The Code Book

The Code Book

By Simon Singh

Doubleday, 1999 (The cover design is from the updated 2001 edition which was not available from my library.)

I discovered this book on the recommended reading list in Mysterious Messages. Simon Singh knows how to tell a good story and provides fascinating accounts of the people who made encryption history. Code making and breaking are fundamental to diplomacy and warfare, so the story of secrecy explains history, provides insight to the present, and hints at the future.
 
Who would enjoy this book?
Anyone who is interested in WWI and WWII
Anyone who is curious about ancient Egyptian and Minoan cultures
Anyone who has wondered how Internet transactions can be secure
Anyone who likes puzzles
 
Do you have to be a math geek to like this book?
Serious math geeks would hardly count me among their numbers, yet I managed to keep neck and neck with the calculations. The amount of math required to understand this book depends on whether the reader is willing to accept concepts as written, or feels compelled to check the work. (I belong to the second group.)
 
Simon Singh also wrote an edition for teen readers, The Code Book: how to make it, break it, hack it, crack it. (Delacorte Press, 2001).