was reading it, such as Churchill's inadvertent encouragement of the German military to adopt Scherbius' new Enigma machine by describing in one of his books how the British had broken German codes during WW I, a fact of which Germany was unaware until then.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is the most interesting, and entertaining book; fiction, or non-fiction book that I've read in a long time. I plowed through it in about 5 hours of reading across a couple days. The blend of history, technology, and narrative is excellent. Even computer neophytes should find the material fun to read and tractable. The chapter on cracking Enigma is simply fabulous. It gives you a healthy respect for the intellectual giants from whom we derive most anything related to the modern computer.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: The history of cryptography is absolutely fascinating! From mathematics to linguistics to chicanery to espionage to the strange world of quantum mechanics, this book is packed full of great stuff. Singh also provides easily accessible explanations for a difficult topic, and that is no easy task. If you ever wanted to find out about crytography, and in the modern world you should, this is a great introductory book.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book on cryptography
Review: Mr. Singh has done a well-concerted effort in presenting a very lucid explanation of the science of cryptography. He gives you a clear historical perspective alongwith an insight into some of the great minds behind cryptanalysis and codemaking. A most enthralling account of the decoding of Enigma cipher is given plus many important landmarks in the history of cryptography like discovery of frequency analysis by Al-Kindi and the conceptual development of public key cryptosystem by the team of Diffie-Merkle-Hellman are given their due share. Despite being a non-fiction work it reads a thrilling detective novel.

Rating:
Summary: A great read of a tough subject
Review: Singh traces the history of code and cipher making and breaking history. There has always been a struggle between those making codes and those braking codes, with implications for the people, businesses, and governments of the time. For example, we currently live in an era in which there are essentially unbreakable ciphers available, which allows for internet commerce, and companies like Amazon.com to exist. As Singh traces this struggle between code makers and code breakers, you will learn the basic elements of cryptography in a non-threatening (for non-mathmeticians) fashion.

Rating:
Summary: In the top echelon of "non-fiction for pleasure" books
Review: I'm on a non-fiction kick at the moment, and I'm loving reading books that tell you about anything science-y. Of the stack of 5 or 6 I've recently read, this one was the best. Firstly, Singh is an excellent writer - the writing just draws you in. Secondly, you learn how easy it is to crack the sorts of codes people write to each other as kids. And thirdly, I loved learning how Elizabeth 1st's spymaster outwitted Mary Queen of Scots by using decryption. Other books in my stack (which weren't quite as good) included The Perfect Storm, and The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Now, both of these were great. But that just shows how good I think The Code Book is.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: Singh does a great job of keeping the reader involved in a storyline as well as presenting some fairly intense logic and math theories. If you're looking to get your head around the ideas of crypto, this book rocks.

Rating:
Summary: Very well writen book
Review: This book reads like a novel, but keeps a very technical perspective. I would recomend this book for anyone intrested in cryptology, followed by applied cryptography.

Awsome book

Rating:
Summary: What a great book!
Review: Fun to read and understand. Get it if you are interested in cool mind twisters.