The Code Book

<h2 id="contents">Contents</h2>
<p><i>The Code Book</i> covers diverse historical topics including the <a href="/facts/Man_in_the_Iron_Mask/G1g51BcV">Man in the Iron Mask</a>, <a href="/facts/Arabic_language/A1e66hVV">Arabic</a> cryptography, <a href="/facts/Charles_Babbage/T3jklQcd">Charles Babbage</a>, the mechanisation of cryptography, the <a href="/facts/Enigma_Machine/FSMJwbCL">Enigma machine</a>, and the decryption of <a href="/facts/Linear_B/caBvXdPb">Linear B</a> and other ancient writing systems.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
</p><p>Later sections cover the development of <a href="/facts/Public_key_cryptography/gowoFTxS">public-key cryptography</a>.  Some of this material is based on interviews with participants, including persons who worked in secret at <a href="/facts/GCHQ/XCMkfqWE">GCHQ</a>.
</p><p>The book concludes with a discussion of "<a href="/facts/Pretty_Good_Privacy/4BELG9BW">Pretty Good Privacy</a>" (PGP), <a href="/facts/Quantum_computer/nbbcgmvq">quantum computing</a>, and <a href="/facts/Quantum_cryptography/FPqPdNXT">quantum cryptography</a>.
</p><p>The book announced a "cipher challenge" of a series of ten progressively harder ciphers, with a cash prize of £10,000, which has since been won.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p><p>The book is not footnoted but has a "Further Reading" section at the end, organized by chapter.
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Cipher/eJnuftYe">Cipher</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Code/CSntvnEo">Code</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Codebook/X78YE7AS">Codebook</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2>
<ul><li>"<a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=157869§ioncode=1">Of Riddles Wrapped in Enigmas</a>", <a href="/facts/Whitfield_Diffie/oDKz7ChA">Whitfield Diffie</a>, <i><a href="/facts/The_Times_Higher_Education_Supplement/MM7nJq88">The Times Higher Education Supplement</a></i>, September 10, 1999, p. 25. Retrieved 2009-02-19.</li>
<li>A critical review of the book: "<a href="http://www.nku.edu/~christensen/codebookreview.pdf">The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography, reviewed by Jim Reeds</a>", Jim Reeds, <i><a href="/facts/Notices_of_the_American_Mathematical_Society/smHYV3sv">Notices of the American Mathematical Society</a></i>, vol. 47, no. 3, March 2000, pp. 369–372. Retrieved 2009-02-19. (61 KB PDF).</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.simonsingh.net/The-Code-Book">"The Code Book" web page</a> at Simon Singh's site</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20001213191500/http://www.codebook.org/">The Code Book Cipher Challenge Solution Page</a>[<i>usurped</i>], set up by the solvers of the Ten Cipher Code Challenge in "The Code Book"]</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>In contemporary English-language jargon, the word "code" is often used for any sort of secret communication, whether or not that communication is actually performed using a code in the strict sense. Some other languages, e.g., Polish, tend to do the opposite and refer to both principal types of cryptography as "cipher", as in "Biuro Szyfrów" ("Cipher Bureau"). <a href="/wiki/English_language" target="_blank">/wiki/English_language</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Simon Singh website". Retrieved April 14, 2015. <a href="http://simonsingh.net/books/the-code-book/" target="_blank">http://simonsingh.net/books/the-code-book/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"The Catcher in the Rye PDF". Retrieved April 14, 2015. <a href="https://zlibrary.to/dl/the-catcher-in-the-rye-9" target="_blank">https://zlibrary.to/dl/the-catcher-in-the-rye-9</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"Cipher Challenge". simonsingh.net. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2017-08-27. <a href="https://archive.today/20130222033524/http://simonsingh.net/cryptography/cipher-challenge/" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20130222033524/http://simonsingh.net/cryptography/cipher-challenge/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

The Code Book open-in-new

The Code Book