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Bibliographic Details

Title: The Code Book: The Secret History of Codes and Code-breaking
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Publication Date: 2000
Language: English
ISBN 10: 1857028899
ISBN 13: 9781857028898
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography From the best-selling author of Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book is a history of man's urge to uncover the secrets of codes, from Egyptian puzzles to modern day computer encryptions. As in Fermat's Last Theorem, Simon Singh brings life to an anstonishing story of puzzles, codes, languages and riddles that reveals man's continual pursuit to disguise and uncover, and to work out the secret languages of others. Codes have influenced events throughout history, both in the stories of those who make them and those who break them. The betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots and the cracking of the enigma code that helped the Allies in World War II are major episodes in a continuing history of cryptography. In addition to stories of intrigue and warfare, Simon Singh also investigates other codes, the unravelling of genes and the rediscovery of ancient languages and most tantalisingly, the Beale ciphers, an unbroken code that could hold the key to a $20 million treasure.

Review

People love secrets, and ever since the first word was written, humans have written coded messages to each other. In The Code Book, Simon Singh, author of the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, offers a peek into the world of cryptography and codes, from ancient texts through computer encryption. Singh's compelling history is woven through with stories of how codes and ciphers have played a vital role in warfare, politics, and royal intrigue. The major theme of The Code Book is what Singh calls "the ongoing evolutionary battle between codemakers and codebreakers," never more clear than in the chapters devoted to World War II. Cryptography came of age during that conflict, as secret communications became critical to either side's success.

Confronted with the prospect of defeat, the Allied cryptanalysts had worked night and day to penetrate German ciphers. It would appear that fear was the main driving force, and that adversity is one of the foundations of successful codebreaking.

In the information age, the fear that drives cryptographic improvements is both capitalistic and libertarian--corporations need encryption to ensure that their secrets don't fall into the hands of competitors and regulators, and ordinary people need encryption to keep their everyday communications private in a free society. Similarly, the battles for greater decryption power come from said competitors and governments wary of insurrection. The Code Book is an excellent primer for those wishing to understand how the human need for privacy has manifested itself through cryptography. Singh's accessible style and clear explanations of complex algorithms cut through the arcane mathematical details without oversimplifying. Can't get enough crypto? Try solving the Cipher Challenge in the back of the book--$15,000 goes to the first person to crack the code! --Therese Littleton

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We are a family run online bookshop based in Wales at the western edge of the Brecon Beacons National park and have been selling books online since October 2004. I have always had a love of books and it eventually got to the stage where my own book collection began to take over the family home! I reluctantly decided to sell a few of my own books on Amazon and was astonished at how quickly they sold. I was hooked and decided to start buying and selling books as a small part-time business from my spare bedroom. The business rapidly expanded, taking over the spare bedroom and my garage, swiftly followed by a spare bedroom in my mother's house and her garage! I acquired a small industrial unit in February 2007 and took the plunge to go full-time in March 2007, closely followed by my wife in September 2007. In October 2007 we moved in to larger premises and also took on our first members of staff to assist with the ever increasing workload. Our aim is to ensure that the people who buy our books enjoy the same service that we would hope for when purchasing a book ourselves. To that end, we endeavour to give all our books accurate descriptions, price them accordingly and dispatch swiftly and safely. All orders are dispatched within one working day, Monday to Friday. We will endeavour to answer all queries by email within 24 hours.

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Goldstone Books
Castle House, High Street, Ammanford, SA18 2NB, United Kingdom

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Goldstone Books Limited
Cilyrychen Industrial Estate, Llandybie, Carmarthenshire, SA18 3GY.
Email: customerservices@goldstonebooks.co.uk - Phone: 01269 267070
Company registration number: 06817864. VAT registration number: 920299721
Managing Director: Ashley Stamford-Plows

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All orders are shipped within 1 working day. We offer a no quibble returns service. If you would like to return your item for any reason please email us in the first instance within 7 days of receipt. If there is a fault with your item that is not described in the listing, you may return your item for a refund within 30 days of purchase. All returns must be returned in their original packaging.