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field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">A Practical Guide</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">by Elonka Dunin and Klaus Schmeh</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-released-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">August 2023, 488 pp.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-isbn13 field-type-text field-label-inline clearfix clearfix"><div class="field-label">ISBN-13: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">9781718502727</div></div></div><div class="add-to-cart"><form action="/codebreaking" method="post" id="uc-product-add-to-cart-form-687" accept-charset="UTF-8"><div><div id="uc_product_add_to_cart_form-687-attributes" class="attributes"><div class="attribute attribute-1 odd"><div class="form-item form-item-attributes-1 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form-submit icon-before" type="submit" id="edit-submit-687" name="op" value="Add to cart"><span class="icon glyphicon glyphicon-plus" aria-hidden="true"></span> Add to cart</button> </div></div></form></div><div class="field field-name-product-menu field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="menu-wrapper"><ul class="menu nav"><li><a href="#content">Contents</a></li><li><a href="#reviews">Reviews</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>Look Inside!</strong></p> <div class="lookinside"><a class="colorbox" href="/images/Codebreaking_p78-79.jpg"><img alt="Codebreaking pages 78-79" src="/images/Codebreaking_p78-79.jpg" style="border:1px solid; height:102px; margin:5px" title="Codebreaking pages 78-79" /></a><a class="colorbox" href="/images/Codebreaking_p126-127.jpg"><img alt="Codebreaking pages 126-127" src="/images/Codebreaking_p126-127.jpg" style="border:1px solid; height:102px; margin:5px" title="Codebreaking pages 126-127" /></a><a class="colorbox" href="/images/Codebreaking_p224-225.jpg"><img alt="Codebreaking pages 224-225" src="/images/Codebreaking_p224-225.jpg" style="border:1px solid; height:102px; margin:5px" title="Codebreaking pages 224-225" /></a></div> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000">Solve history’s most hidden secrets alongside expert codebreakers Elonka Dunin and Klaus Schmeh, as they guide you through the world of encrypted texts. With a focus on cracking real-world document encryptions—including some crime-based coded mysteries that remain unsolved—you’ll be introduced to the free computer software that professional cryptographers use, helping you build your skills with state-of-the art tools. You’ll also be inspired by thrilling success stories, like how the first three parts of Kryptos were broken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000">Each chapter introduces you to a specific cryptanalysis technique, and presents factual examples of text encrypted using that scheme—from modern postcards to 19-century newspaper ads, war-time telegrams, notes smuggled into prisons, and even entire books written in code. Along the way, you’ll work on NSA-developed challenges, detect and break a Caesar cipher, crack an encrypted journal from the movie </span></span></span><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><em>The Prestige</em></span></span></span><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000">, and much more.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000">You’ll learn: </span></span></span></p> <ul> <li style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000">How to crack simple substitution, polyalphabetic, and transposition ciphers </span></span></span></li> <li style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000">How to use free online cryptanalysis software, like CrypTool 2, to aid your analysis</span></span></span></li> <li style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000">How to identify clues and patterns to figure out what encryption scheme is being used</span></span></span></li> <li style="list-style-type:disc"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000">How to encrypt your own emails and secret messages</span></span></span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"><em>Codebreaking</em></span></span></span><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000"> is the most up-to-date resource on cryptanalysis published since World War II—essential for modern forensic codebreakers, and designed to help amateurs unlock some of history’s greatest mysteries.</span></span></span></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-bio field-type-text-long field-label-abovec"><div class="field-label">Author Bio </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>Elonka Dunin </strong>is an experienced crypto expert and maintains a list of the world's most famous unsolved codes on her elonka.com website. Bestselling author Dan Brown even named one of the characters in his <em>Da Vinci Code</em> sequel, <em>The Lost Symbol</em>, after her: “Nola Kaye” is a scrambled form of “Elonka." She is co-founder and co-leader of a group of cryptographers who are working hard to crack the final cipher on the famous Kryptos sculpture at CIA Headquarters, and in 2021 she was invited to give the TEDx talk "2,000 Years of Ordinary Secrets."