A review by snowmaiden
The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet by David Kahn

4.0

I spent a whole summer reading this book when I was laid up in bed with a bum ankle and a heating pad. Besides telling more than I ever thought there was to know about the history of secret communications, it also taught me a lesson on how to write something both scholarly and entertaining. When I was in library school, my professors often told me that my papers were not just well-researched, but also very readable. (One called my 15-page tome on the history of the Copyright Clearance Center "a real page-turner"!) I think I owe the credit for that entirely to this book and David Kahn, who managed to make 1200 pages fly by and leave me wishing for more in the end.