The Library
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I highly recommend Escape Room themed books, for example “The Sherlock Holmes Escape Book: The Adventure of The British Museum” as there can be many outcomes, but the preferable one is fame.
Nice, thank you. Harry
I recommend the Sinclair’s Mysteries books. I recently read them and really enjoyed it. It contains some simple ciphers that are easy to understand and work out. I was engrossed in the books all weekend and hardly ever left my room!
Excellent thank you! Harry
PS have added the recommendation to the Library pageHey, everyone,
I have been looking into printing costs for my book at Amazon, and if I do some reformatting to get it to fit under the page limit, the cost for the new version would be US$44 for paperback and US$83 for hardcover. I think the UK numbers would be 28£ and 62£, but there might be VAT added. These prices are the lowest that Amazon allows, considering the length. Since this would require a few weeks’ formatting and preparing, I wanted to ask if anyone is interested in a serious way in having a print copy of the new book. The new version is longer and includes some stuff about cipher machines (Enigma, Fialka, SIGABA, etc.). Thanks in advance for any replies.
Hey,
So sorry for the late reply! I don’t check forums much, lol. A print copy would be cool, and if you were able to get it out by Christmas time/January, I’d be able to pick it up, but generally I don’t think I’d have the money to buy it as a student. I’d also probably get the Paperback, as I don’t really mind the differences between Paperback/Hardback and the price is too high for me to justify.Overall though, I’d be down! I’d probably get it as a Christmas/Birthday present
A smaller book, on just the Vigenère cipher and its relatives, is now available at a new lower price. On Amazon, search for “Vigenere cipher” and look for the one “by madness”. It’s blue.
If there is enough interest, I have another small book in mind, on affine and keyword ciphers etc.
I found it! I’ll buy it very soon – I’d also love a book about keyword ciphers!
I wonder if any of you have actually read Gaines’s Elementary Cryptanalysis. Was any of it confusing? I thought p172 was particularly difficult to read.
I’ve read bits of it and found them excellent, but I quickly lose concentration. That’s my problem, not the authors. I couldn’t read the whole thing – I’d be worn out.
I see that 12th October 2024 is the 136 anniversary of Helen Fouché Gaines birth. I’m sure we can all celebrate that.
@RickOShea, thanks for pointing that out. Unfortunately, she passed the year after the publication of her book.
Are there any copyright experts who can say if her book is now in the public domain? Sharing it would be easy if so.
I’d be interested in a print copy of your book @_madness_!
The cipher challenge people say that Gaines’ book is out of copyright: it’s available for download on the library page.
That is our understanding, though if it is wrong we would of course remove the download. Harry
> That is our understanding, though if it is wrong we would of course remove the download. Harry
I’ve been working on typesetting it, so it will be a nicer, cleaner experience to read, as well as searchable. Am also correcting some typos in the ciphertexts. If it is truly out of copyright, I can donate some PDF copies to any volunteers who want to help proof-read. Next season it may be ready for the website.
+1! Escape Room books are the best.
OK, the book on substitution ciphers is now on Amazon.
It’s yellow.
It is also significantly longer than the blue one, but I convinced Amazon to keep the price the same.Harry deletes the links, so just search for “Substitution Ciphers and how to break them”.
If there is enough interest, I might be able to make more, but they won’t be ready this season. I’m working on typesetting Gaines’s book and annotating it and adding new solutions. More on that later.
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The Codebreakers – The Story of Secret Writing (ISBN 0-684-83130-9) by David Kahn.
The revised and updated version of this book, published in May 1996, provided a comprehensive history of codes and ciphers – how they are made and how they are broken at the time of publication.
The author was the visiting historian at the National Security Agency and a leading authority on the history of cryptography. The book focuses on United States signal intelligence, but covers the history of cryptography from the earliest days through to 1996 and the early days of the Internet. The updated version includes sections on British efforts to break the Enigma codes along with details of some more recent innovations.
1181 pp.
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