Secret Warfare: The Battle of Codes and Cyphers

by Bruce Norman

The history of codes and cyphers from ancient times - the truth behind the attack on Pearl Harbour - how the allies fooled the Germans on D-Day - the modern spy secrets of the Russians - are all looked at and interviews with members of the defence establishment bring the techniques to life.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Little Timmy]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I thought it would just be all about the science of codes and cyphers but not a lot else, however the book tells a lot of the historical effects of codes on major battles and events. The science of coding and cyphering are well laid out and explained. The historical events are nicely used and also explained well. Recommended

[Sanjib Baral]

Nicely written book. I picked up this solely because of my academic interest in ciphers and secret codes. But this book has presented the things in a really simple manner which every person can easily understand. And along with that, it has maintained the thrill of the wartime secrecy. I would have given 5 stars but did not only because I missed the exciting story of Alan Turing and Enigma machine which was a major driving factor in WWII.

[Audrey]

England's subterfuge regarding Germany's Zimmerman telegram. Rum smugglers using coded messages to evade the Coast Guard during prohibition. These are just a couple of examples from the simply written "Secret Warfare". There are just a few examples of codes and ciphers used at different points in history. A small book. This would be a good book for a middle schooler/high schooler interested in the subject. However, the examples are all pre-1975 as this is an older book.

[Daniel]

A great intro to codes and cyphers for beginners, with some interesting history as well.