A riddle wrapped up in an enigma

Posted by Bob on October 10, 2000

In Reply to: A riddle wrapped up in an enigma posted by Bob on October 10, 2000

: : >>A form of Winston Churchill's quotation, made in a radio broadcast in Oct 1939: 'I cannot forecast to you the action of
: : Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.'

: : The German encryption device Enigma?

: No. Just the word enigma.

Speaking of codes, and the Enigma machine, I just finished a very entertaining history of cryptography, "The Code Book," by Simon Singh. It's a survey of code-making and code-breaking from ancient times to today. Very readable. It's got the clearest explanation I've ever seen of the Enigma, and how it was beaten. (Not too technical, most of the time.)