</p> <p><strong>Klaus Schmeh</strong> is the most-published cryptology author in the world. He has written 15 books (in German) about the subject, as well as over 200 articles, 25 scientific papers, and 1,500 blog posts. He is a member of the editorial board of the scientific magazine, <em>Cryptologia</em>. Schmeh's main fields of interest are codebreaking and the history of encryption. His blog Cipherbrain is read by crypto enthusiasts all over the world. Schmeh is a popular speaker, known for his entertaining presentation style involving self-drawn cartoons and LEGO® models.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-toc field-type-text-long field-label-abovec" id="content"><div class="field-label">Table of contents </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>Preface</strong><br /> <strong>Chapter 1: </strong>How can I break an encrypted message? And other introductory questions<br /> <strong>Chapter 2:</strong> The Caesar cipher<br /> <strong>Chapter 3:</strong> Simple substitution ciphers<br /> <strong>Chapter 4:</strong> Simple substitution ciphers without spaces between words: Patristocrats<br /> <strong>Chapter 5:</strong> Simple substitution ciphers in non-English languages<br /> <strong>Chapter 6:</strong> Homophonic ciphers<br /> <strong>Chapter 7:</strong> Codes and nomenclators<br /> <strong>Chapter 8:</strong> Polyalphabetic ciphers<br /> <strong>Chapter 9:</strong> Complete columnar transposition ciphers<br /> <strong>Chapter 10:</strong> Incomplete columnar transposition ciphers<br /> <strong>Chapter 11:</strong> Turning grille transposition ciphers<br /> <strong>Chapter 12:</strong> Digraph substitution<br /> <strong>Chapter 13:</strong> Abbreviation ciphers<br /> <strong>Chapter 14:</strong> Dictionary codes and book ciphers<br /> <strong>Chapter 15:</strong> Additional encryption methods<br /> <strong>Chapter 16:</strong> Solving ciphers with hill climbing<br /> <strong>Chapter 17:</strong> What next?<br /> <strong>Appendix A: Kryptos<br /> Appendix B: Useful language statistics<br /> Appendix C: Glossary<br /> Appendix D: Morse Code<br /> Appendix E: Figure Sources<br /> References</strong></p> <p><a href="download/Codebreaking_copyright.pdf" style="text-decoration:underline;" target="_blank"><strong>View the Copyright page</strong></a><br /> <a href="/download/Codebreaking_TOC.pdf" style="text-decoration:underline;" target="_blank"><strong>View the detailed Table of Contents</strong></a><br /> <a href="/download/Codebreaking_index.pdf" style="text-decoration:underline;" target="_blank"><strong>View the Index</strong></a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-reviews field-type-text-long field-label-abovec" id="reviews"><div class="field-label">Reviews </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>“<em>Codebreaking: A Practical Guide</em> is quite the best book on codebreaking I have read: clear, engaging, and fun. A must for would-be recruits to GCHQ and the NSA!”<br /> <strong>—Sir Dermot Turing, author of <em>Prof</em>, the biography of his uncle, Alan Turing</strong></p> <p>“Riveting. Dunin and Schmeh show us that we each have our own inner code-breaker yearning to be set free. <em>Codebreaking</em> isn’t just for super-geniuses with supercomputers; it’s something we were all born to do.”<br /> <strong>—Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin’s law and former general counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation</strong></p> <p>“This is THE book about codebreaking. Very concise, very inclusive, and easy to read. Good references for those who would make codes, too, like Kryptos.”<br /> <strong>—Ed Scheidt, CIA</strong></p> <p>“A compendium of historical cryptography. Approachable, accessible, this book brings back the joy I felt when I first read about these things as a kid.”<br /> <strong>—Phil Zimmermann, creator of PGP encryption and inductee into the Internet Hall of Fame</strong></p> <p>“One of the most helpful guides outside the NSA to cracking ciphers. But even if you don’t become a codebreaker, this book is full of fascinating crypto lore.”<br /> <strong>—Steven Levy, <em>New York Times</em> best-selling author of <em>Crypto, Hackers, and Facebook: The Inside Story</em></strong></p> <p>“Another kind of <em>Applied Cryptography</em>.”<br /> <strong>—Whitfield Diffie, Turing Laureate and creator of public-key cryptography</strong></p> <p>“This is the book of my dreams. Super-clear, super-fun guide for solving secret messages of all kinds.”<br /> <strong>—Jason Fagone, author of the best-selling book <em>The Woman Who Smashed Codes</em></strong></p> <p>“Kool dnoces a htrow era snootrac eht fo ynam.”<br /> <strong>—Suomynona Ecila</strong></p> <p>“A wonderful mix of ciphers, both famous and little-known, solved and unsolved. Beginners will be hooked on exploring the world of secrets in cipher, and those who have already been introduced to the field will find much that is new.”<br /> <strong>—Craig Bauer, editor in chief of <em>Cryptologia</em> and author of <em>Unsolved!: The History and Mystery of the World’s Greatest Ciphers</em></strong></p> <p>“Cryptography? Ciphers? I thought this would be an easy book to put down. I was very wrong.”<br /> <strong>—Steve Meretzky, co-author with Douglas Adams of <em>The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</em> computer game</strong></p> <p>"Fun, fascinating, and user friendly . . . 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