Hidden World - Hardcover

Haldane, R.A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0709153511 ISBN 13: 9780709153511

Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd, 1976

Synopsis

In this book the author sets forth the story of hidden writing from earliest times to the present. In simple terms he explains how ciphers and codes work and how they are unravelled, how the Arabs discovered the constancy of letter frequencies and their remarkable forms of invisible ink. Illustrating the vital importance of security, he explains how in World War II fifty German code breakers, a terribly efficient enemy, kept the U-boats posted with our convoy movements. "In no other theatre of war" he says "did forces a thousand times as strong bring us anywhere near so close to defeat." Similarly Rommel, reading our enciphered orders of battle, acquired his nickname of "the Desert Fox". We learn too how the BBC broadcast in code to our agents in France and of the operations of such figures as "Cicero", Sorge. "Lucy" and post-war spies. The author writes with intimate knowledge of combining security with the use of words. In earlier times economy was necessitated by problems of transmission: messages that reached addressees probably remained undetected. But with the coming of radio. exposure became unavoidable: notwithstanding, its convenience fascinated the undiscriminating and the flood-gates were opened. On one day alone in World War II over nine million words were enciphered at Allied Supreme Headquarters: probably most ciphers used in the war were read by others from whom they were intended to be kept secret. Reminding us that vulnerability increases each time a cipher is used, the author explains that even the most complex ones produced by machines have been unravelled, partly by electronic aids and partly by aIgebraic equations; and he underlines the need for the disciplined use of words.

Edition details

• Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd
• Publication date: 1976
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0709153511
• ISBN 13: 9780709153511
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 244