Editing The Codebreakers

{{Short description|Book by David Kahn}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = The Codebreakers – The Story of Secret Writing
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = The Code Breakers Library of National Cryptologic Museum (3321040062).jpg
| caption       = Book cover of the 1996 updated reprint
| author        = [[David Kahn (writer)|David Kahn]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = 
| language      = English
| series        = 
| subject       = 
| genre         = Factual
| publisher     = 
| pub_date      = 1967, 1996
| english_pub_date = 
| media_type    = 
| pages         = 
| isbn          = 0-684-83130-9
| dewey= 652/.8 20
| congress= Z103 .K28 1996
| oclc= 35159231
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}
'''''The Codebreakers – The Story of Secret Writing''''' ({{ISBN|0-684-83130-9}}) is a book by [[David Kahn (writer)|David Kahn]], published in 1967, comprehensively chronicling the [[history of cryptography]] from ancient [[Egypt]] to the time of its writing. The [[United States government]] attempted to have the book altered before publication, and it succeeded in part.<ref name="cia1996">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 [https://web.archive.org/web/20100327045842/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol12i3/html/v12i3a09p_0001.htm].</ref>

==Overview==
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 ''The Codebreakers''.{{fact|date=August 2018}}

''The Codebreakers'' is widely regarded as the best account of the [[history of cryptography]] up to its publication. [[William P. Crowell|William Crowell]], the former deputy director of the [[National Security Agency]], was quoted in ''[[Newsday]]'' magazine: "Before he (Kahn) came along, the best you could do was buy an explanatory book that usually was too technical and terribly dull."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/david-kahn-historian-of-secret-codes |title=David Kahn: Historian of Secret Codes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621010626/https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/david-kahn-historian-of-secret-codes |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |first=Arnold |last=Abrams |work=[[Newsday]] |date=September 19, 2004 |via=[[History News Network]] |access-date=June 21, 2024 |edition=abridged}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Abrams |first1=Arnold |title=The man behind 'The Codebreakers', How David Kahn brought cryptology in from the cold |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/279830028 |access-date=June 21, 2024 |work=[[Newsday]] |date=September 19, 2004 |id={{ProQuest|279830028}} |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

''[[The Puzzle Palace]]'' (1982), written by [[James Bamford]], gives a history of the writing and publication of ''The Codebreakers''.<ref name=bamford>{{cite book|last=Bamford|first=James|title=[[The Puzzle Palace]]|year=1982|pages=126–130}}</ref> 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.<ref name=bamford /> The book was to include information on the [[NSA]] 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.<ref name=bamford />

A committee of the United States Intelligence Board concluded that the book was "a possibly valuable support to foreign [[COMSEC]] authorities" and recommended "further low-key actions as possible, but short of legal action, to discourage Mr. Kahn or his prospective publishers".<ref name=bamford /> Kahn's publisher, [[Daniel MacMillan|Macmillan and Sons]], handed over the manuscript to the government for review without Kahn's permission on 4 March 1966.<ref name=bamford /> 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, [[GCHQ]].<ref name=bamford />

The book finishes with a chapter on [[SETI]]. Because of the year of its publication, the book did not cover most of the history concerning the [[Cryptanalysis of the Enigma|breaking]] of the German [[Enigma machine]], which became public knowledge during the 1970s. Hence, not much was said of [[Alan Turing]]. It also did not cover the advent of strong cryptography in the public domain, beginning with the invention of [[public key cryptography]] and the specification of the [[Data Encryption Standard]] 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.

==See also==
* [[Books on cryptography]]: other works which cover the later history in more detail.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Secret War of Words; ''The Codebreakers''. The Story of Secret Writing. By David Kahn. New York Times Book Review, Jan 7, 1968. pg. BR10

{{DEFAULTSORT:Codebreakers, The}}
[[Category:1967 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Cryptography books]]
[[Category:History of cryptography]]
[[Category:Books about the National Security Agency]]

[[vi:The Codebreakers]]