Here are some books you can read if you would like to explore the subject of cryptography in more depth. There is also a great deal of interesting material on the Internet relating to codes and ciphers. In addition to the books, I have therefore listed a few of the websites that are worth visiting.
GENERAL
Kahn, David, The Codebreakers (New York: Scribner, 1996). A 1,200-page history of ciphers. The definitive story of cryptography up until the 1950s.
Smith, Lawrence D., Cryptography (New York: Dover, 1943). An excellent elementary introduction to cryptography, with more than 150 problems. Dover publishes many books on the subject of codes and ciphers.
The Code Book on CD-ROM. A fully interactive version of The Code Book is now available. It contains encrypting and codebreaking tools, a virtual Enigma machine and video clips. More details on its contents and how to obtain it are available at www.simonsingh.net.
CHAPTER 1
Gaines, Helen Fouché, Cryptanalysis (New York: Dover, 1956). A study of ciphers and their solution. An excellent introduction to cryptanalysis, with many useful frequency tables in the appendix.
Fraser, Lady Antonia, Mary Queen of Scots (London: Random House, 1989).
A readable account of the life of Mary Queen of Scots.
CHAPTER 2
Standage, Tom, The Victorian Internet (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998).
The remarkable story of the development of the telegraph.
Poe, Edgar Allan, The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (London: Penguin, 1982).
Includes “The Gold Bug”.
Viemeister, Peter, The Beale Treasure: History of a Mystery (Bedford, VA: Hamilton’s, 1997).
An in-depth account of the Beale ciphers written by a respected local historian. It includes the entire text of the Beale pamphlet, and is most easily obtained directly from the publishers: Hamilton’s, P.O. Box 932, Bedford, VA 24523, USA.
CHAPTER 3
Tuchman, Barbara W., The Zimmermann Telegram (New York: Ballantine, 1994).
An accessible account of the most influential decipherment in the First World War.
Kahn, David, Seizing the Enigma (London: Arrow, 1996). Kahn’s history of the Battle of the Atlantic and the importance of cryptography. In particular, he dramatically describes the capture of code material from U-boats that helped the codebreakers at Bletchley Park.
Smith, Michael, Station X (London: Channel 4 Books, 1999).
The book based on the British Channel 4 TV series of the same name, containing anecdotes from those who worked at Bletchley Park, otherwise known as Station X.
CHAPTER 4
McClain, S., The Navajo Weapon (Boulder, CO: Books Beyond Borders, 1994).
A gripping account that covers the entire story, written by a woman who has spent much time talking to the men who developed and used the Navajo code.
Davies, W. V., Reading the Past: Egyptian Hieroglyphs (London: British Museum Press, 1997).
Part of an excellent series of introductory texts published by the British Museum. Other authors in the series have written books on cuneiform, Etruscan, Greek inscriptions, Linear B, Maya glyphs and runes.
CHAPTER 5
Hellman, M. E., “The Mathematics of Public-Key Cryptography,” Scientific American, vol. 241 (August 1979), pp. 130–39.
An excellent overview of the various forms of public-key cryptography.
Schneier, Bruce, Applied Cryptography (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996).
An excellent survey of modern cryptography. A definitive and authoritative introduction to the subject (advanced).
CHAPTER 6
Garfinkel, Simson, PGP: Pretty Good Privacy (Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly & Associates, 1995).
An excellent introduction to PGP and the issues surrounding modern cryptography.
Bamford, James, The Puzzle Palace (London: Penguin, 1983).
Inside the National Security Agency, America’s most secret intelligence organization.
Bennett, C. H., Brassard, C., and Ekert, A., “Quantum Cryptography,” Scientific American, vol. 269 (October 1992), pp. 26–33.
A clear explanation of the evolution of quantum cryptography.
INTERNET SITES
Simon Singh’s Web site
www.simonsingh.net
Bletchley Park
www.bletchleypark.org.uk/
The official website, which includes opening times and directions.
Enigma emulators
www.ugrad.cs.jhu.edu/~russell/classes/enigma
An excellent emulator that shows how the Enigma machine works.
Phil Zimmermann and PGP
www.philzimmermann.com
Electronic Frontier Foundation
www.eff.org/
An organization devoted to protecting rights and promoting freedom on the Internet.
Centre for Quantum Computation
www.qubit.org/
Part of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge provides information and conducts research in quantum computing and information processing.
www.nsa.gov/museum/
American Cryptogram Association (ACA)
www.cryptogram.org
An association that specializes in solving cipher puzzles. RSA’s Frequently Asked Questions About Cryptography
www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/faq/
Yahoo! Security and Encryption Page
www.yahoo.co.uk/computers_and_internet/security_and_encryption/