Handbook of Applied Cryptography

Rating:
Summary: academic style
Review: The book is thorough and complete, but it is written in the style of academia, where simple things are explained to exhaustion and complex or subtle ideas are often given a single sentence or are simply left to be inferred by the reader.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic traditional reference
Review: The Chapter 14 - Efficient Implementation - shows several multiple precision algorithms. They are very easy to understand and implement under any microprocessor. It is a very good complement to the book set written by Donald Knuth (The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-3 Boxed Set), another fantastic traditional reference.

Rating:
Summary: A very detailed book, but not for everyone.
Review: This book is a deep detailed analysis of
modern cryptography. It is light on
cryptanalysis.
The mathematical background information
and explanations are complete and clear.
It is very satisfying to be able to read
the prose and implement the ideas in
a computer program with ease.

Rating:
Summary: Complete and satisfying
Review: This book is a deep detailed analysis of
modern cryptography. It is light on
cryptanalysis.
The mathematical background information
and explanations are complete and clear.
It is very satisfying to be able to read
the prose and implement the ideas in
a computer program with ease.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the faint of heart.
Review: This book is a wonderful reference for any student or professional seriously interested in cryptography. The book is intended for people people who already have a strong background in math and/or computer science; the faint of heart should steer clear. For a chattier introduction, refer to Schneier's "Applied Cryptography."

Rating:
Summary: Not for the faint of heart.
Review: This book is a wonderful reference for any student or professional seriously interested in cryptography. The book is intended for people people who already have a strong background in math and/or computer science; the faint of heart should steer clear. For a chattier introduction, refer to Schneier's "Applied Cryptography."

Rating:
Summary: Excelent Technical Reference
Review: This book Provides an excellent reference for cryptogtaphers and cryptography students.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive academic treatment
Review: This book provides what is probably the best, up to date survey of the field. The book is more academically rigourous than Bruce' Applied Cryptography but may be rather tough going for those wanting a more introductory book. On the other hand the price is substantially greater.

If you want to learn about the number theory behind public key cryptography this book provides the best roadmap.

Rating:
Summary: A very detailed book, but not for everyone.
Review: This is a fairly strong book on crypto, with heavy detail on the math involved. The upside is that the second chapter is devoted to most of the important mathematical theory you'll need to understand for the rest of the book. The downside? That chapter tries to cover just about the same breadth of information as a semester long course in Number Theory.

If you don't have a ton of mathematical background and are scared of having to take a crash course in number theory, or are looking for a higher level view of things, I'd suggest something more along the lines of Bruce Schneier's 'Applied Cryptography' (ASIN 0471117099). If you have some mathematical background, but want to get into things in detail, this is probably for you.

If you're not sure whether you'll like the book, you should definitely take a look at it. While Amazon currently doesn't have sample pages, if you do a Web Search on "Handbook of Applied Cryptography", you can find Sample Chapters hosted online to give you a good feel for the book's style.

Rating:
Summary: Advanced Crypto for the college mind.
Review: This very detailed work is not for the light hearted. It's an in depth look at the mathmatics behind cryptography. If you're looking for a book to help you program then look for Applied Cryptography by Bruce the crypto king instead. If you're looking for something to help you learn cryptoanalysis and how to break codes then this is the first step.