- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Orion; New title edition (28 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752875264
- ISBN-13: 978-0752875262
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,063,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
From the earliest days of mankind, people have sought to pass on secret messages via code so that only those who are supposed to understand the message can receive it. For almost as long, cryptographers have tried to break the codes. Most famous of all were those at Bletchley Park who managed to break the Nazis' 'unbreakable' Enigma code. Now, in this fascinating and intriguing book, Richard Belfield looks at some of the most difficult codes in history that have withstood years of investigation and shows the reader how they too can learn to solve or create almost any code. Sometimes, as with the notorious Zodiac Killer or the Voynich Manuscript, the codes remain unsolved, or as with Kryptos in the CIA's headquarters only 90 per cent has been decoded. Here, Belfield explains what the current theories are and provides avenues for further exploration. In the final element of the book, working with a team of top cryptographers from Royal Holloway, University of London the author sets his own code, based on the techniques that have been revealed throughout the book. Sure to intrigue all lovers of puzzles and codes, the winning person who deciphers the code will receive an original, German World War Two Enigma machine, worth over 20,000.
About the Author
Richard Belfield is an award-winning television producer and writer, making programmes investigating the death of Princess Diana and Yvonne Fletcher, among others. He is the author of Terminate With Extreme Prejudice, and two biographies of Rupert Murdoch.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is effectively a rip-off of Simon Singh's _The Code Book_, which is far better written and much more detailed
-- both have a puzzle and a prize,
-- both cover similar codes in the same order
This book is badly written (repetitive, full of typos, etc.) and badly printed, even to the extent that some of the codes do not work, and the correct versions had to be put on a webbsite
Buy the Singh book, not this one.
-- both have a puzzle and a prize,
-- both cover similar codes in the same order
This book is badly written (repetitive, full of typos, etc.) and badly printed, even to the extent that some of the codes do not work, and the correct versions had to be put on a webbsite
Buy the Singh book, not this one.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Some interesting stuff, but some noise too...
22 Sep 2007
Format:Paperback
I really like books on the historical aspect of cryptology, and Mr. Belfield's book certainly belongs to the genre. He provides some interesting tidbits that other texts seemed to gloss over or treat in significantly less detail. This is especially true of his chapters on the Kryptos sculpture at CIA Headquarters and the Voynich Manuscript. But this becomes somewhat of a burden in some ways ... perhaps it's a matter of taste, but of all the great cryptological mysteries, he spends a huge amount of print on the Shugborough Shephard's Monument. What's that? Never heard of it ? ... me neither, and I found the chapter about it pretty dry. To be fair to Mr. Belfield, I purchased the book before it was actually available in the US (from amazon.co.uk, after a mention in the American Cryptogram Association's newsletter), so perhaps his British readers are more familiar with this particular mystery. He seems to delve at least briefly into virtually every possible nuance of why something is this way or that at Shugborough, despite the fact that some theories clearly have more merit than others, and I thought it just went on too long.
That being said, I still enjoyed the book, as will most crypto enthusiasts. Like I stated, treatment of the Voynich Manuscript and the Beale Papers have very detailed sections. I would have like to see a better refutation of the claims of some to have solved the Beale Ciphers, which seem to have virtually no merit whatsoever, and Mr. Belfield seems to have the intellectual horsepower to do so, but he doesn't really dwell on it for any significant time.
A few other minor quibbles: Mr. Belfield seems to inject a great deal of his own opinion, especially social and political, into the text. Comments about the flaws of modern western democracies or small fluffy dogs being the favorite of 'airheads' both now and in the past may provide a humorous touch for some, but for me they detracted from the overall academic treatment of these unsolved mysteries. And the fact that I agree with Mr. Belfield's opinions on some matters doens't change my mind ... they simply don't go well with his otherwise rigorous treatment of the book's main points. Some small errors crop up as well ... for example, the Zodiac Killer did not terrorize "Southern California", but rather was a Bay Area phenomenon who MAY have had connections to some other murders in SoCal. Such errors are inevitable in books based on fact, and this does not really detract from what is otherwise an interesting and informative book.
I don't want to sound like I'm quibbling, so I'll sum it up ... Overall, I liked Mr. Belfield's book, and I recommend it to crypto enthusiasts.
That being said, I still enjoyed the book, as will most crypto enthusiasts. Like I stated, treatment of the Voynich Manuscript and the Beale Papers have very detailed sections. I would have like to see a better refutation of the claims of some to have solved the Beale Ciphers, which seem to have virtually no merit whatsoever, and Mr. Belfield seems to have the intellectual horsepower to do so, but he doesn't really dwell on it for any significant time.
A few other minor quibbles: Mr. Belfield seems to inject a great deal of his own opinion, especially social and political, into the text. Comments about the flaws of modern western democracies or small fluffy dogs being the favorite of 'airheads' both now and in the past may provide a humorous touch for some, but for me they detracted from the overall academic treatment of these unsolved mysteries. And the fact that I agree with Mr. Belfield's opinions on some matters doens't change my mind ... they simply don't go well with his otherwise rigorous treatment of the book's main points. Some small errors crop up as well ... for example, the Zodiac Killer did not terrorize "Southern California", but rather was a Bay Area phenomenon who MAY have had connections to some other murders in SoCal. Such errors are inevitable in books based on fact, and this does not really detract from what is otherwise an interesting and informative book.
I don't want to sound like I'm quibbling, so I'll sum it up ... Overall, I liked Mr. Belfield's book, and I recommend it to crypto enthusiasts.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Probably not worth buying
19 Oct 2008
Format:Paperback
The author of the book seems not to distinguish between nonsense ideas that deserve to be mentioned and then dismissed quickly, and good ideas that deserve to be explored in detail.
The style is very journalistic, with lots of errors that one would hope not to find in a properly researched book (e.g. the spelling of Pearl Harbour (sic) and the reference to images in the Voynich manuscripts as "plates"(!) are two that spring to mind). I agree with most of the previous review, including the fact that the book's author's personal opinions about the justice system, police forces, the CIA, etc. become tedious to read, even when you happen to agree with them.
There are six puzzles/codes/ciphers printed in the book, and whoever solves them all first will win an Enigma machine. There is an online forum for the discussion of these puzzles. The fact that teams of cryptanalysts and computer geeks have spent tens of thousands of hours on trying to solve them, and have still failed, suggests that you should not buy this book expecting to solve more than a couple of the puzzles before you give up.
If you want an introduction to the subject, read another book (such as Singh's _The Code Book_). You should probably only buy this if you are a crypto geek and want to own *everything* on the subject. (Even then, why not just borrow it from a library?)
The style is very journalistic, with lots of errors that one would hope not to find in a properly researched book (e.g. the spelling of Pearl Harbour (sic) and the reference to images in the Voynich manuscripts as "plates"(!) are two that spring to mind). I agree with most of the previous review, including the fact that the book's author's personal opinions about the justice system, police forces, the CIA, etc. become tedious to read, even when you happen to agree with them.
There are six puzzles/codes/ciphers printed in the book, and whoever solves them all first will win an Enigma machine. There is an online forum for the discussion of these puzzles. The fact that teams of cryptanalysts and computer geeks have spent tens of thousands of hours on trying to solve them, and have still failed, suggests that you should not buy this book expecting to solve more than a couple of the puzzles before you give up.
If you want an introduction to the subject, read another book (such as Singh's _The Code Book_). You should probably only buy this if you are a crypto geek and want to own *everything* on the subject. (Even then, why not just borrow it from a library?)
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