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Code Breaking: A History and Explanation
The achievements of cryptography, the art of writing and deciphering coded messages, have become a part of everyday life, especially in our age of electronic banking and the Internet. In Code Breaking , Rudolf Kippenhahn offers readers both an exciting chronicle of cryptography and a lively exploration of the cryptographer’s craft. Rich with vivid anecdotes from a history of coding and decoding and featuring three new chapters, this revised and expanded edition makes the often abstruse art of deciphering coded messages accessible to the general reader and reveals the relevance of codes to our everyday high-tech society. A stylishly written, meticulously researched adventure, Code Breaking explores the ways in which communication can be obscured and, like magic, made clear again.
304 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 5, 2022
The meat of it is about Enigma and the math behind encoding Enigma messages and how exactly it was broken. Super interesting. Last few chapters are about online banking encryption, slightly outdated but cool to learn about nonetheless.
May 17, 2011
I will admit that the failing is my own. This book had entirely too much math to hold my attention and the few interesting tidbits were too far and few between. If you understand math, this is probably a much better book but I couldn't finish it.
September 11, 2017
This was an average take on cryptography and code breaking that breaks up events into tiny snippets of text. It wasn't amazing or life changing, but it was originally in German, so the translators and author had to do some overtime for it to make sense in another language like English.
It covers most of the cryptographic achievements that I have heard of, with a thing on the Enigma Machine, a tiny section on Alan Turing, a bit of coverage on using codes to keep your online banking safe and other random Miscellanies. It organizes it by subject rather than time, but this is also fine.
It covers most of the cryptographic achievements that I have heard of, with a thing on the Enigma Machine, a tiny section on Alan Turing, a bit of coverage on using codes to keep your online banking safe and other random Miscellanies. It organizes it by subject rather than time, but this is also fine.
January 1, 2020
A good book. Not great, but good. The historical portions were very interesting and enjoyable. The portions on modern cryptography might be more interesting to a layman, but I'm a software engineer, so I already had some familiarity with them.
While the math described was not difficult, those sections made for tough reading, mostly because of the presentation. Formulas and algorithms were mostly described in paragraphs of prose. In my opinion, they would have been much easier to follow using offset equations, diagrams, and lists.
While the math described was not difficult, those sections made for tough reading, mostly because of the presentation. Formulas and algorithms were mostly described in paragraphs of prose. In my opinion, they would have been much easier to follow using offset equations, diagrams, and lists.
February 13, 2018
Good basic introduction to the wonderful world of encryption - gradually building from history, telling historic adventure stories and advancements in mathematics. It gives solid intro to the mathematics, but looses grip with modern solutions.
May 1, 2021
I appreciate the effort of the author to translate this work from the original German, but the result is awkward phrasing to the point of distraction.
The brief vignettes were interesting but unsatisfying.
The brief vignettes were interesting but unsatisfying.
November 14, 2022
Great survey of ancient and modern cryptographic systems, and the methods used to unlock their secrets.
September 9, 2023
Code Breaking: A History and Explanation
Rudolph Kippenhahn
The 2012 edition from OpenLibrary
Read august 2023
The book mainly covers Enigma and RSA.
A great mix of math and anecdotes. I have read a deal about cryptography, but many details here were new to me.
Apparently the 2012 version is supposed to be from 2012. There are some chapters on the Internet and how to get there that must have been outdated in 2012.
This version of the book is not just a translation of the original German book, but has been completely re-written to have the cipher texts in English. Unfortunately this has not been done perfectly. For instance the second cipher on page 101 reads
G XBLLXY EBNZYABLS BE G HGNCYAIJE LQBNC GNH G CAYGL HYGX IP BL BE GUEIXJLYXS PGLGX. A WGN ZGNNIL UY LII ZGAYPJX BN LQY ZQ IBZY IP QBE YNYWBYE.
It should have been
G XBLLXY EBNZYABLS BE G HGNCYAIJE LQBNC GNH G CAYGL HYGX IP BL BE GUEIXJLYXS PGLGX. G WGN ZGNNIL UY LII ZGAYPJX BN LQY ZQIBZY IP QBE YNYWBYE.
Especially the singleton A that should have been a G makes it very hard to crack (guess who gave up after trying a long time of fit G=a and A=i).
