Human Interest Books on Cryptography

The following books provide a technically lighter and somewhat more historical approach to the topics of cryptography. These books are all great for times when you want to forget about programming and mathematics, and you simply want a relaxing read by the fireplace.

• The Codebreakers by David Kahn . This book provides a very interesting historical account of cryptography, but it does not have much to say about truly modern cryptography (after all, it was published in 1967). However, it provides a fascinating light read and is written in a captivating and nontechnical style.

• The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh . This book also offers a rather nontechnical look into the world of cryptography and codes through history, including some of the more recent developments not covered in The Codebreakers . This is also a very interesting read.

• Decrypted Secrets by Friedrich Bauer . This book continues in the style of The Codebreakers but is somewhat more technical, especially as it pertains to cryptanalysis of historically important WWII ciphers. Again, this is an interesting book for the casual reader.