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The Codebreakers cover

The Codebreakers

David Kahn

History

ClassicCryptographyHistory

David Kahn's monumental 1967 history of cryptography, from ancient ciphers to the codebreaking of both World Wars — the book that introduced a generation of cryptographers to the field. Both Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman call it formative. Diffie studied it intensively in 1972, just before inventing public-key cryptography, and Hellman calls it the classic book on the history of encryption.

Endorsed By

2 People
  • Whitfield Diffie
    amturing.acm.org
    “I was reading very slowly through David Kahn's comparable-length book about cryptography… At any event, in fall of '72, I began studying Kahn.”

    In his ACM Turing Award oral history, Diffie describes studying Kahn's 1967 history intensively in 1972 — the period leading directly to his and Hellman's invention of public-key cryptography.

  • Martin Hellman
    ee.stanford.edu
    “David Kahn's book, The Codebreakers, is the classic book on the history of encryption... Both are great reads and written for a general audience – they do not require a mathematical background.”

    From a 'Suggested Reading' handout Hellman wrote for his 2013 Stanford 'Wisdom of Foolishness' lecture, where he names Kahn's history as the classic on the subject.

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