Reference

Encyclopedia of Cryptology
David E. Newton
A really useful guide to all things cryptographic.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Codes, Ciphers and Other Cryptic and Clandestine Communication
Fred. B. Wrixon
Slightly more detailed than Newton’s encyclopaedia. A hefty book that will answer lots of your crypto queries.

Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Codes and Ciphers
Fred B. Wrixon
The shorter, drier version of Wrixon’s book described above. A useful reference book.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Enigma and WWII

Battle of Wits 
Stephen Budiansky
Not just the story of Bletchley Park, but also the story of the American codebreaking achievements against the Japanese. Find out more...
Even more info at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Alan Turing: The Enigma
Andrew Hodges
A superb book, notable because it was largely this book that brought Turing’s story to the public, and which then inspired a series of other books, plays and TV documentaries.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Breaking the Code
Hugh Whitemore
A play about Alan Turing, which was a huge success in the West End in the 1980s starring Derek Jacobi.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk.

Enigma
Robert Harris
If you have seen the movie with Kate Winslett, then you might like to read the book it was based on. Although a novel, it gives a great sense of what it was like to break codes at Bletchley Park in the Second World War.

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Turing and the Universal Machine
Jon Agar
A tiny book about Turing and the development of the computer.
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Turing and the Computer
Paul Strathern
Another tiny book about Turing and the development of the computer.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Enigma: The Battle for the Code
Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
This was published after I had written The Code Book, so I must admit that I have not read it. New interests mean that I have had to focus my reading elsewhere. But, by all accounts, this is an excellent book.
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Seizing the Enigma
David Kahn
The best historian of cryptography explains the cracking of the Naval Enigma cipher. Find out more...
Even more info at Amazon.co.uk

Station X
Michael Smith
An accessible account of the Bletchley Park story, which accompanied the Channel 4 TV series of the same name.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Codebreakers
Edited by F.H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp
A collection of essays by those who worked at Bletchley Park during World War II.
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The Hut Six Story
Gordon Welchman
One of the earliest accounts of Bletchley and the Enigma, written by one of the most important codebreakers.
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Action This Day
Irving Warner
This is THE BOOK to read if you are interested in the Enigma cipher and its cracking at Bletchley Park. At last, here is an authoritative, definitive and complete book.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

The Navajo Code Talkers
Doris Paul
The story of the Navajo contribution to cryptography in the Pacific. Written in 1973.
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Navajo Weapon
Sally McLain
Probably based on McLain’s earlier book, which is the version that I have seen. This book was brought out to coincide with the release of the Hollywood movie Windtalkers.
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GENERAL CRYPTO

The Codebreakers
David Kahn
The most authoritative history of cryptography ever published. Find out more...
Even more info at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Applied Cryptography
Bruce Schneier
750 pages of pure authority, written by a world expert on modern cryptography.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Secrets and Lies
Bruce Schneier
Schneier’s first book was about the technical and mathematical side of cryptography. This book is about the equally important human side of information security.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Cryptography – A Very Short Introduction
Fred Piper & Sean Murphy
A very short introduction indeed. An excellent primer by one of the world’s brightest cryptographers and best communicators of the subject.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

In Code
Sarah & David Flannery
A mix of maths, cryptography and puzzles from the teenager who hit the headlines with her encryption algorithm.
Find out more...
Even more info at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Mary Queen of Scots
Antonia Fraser
Nothing to do with cryptography, but if you want to know more about Mary Queen of Scots who appears in chapter 1 of The Code Book, then Lady Antonia Fraser’s biography is brilliant.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Decrypted Secrets
F.L. Bauer
“The best single book on cryptology today,” according to David Kahn. I have only dipped into this book and it seems excellent.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Disappearing Cryptography
P. Wayner
Not about cryptography, but about steganography, the science of hiding messages rather than scrambling messages.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Digital Crime
Neil Barrett
A poacher turned gamekeeper writes about ‘policing the cybernation’. About security generally in the Information Age, rather than cryptography specifically.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Cryptology
Albrecht Beutelspacher
This was one of the first books that I read about codes and codebreaking. A good introduction to some of the technical aspects of cryptography.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

