Cryptography books

The Codebreakers – The Story of Secret Writing (ISBN 0-684-83130-9) is a book by David Kahn, published in 1967, comprehensively chronicling the history of cryptography from ancient Egypt to the time of its writing. The United States government attempted to have the book altered before publication, and it succeeded in part.

Laurence Dwight Smith (1895-1952) was an American author specializing in crime fiction and cryptography.

Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War 1941–1945 is a memoir of public interest by former Special Operations Executive (SOE) cryptographer Leo Marks, describing his work including memorable events, actions and omissions of his colleagues during the Second World War. It was first published in 1998.

David Kahn (February 2, 1930 – January 23, 2024) was an American historian, journalist, and writer. He has written extensively on the history of cryptography and military intelligence.

Polygraphia is a cryptographic work written by Johannes Trithemius published in 1518 dedicated to the art of steganography.

Syllabical and Steganographical Table (French: Tableau syllabique et stéganographique) is an eighteenth-century cryptographical work by P. R. Wouves. Published by Benjamin Franklin Bache in 1797, it provided a method for representing pairs of letters by numbers. It may have been the first chart for cryptographic purposes to have been printed in the United States.

Military Cryptanalytics (or MILCRYP as it is sometimes known) is a revision by Lambros D. Callimahos of the series of books written by William F. Friedman under the title Military Cryptanalysis. It may also contain contributions by other cryptanalysts. It was a training manual for National Security Agency and military cryptanalysts. It was published for government use between 1957 and 1977, though parts I and II were written in 1956 and 1959.

Brute Force: Cracking the Data Encryption Standard (2005, Copernicus Books ISBN 0387271600) is a book by Matt Curtin about cryptography.

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography is a book by Simon Singh, published in 1999 by Fourth Estate and Doubleday.

Books on cryptography have been published sporadically and with variable quality for a long time. This is despite the paradox that secrecy is of the essence in sending confidential messages – see Kerckhoffs' principle.