Rudolph Kippenhahn
The 2012 edition from OpenLibrary
Read august 2023
The book mainly covers Enigma and RSA.
A great mix of math and anecdotes. I have read a deal about cryptography, but many details here were new to me.
Apparently the 2012 version is supposed to be from 2012. There are some chapters on the Internet and how to get there that must have been outdated in 2012.
This version of the book is not just a translation of the original German book, but has been completely re-written to have the cipher texts in English. Unfortunately this has not been done perfectly. For instance the second cipher on page 101 reads
G XBLLXY EBNZYABLS BE G HGNCYAIJE LQBNC GNH G CAYGL HYGX IP BL BE GUEIXJLYXS PGLGX. A WGN ZGNNIL UY LII ZGAYPJX BN LQY ZQ IBZY IP QBE YNYWBYE.
It should have been
G XBLLXY EBNZYABLS BE G HGNCYAIJE LQBNC GNH G CAYGL HYGX IP BL BE GUEIXJLYXS PGLGX. G WGN ZGNNIL UY LII ZGAYPJX BN LQY ZQIBZY IP QBE YNYWBYE.
Especially the singleton A that should have been a G makes it very hard to crack (guess who gave up after trying a long time of fit G=a and A=i).
Read
May 27, 2014I read the first edition, printed in 1999.
I read this book after reading a more recent book on Code Breaking by Simon (I forget his last name), which was more readable, less confusing, and contained more biographical information than this book.
However, one thing I did like about this book is the extensive use of examples and pictures (of the tables, keys, and machines mentioned in the text).
The Vignere Tableau explanation was much clearer in this book, but the rest, not so much. I believe it may be the result of the author speaking German natively, and the book perhaps lost something in the translation to English.
I did enjoy the more "German" perspective on encryption during WWII, since Simon's book was much more England/American focused.
The author attempts to explain Binary in the latter chapters, but fails horribly. And I know how to count in binary. He still manages to confuse.
Overall, I would recommend reading this book FIRST, then reading Simon's book.
I read this book after reading a more recent book on Code Breaking by Simon (I forget his last name), which was more readable, less confusing, and contained more biographical information than this book.
However, one thing I did like about this book is the extensive use of examples and pictures (of the tables, keys, and machines mentioned in the text).
The Vignere Tableau explanation was much clearer in this book, but the rest, not so much. I believe it may be the result of the author speaking German natively, and the book perhaps lost something in the translation to English.
I did enjoy the more "German" perspective on encryption during WWII, since Simon's book was much more England/American focused.
The author attempts to explain Binary in the latter chapters, but fails horribly. And I know how to count in binary. He still manages to confuse.
Overall, I would recommend reading this book FIRST, then reading Simon's book.
Read
October 17, 2011This book was quite interesting,but I read this in Korean.
I liked this book because I like breaking codes but I didn't know how to break them so this book told me how to break codes and there were some interesting stories how the people broke the code. However I didn't understand all of the stories because the author was German.
I liked this book because I like breaking codes but I didn't know how to break them so this book told me how to break codes and there were some interesting stories how the people broke the code. However I didn't understand all of the stories because the author was German.
August 4, 2013
Great overview to various methods of cryptography used over the years.
Very interesting with various examples and stories spread throughout.
Li'l bit googling of topics by the side really cements the ideas.
Must read for Cryptography starters.
Gives basic knowledge.
Very interesting with various examples and stories spread throughout.
Li'l bit googling of topics by the side really cements the ideas.
Must read for Cryptography starters.
Gives basic knowledge.
May 31, 2011
This book contains everything you could ever wish to know about codes and code-breaking. Brilliant!
January 20, 2014
Wow. Excellent overall history and description of cryptography. I would have to be a mathematician to get much farther however. Section I found most fascinating was on binary code.
January 31, 2013
Having read original did not find this second addition to be of much use. For readers who have not previously read. Author does know his business.
January 21, 2013
The nice Hirstory of code breaking. Towards the end some to big leaps are made. The Appendix tries to simply explain the prime number theory needed for public key encryption ans succeeds.
January 29, 2013
Update of previous version which does not disappoint. Author knows his history and clearly renders his subject. Those interested in subject will find informative.
March 11, 2013
During a period when codes where an obsession - very interesting.
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August 18, 2017Just read parts of
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews