The Woman Who Smashed Codes
Why I recommend it
This was an excellent read. I finished it in one day, which is always a good sign of a page-turner for me.
Fagone tells the story of a woman whose cryptology work helped uncover Nazi spies, but whose contributions never received the recognition they deserved. My original review is linked below.
A question to carry with you
Whose work disappears when the story of an achievement is told? This history connects technical problem-solving with questions of recognition and sexism.
Who it’s useful for
Readers interested in codebreaking, overlooked lives, and the people behind technical advances.
A tension or limitation
This is a historical narrative about a person and her work, rather than a technical manual for learning cryptography.