Codes, Ciphers and Other Cryptic and Clandestine Communication : Making and Breaking Secret Messages from Hieroglyphs to the Internet

Spies, secret societies, religious cults as well as anyone who has used an ATM or the internet rely on the making and breaking of codes for security. Like a spy novel combined with the technology of a Tom Clancy thriller, Codes, Ciphers and Other Clandestine Communication successfully interweaves technical explanations of each important coding method with their place in the shadowy world of secret communications. Special chapters teach some easy and fun ciphers that readers can make and use at home. Hundreds of illustrated examples take the reader step-by-step through the foundations of cipher making from Caesar's cipher to World War I's ADFGX and beyond. Detailed diagrams and line drawings of each coding machine will delight technology buffs and war-machine aficionados. Packed with historical anecdotes about cryptography's most famous pioneers and practitioners, this book covers the development of codes through the ages from the druids, Marie Antoinette, Aaron Burr, Confederate spies in the Civil War to the Freemasons, German U-Boat Wolf Packs, the KGB, and much more.