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: Terrific History of Cryptography!
Review: I found The Code Book an extremely interesting and informative read. I think Singh did a phenomenal job at bringing together the numerous length of history and presenting it to the common reader in a easy, readable fashion. I am impressed once again at Singhs' ability to create such a organized and clear work like he accomplished in Fermats' Enigma. I knew nothing of cryptography before reading The Code Book, but now I know not only the history, but many techniques of encoding and decrypting as well. The figures behind the process were equally fascinating and I found out about many people that I previously knew nothing about. I found the explanations behind Mary Queen of Scots, the Enigma, the Navajo code, Bletchly Park, RSA, and quantum cryptography to be both intriguing and educational. I would highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A great read and a little more than just codes
Review: Mr. Singh traces the history of cryptography from its recorded inception in roman times up through current applications. While all of the chapters held my interest it was Mr. Singh's work in chapters 4 through 6 that I feel deserve particular note. Chapter 4 deals with the war effort at Bletchley Park and the work on the Engima machine. Here Mr.Singh adds an additional dimension by providing some insight into the work of Alan Turning, the development of Colossus, the first (now reported) electronic programmable computer and the unrecognized cryptanalysts who broke Ultra and the other codes of WWII. Chapter 6 brings us up to present day cryptographic issues from RSA and PGP to philosophical issues of personal privacy in modern society with web centric commerce and online book reviews. At each step in the process Singh successfully combines the elements of a technical treatise with a human values and features. For those wanting to go a little further under the hood and look at the processes and algorithms in some of the codes mentioned in the text, several appendices at the end of the book should fill that yearning. I found the book informative and enjoyable to read.
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
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