Covert communications have won or lost wars, exposed political intrigue, disguised secret religions and societies, and secured financial transactions. This immensely readable world history of clandestine communication—finally in paperback—includes illustrations, diagrams, and puzzles that instruct readers how to become amateur cryptographers. It’s the last word on secret languages!
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Fred B. Wrixon is an expert in codes, military history and espionage. He has written three books including Codes, Ciphers and Secret Languages, Codes and Ciphers and 2440 Questions and Answers. He often spends his free time exchanging code deciphering puzzles with friends. He lives in the Ohio River Valley.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Vast But Flawed Coverage of Codes & Ciphers,
By
This review is from: Codes, Ciphers, Secrets and Cryptic Communication: Making and Breaking Secret Messages from Hieroglyphs to the Internet (Paperback)
While this book covers a wide range of topics, I found it to be shaky on some topics. In particular, modern developments such as quantum cryptography, electronic warfare terms (SIGINT, ELINT, and especially RADINT--book description is wrong). Perhaps the author's strength is in historical cryptography, and he has not researched or does not understand modern developments. My overall impression is that the book covers an enormous range of topics, but in a shallow way. Cryptanalysis is not discussed in any depth, unlike other code/cipher books I've read.
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent History,
By
This review is from: Codes, Ciphers, Secrets and Cryptic Communication: Making and Breaking Secret Messages from Hieroglyphs to the Internet (Paperback)
This book is a history of codes, ciphers and secret forms of communication from ancient times until the present. It is the most complete and the most current of any such books I have ever found.Complete: I have read many books that talk about Rommel's army reading the codes sent by the American military attache in Cairo. But I didn't know that this was in the 'Black' code, and that the capture of the German radio outpost at Tel-el-Eisa revealed the fact that the Black code had been broken and that then the Allies began using the Black code with false information. Current: The U.S. Navy used a cipher machine during WW II called the ECM Mark II. Information on this machine was declassified in 1996 (60 years after the machine was adopted), and that information is included here. An interesting section of the book is on Unsolved Scripts. Here are some writing samples discovered by archaeologists that remain unsolved. This book does not go into modern computer based codes. These have gotten so complex that you need a book on them by themselves, as well as a degree in mathematics.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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symbol cryptography, fractionating ciphers, extinct scripts, flag telegraphy, wheel cypher, digraphic cipher, cryptic group, null ciphers, wigwag system, enciphered code, cipher alphabet, cipher device, cipher disk, jargon codes, priming key, plaintext letters, aerial telegraph, plaintext alphabet, ciphertext letter, cryptologic history, plaintext words, polyalphabetic ciphers, plaintext characters, solution seekers, polyalphabetic substitution Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, United States, Royal Navy, Civil War, State Department, New York, Old Persian, Albert Myer, International Morse, William Friedman, Asia Minor, Middle Ages, American Revolution, American Trench Code, Rosetta Stone, Royal Army, Voynich Manuscript, Easter Island, Great Britain, Alexander the Great, Army Signal Corps, British Isles, Chain of Death, Charles Wheatstone, Cold War New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
symbol cryptography, fractionating ciphers, extinct scripts, flag telegraphy, wheel cypher, digraphic cipher, cryptic group, null ciphers, wigwag system, enciphered code, cipher alphabet, cipher device, cipher disk, jargon codes, priming key, plaintext letters, aerial telegraph, plaintext alphabet, ciphertext letter, cryptologic history, plaintext words, polyalphabetic ciphers, plaintext characters, solution seekers, polyalphabetic substitution Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, United States, Royal Navy, Civil War, State Department, New York, Old Persian, Albert Myer, International Morse, William Friedman, Asia Minor, Middle Ages, American Revolution, American Trench Code, Rosetta Stone, Royal Army, Voynich Manuscript, Easter Island, Great Britain, Alexander the Great, Army Signal Corps, British Isles, Chain of Death, Charles Wheatstone, Cold War New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
- The American Black Chamber (Bluejacket Books) by Herbert O. Yardley on 5 pages
- The Secret War (World War II Collector's Edition , Vol 29) by Francis Russell in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Secret Languages of Ireland by Robert A. MacAlister on page 559, and Back Matter
- Manual for the Solution of Military Ciphers (Cryptographic Series) by Parker Hitt in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Winter Count by Dallas Chief Eagle on page 512
See all 100 books this book cites
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