This is a delightful review of the history of ciphers and codes, full of interesting episodes, often ones in which life and death depended on the strength of a secret code. The book is attractively illustrated. It covers the complex mathematics of modern cryptographic systems, but in a way that makes their general features accessible to most readers. ( )

Most of the book was very readable and interesting, though sometimes the descriptions of the codes got to be a little tough to follow (mainly the last two chapters). ( )

This book is the history of ciphers and codes. The time line goes from ancient times to modern man and his computers. The text has many accompanying photos and illustrations and at the end of each chapter the author has included examples of codes for you to “break” using the information given in that chapter. I found the book very interesting but to tell you the truth I was surprised that the book was not more exciting to read. I was expecting more drama and adventure because of the subject mater but the book read more like a text book than an adventure book. I guess that is ok since this is a history book but it could have been a little bit more fun. ( )

This is a nice book. My local library considers it to be for young adults, but it is a nice introduction for older adults as well. I find the sidebars and illustrations to be quite helpful in pursuing this subject of cryptography. The book nicely combines a sense of history of the subject with real life ciphers and codes that one can try out today. ( )