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Informationen zum Autor William S. Butler & L. Douglas Keeney have been a writing team for many years. Between them, they have authored more than a dozen books, many of them collaboratively. Their recent titles include This Is Guadalcanal; D-Day: Day of Destiny; No Easy Days; and Tragedy at Sea. They are both natives of and reside in Louisville, Kentucky, with their families. Klappentext From the fall of Troy to interstellar messages by way of the Underground Railroad and Captain Midnight, Secret Messages is a collection of ninety-five of the most interesting examples of code and concealed communications throughout history. Authors William S. Butler and L. Douglas Keeney have compiled a fascinating array of encrypted communications from a varied field. Many of these examples are from times of war, including the story of how a too simple code was the undoing of Benedict Arnold, and how Commander Jeremiah Denton blinked in Morse code to indicate that his North Vietnamese captors were torturing him. Others are more lighthearted, such as the creative use of hand signals by catchers and managers in modern baseball. And some selections offer a glimpse into how codes are used in everyday life, unbeknownst to most of us, in places like hospitals, police stations, and firehouses. Uncovering hidden layers, Secret Messages will amaze you with its new insights into history and how it has been shaped by cryptography. It also explores the future of encryption, where technology will enable vast amounts of information to be hidden within minuscule hosts such as human DNA, or the dot of an "i." Full of stories of human creativity and ingenuity, Secret Messages is an engaging book that will inspire and delight. Chapter One: Special Delivery We armchair spymasters generally think of secret messages as dense, complex lines of random-looking letters and numbers that have no meaning until rearranged by an exotic code or letter-logic system. But not every good secret message must be rendered in code language. In fact, history is full of examples of secret messages sent in plain, uncoded text, right under the noses of the enemy. Successful messaging in these cases is made possible by ingenious delivery methods. In this way, secret messaging is sometimes akin to smuggling -- transporting illicit goods past wary guards in a way that seems almost magical. It's human cleverness at its best, no less present in ancient times than it is today. Take the case of: THE BALD MESSAGE Centuries before the birth of Christ, Asia Minor was the scene of recurring military encroachments from east and west, and by necessity the birthplace of many clever methods of conveying a secret message (before speed of delivery held much importance). In those days messages had to be delivered by human power, and secrecy was difficult to guarantee. When a messenger had to cross enemy lines, he would be thoroughly searched; a hiding place for a written letter would almost surely be found. A message disguised as a garment could be taken away. How, then, to overcome a vigorous search and get the man through enemy lines with the message intact? Herodotus, the era's chronicler of events, tells us how. In The Histories he relates how Histaiaeus, governor of Miletus and plotter against the Persian ruler Darius, secretly communicated with a man named Aristagoras, whom he wished to enlist in his rebellion. It was simple, really. He shaved a trusted messenger's head, then tattooed the message on his bare scalp. After a few weeks of letting his hair grow back, he sent him on his way. After traversing Persian lines innocently, Histaiaeus's messenger is reported to have been brought before Aristagoras and said, "Master, shave my head." Which he obviously did, since the message set in motion a rebellion lasting almost six years. Half the battle in secret delivery systems is not arousing suspicion in the ve...