PGP
Simson L. Garfinkel
An excellent account of the development of Pretty Good Prviacy (PGP), the encryption software that shook the world.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

The Official PGP User’s Guide
Philip R. Zimmermann
More technical than Garfinkel’s book, written by the pioneer programmer of Pretty Good Privacy..
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Privacy on the Line
Whitfield Diffie & Susan Landau
An exploration of the issues facing society in the Information Age. A refreshing read that complements most books on cryptography that concentrate on mathematics or technology.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

The Beale Treasure: New History of a Mystery
Peter Viemeister
I met Peter when I was researching the Beale story. His book explores the history of the Beale treasure and suggests some theories to explain the mystery.
Find out more from Amazon.com.

Puzzle Palace
Body of Secrets
James Bamford
These two books tell the story of America’s National
Security Agency (NSA), the world’s most powerful
eavesdropping and code breaking organization.
Puzzle Palace was first published 20 years ago,
whereas Body of Secrets is a much more recent
update of Bamford’s research into the NSA.
I have only dipped into these books, but they
are generally agreed to be the best books
available about the NSA.

Puzzle Palace:
Find out more at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.
Body of Secrets:
Find out more at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Zimmermann Telegram
Barbara Tuchman
I doubt that we will ever know the whole story behind the Zimmermann Telegram and its decipherment, but historian Barbara Tuchman writes a brilliant account of this pivotal episode from World War I.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Cryptography
Laurence D. Smith
A clear elementary introduction to cryptography.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Cryptanalysis: A Study of Ciphers and their Solutions 
Helen F Gaines
A good introduction that focuses on codebreaking, with lots frequency tables and hints for budding cryptanalysts.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Aegean Books
Aegean publishes a series of quite specialist books on cryptography. Here are some of their more accessible titles.

Military Cryptanalysis, Part I, Monoalphabetic Substitution Systems
(Cryptographic Series, C-30)
William F. Friedman
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

The Story of Magic, Memoirs of an American Cryptologic Pioneer (Cryptography) Frank B. Rowlett, David Kahn
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk  or Amazon.com.

Briefing Notes Concerning Analysis of German Air-Force Low-Level Communications During World War II
(Cryptographic Series (C-82))
Code, Cypher School
Find out more from Amazon.com.

Introduction to the Analysis of the Data Encryption Standard
Wayne G. Barker
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Ancient Scripts

Keys of Egypt
Lesley & Roy Adkins
An excellent account of the life and times of J.F. Champollion, from his childhood days in France to his expedition to Ancient Egyptian. Find out more...
Even more info at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

The Man Who Deciphered Linear B
Andrew Robinson
This book traces the achievements of Michael Ventris in deciphering the 3,500 year old Linear B script. His lifelong obsession with the script, his linguistic talent and his modest nature are all recounted in this book.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Linear B and Related Scripts
John Chadwick
Emeritus Reader of Greek Languages at Cambridge University, Chadwick is an internationally recognised authority on Linear B. This book discusses Linear A, Linear B, and the mysterious Cypriot text connection. 

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The Decipherment of Linear B
John Chadwick
Chadwick recalls the historic achievements of his colleague Michael Ventris in deciphering the ancient Minoan-Myceanean Linear B script.

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Breaking the Maya Code
Michael D. Coe
The tale of the Mayan glyphs, their partial decipherment over the past 20 years and the personalities involved are outlined in this well illustrated book.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Maya Glyphs
Steven. D. Houston
An easy to read account of the Mayan Glyphs, this book outlines the principles behind Maya glyphs and its decipherment.
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Egyptian Diaries
J.F. Champollion
The legendary J.F. Champollion outlines his incredible achievements in his own words, and the journey that took him there. This book contains Champollion's diaries, published for the first time in the UK. 
Find out more from Amazon.co.uk.