Outskirts Press, INC.

Why do Some Cryptographic Systems Fail?

If you actually want to know how World War II machine cipher systems were made—and broken—this book is indispensable. Kelley covers the “big three” systems: Germany’s Enigma; the Japanese diplomatic cipher machine known by its codename, Purple; and the US Army-Navy ECM/SIGABA. He tells us how each was developed and by whom, how it worked, how it was used, and how and why it was (or in the case of SIGABA, never was) broken. Without elaborate mathematics he makes the principles of these machines and their solutions clear and also evaluates their strengths and weaknesses.