Codebreaker
by Stephen Pincock & Mark Frary

Release Date: 1st Feb 2007
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 978 19052 1154 8
RRP: £14.99

A thorough history of cryptology

Now, I know what you’re thinking… What an unfortunate name! It is true that this would have done better to have a less misleading title... I can just imagine a student boffin on his day off looking for R and R and lighting upon this small book and thinking to himself that he was in for a treat – Codebreaker sounds terribly frenetic – like a lewd spy novel. The disappointment must have been staggering for anyone who failed to check on content.

My judgement is that this is a highly intellectual, articulate history of cryptology, a subject which holds some fondness, and an inescapable feeling of loss… and whilst I appreciate that this topic may not suit everyone’s palate, for this with an interest, this is undoubtedly a good buy.

It is, through the creative imaginings of our creative masters that the human species (and many, many other lesser species on a much smaller and less devastating scale) has striven to acquire the knowledge necessary to make those imaginings come to life. Indeed, I would suggest that if you have any curiosity of what may be, there are some theories in this book which may concern you. I believe that fact is often the consequence of what was once considered fiction and in that way, fiction very often becomes fact…

Ah, I digress. I must apologise for my philosophical posturing. The important thing is that this is both educational and won’t necessarily put oneself to sleep – that is a somewhat rare combination and one that should be cherished.

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