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<title>The Codebreakers</title>

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</style><table class="infobox ib-book vcard"><caption class="infobox-title">The Codebreakers – The Story of Secret Writing </caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><div class="infobox-caption">Book cover of the 1996 updated reprint</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="David_Kahn_(writer)" title="David Kahn (writer)">David Kahn</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data">English</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Genre</th><td class="infobox-data">Factual</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Publication date</div></th><td class="infobox-data">1967, 1996</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">

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</style><bdi>0-684-83130-9</bdi></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)"><abbr title="Online Computer Library Center number">OCLC</abbr></a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35159231">35159231</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="Dewey_Decimal_Classification" title="Dewey Decimal Classification">Dewey Decimal</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data">652/.8 20</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="LCC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="LCC (identifier)"><abbr title="Library of Congress Classification">LC Class</abbr></a></th><td class="infobox-data">Z103 .K28 1996</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p><i><b>The Codebreakers – The Story of Secret Writing</b></i> (<a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>0-684-83130-9</bdi>) is a book by <a href="David_Kahn_(writer)" title="David Kahn (writer)">David Kahn</a>, published in 1967, comprehensively chronicling the <a href="History_of_cryptography" title="History of cryptography">history of cryptography</a> from ancient <a href="Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> to the time of its writing. The <a href="United_States_government" class="mw-redirect" title="United States government">United States government</a> attempted to have the book altered before publication, and it succeeded in part.<sup id="cite_ref-cia1996_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cia1996-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Overview">Overview</h2></div>

<p>Bradford Hardie III, an American cryptographer during World War II, contributed insider information, German translations from original documents, and intimate real-time operational explanations to <i>The Codebreakers</i>.

</p><p><i>The Codebreakers</i> is widely regarded as the best account of the <a href="History_of_cryptography" title="History of cryptography">history of cryptography</a> up to its publication. <a href="William_P._Crowell" title="William P. Crowell">William Crowell</a>, the former deputy director of the <a href="National_Security_Agency" title="National Security Agency">National Security Agency</a>, was quoted in <i><a href="Newsday" title="Newsday">Newsday</a></i> magazine: "Before he (Kahn) came along, the best you could do was buy an explanatory book that usually was too technical and terribly dull."<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p><i><a href="The_Puzzle_Palace" title="The Puzzle Palace">The Puzzle Palace</a></i> (1982), written by <a href="James_Bamford" title="James Bamford">James Bamford</a>, gives a history of the writing and publication of <i>The Codebreakers</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-bamford_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bamford-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Kahn, then a journalist, was contracted to write a book on cryptology in 1961. He began writing it part-time, and then he quit his job to work on it full-time.<sup id="cite_ref-bamford_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bamford-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The book was to include information on the <a href="NSA" class="mw-redirect" title="NSA">NSA</a> and, according to Bamford, the agency attempted to stop its publication. The NSA considered various options, including writing a negative review of Kahn's work to be published in the press to discredit him.<sup id="cite_ref-bamford_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bamford-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>A committee of the United States Intelligence Board concluded that the book was "a possibly valuable support to foreign <a href="COMSEC" class="mw-redirect" title="COMSEC">COMSEC</a> authorities" and recommended "further low-key actions as possible, but short of legal action, to discourage Mr. Kahn or his prospective publishers".<sup id="cite_ref-bamford_4-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bamford-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Kahn's publisher, <a href="Daniel_MacMillan" title="Daniel MacMillan">Macmillan and Sons</a>, handed over the manuscript to the government for review without Kahn's permission on 4 March 1966.<sup id="cite_ref-bamford_4-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bamford-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Kahn and Macmillan eventually agreed to remove some material from the manuscript, particularly concerning the relationship between the NSA and its counterpart in the United Kingdom, <a href="GCHQ" title="GCHQ">GCHQ</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-bamford_4-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bamford-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>The book finishes with a chapter on <a href="SETI" class="mw-redirect" title="SETI">SETI</a>. Because of the year of its publication, the book did not cover most of the history concerning the <a href="Cryptanalysis_of_the_Enigma" title="Cryptanalysis of the Enigma">breaking</a> of the German <a href="Enigma_machine" title="Enigma machine">Enigma machine</a>, which became public knowledge during the 1970s. Hence, not much was said of <a href="Alan_Turing" title="Alan Turing">Alan Turing</a>. It also did not cover the advent of strong cryptography in the public domain, beginning with the invention of <a href="Public_key_cryptography" class="mw-redirect" title="Public key cryptography">public key cryptography</a> and the specification of the <a href="Data_Encryption_Standard" title="Data Encryption Standard">Data Encryption Standard</a> in the mid-1970s. The book was republished in 1996, and this new edition included an additional chapter briefly covering the events since the original publication.

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<ul><li><a href="Books_on_cryptography" class="mw-redirect" title="Books on cryptography">Books on cryptography</a>: other works which cover the later history in more detail.</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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<li id="cite_note-cia1996-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-cia1996_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pineau, Roger (1996). The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing by David Kahn, internal CIA book review by Roger Pineau, ca. 1967, released to public 1996. Retrieved from <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100327045842/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol12i3/html/v12i3a09p_0001.htm">[1]</a>.</span>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFAbrams2004" class="citation web cs1">Abrams, Arnold (September 19, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/david-kahn-historian-of-secret-codes">"David Kahn: Historian of Secret Codes"</a>. <i><a href="Newsday" title="Newsday">Newsday</a></i> (abridged ed.). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240621010626/https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/david-kahn-historian-of-secret-codes">Archived</a> from the original on June 21, 2024<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">June 21,</span> 2024</span> – via <a href="History_News_Network" title="History News Network">History News Network</a>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFAbrams2004" class="citation news cs1">Abrams, Arnold (September 19, 2004). <span class="id-lock-subscription" title="Paid subscription required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/279830028">"The man behind 'The Codebreakers', How David Kahn brought cryptology in from the cold"</a></span>. <i><a href="Newsday" title="Newsday">Newsday</a></i>. <a href="ProQuest" title="ProQuest">ProQuest</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/279830028">279830028</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">June 21,</span> 2024</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-bamford-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-bamford_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-bamford_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-bamford_4-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-bamford_4-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-bamford_4-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-bamford_4-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFBamford1982" class="citation book cs1">Bamford, James (1982). <i><a href="The_Puzzle_Palace" title="The Puzzle Palace">The Puzzle Palace</a></i>. pp. <span class="nowrap">126–</span>130.</cite></span>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Bibliography">Bibliography</h2></div>

<ul><li>Secret War of Words; <i>The Codebreakers</i>. The Story of Secret Writing. By David Kahn. New York Times Book Review, Jan 7, 1968. pg. BR10</li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

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