BOOK REVIEW: SPYING ON SPIES: How Elizebeth Friedman Broke the Nazis' Secret Codes. Darlene Beck Jacobson

 This month I am really excited to share a new middle grade book from best selling author/illustrator Marissa Moss.

 

SPYING ON SPIES: How Elizebeth Smith Friedman Broke the Nazis' Secret Codes is a fascinating and easy to understand middle grade book that details the historicalrecord of one of America’s most important – and mostly unknown – cryptographerand code breaker of all time. Elizebeth Smith Friedman (along with her husbandWilliam) was instrumental in breaking the “unbreakable” Nazi and Japanese codesand ciphers of WWII, saving countless lives in the process. 

Unappreciatedand given little credit for her extraordinary work during both world wars andProhibition, Elizebeth is finally getting recognition for her decades as acryptographer and code breaker for the US government. Thanks to the release ofclassified documents, author Moss has brought Elizebeth’s amazing story tolight. The secretive work of the husband-and-wife team is told in rich detailthanks to Moss’s ability to bring history to life in a readable and easilydigested format. Chapter illustrations highlight Elizebeth’s personal life andthe struggles she had to endure to succeed at her important work. 

This book isa wonderful addition to the history of early 20th CenturyAmerica through WWII. Back matter includes lessons in code breaking andcryptography as well as Friedman family photos, glossary, and references. Anexcellent classroom resource and good reading for anyone interested in amazingfemales overlooked in history.