Why am I passionate about this?

I am a cryptography professor, which sadly doesn’t mean I spend my time breaking secret messages (at least not every day). I first studied cryptography simply because it was fun and interesting. It still is – but today it is unbelievably important, underpinning the security of almost everything we do in the digital world. I believe that developing a notion of 'cyber common sense’ is a vital life skill since so much of what we do is digital. A basic understanding of cryptography and its societal impact provides a superb foundation for making sense of digital security, so I’ve selected some of my favourite reads to get you started.


I wrote

Cryptography: The Key to Digital Security, How It Works, and Why It Matters

By Keith M. Martin,

Book cover of Cryptography: The Key to Digital Security, How It Works, and Why It Matters

What is my book about?

Cryptography plays a critical role in our everyday lives. It underpins the security of our mobile phone calls, credit card…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

Keith M. Martin Why did I love this book?

First and foremost, The Code Book is a gripping read. It revisits some of the most influential moments in history when cryptography played a role in changing the world. I first read this book as a junior cryptographic researcher and it was the moment I realized that the subject I was studying was not just interesting from a professional standpoint, but was important for the whole world. I also loved that Simon Singh could take complicated technical concepts and convey them to a general audience. More than two decades later, cryptography is dramatically more important than it was when The Code Book was written. I spend much of my professional life communicating this to all sorts of different audiences, and can trace part of my inspiration back to this book.

By Simon Singh,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Code Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In his first book since the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logisitical breakthrough that made Internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy.

Throughout the text are clear technical and mathematical explanations, and portraits of the remarkable…


Book cover of Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government--Saving Privacy in the Digital Age

Keith M. Martin Why did I love this book?

I always knew cryptography was political, but I had no idea how political until I read this book. Seeing the subject I am so fascinated by through the words of a political journalist was truly eye-opening. Steven Levy navigates a deeply fascinating period in modern technological history – the late twentieth-century battles between governments trying to maintain power and control over communications, and technologists who saw the fledgling internet as an opportunity to build a new world. Cryptography, which protects digital communications, sat plum on the frontline between these two communities, hence battles over cryptography turned into so-called 'crypto wars’ (although nobody died). Nobody who read this book was surprised with much that Edward Snowden had to say to the world in 2013 – Snowden was just reportage of the latest chapter in the same ongoing conflict.

By Steven Levy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Crypto as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

If you've ever made a secure purchase with your credit card over the Internet, then you have seen cryptography, or "crypto", in action. From Stephen Levy the author who made "hackers" a household word comes this account of a revolution that is already affecting every citizen in the twenty-first century. Crypto tells the inside story of how a group of "crypto rebels"&#151nerds and visionaries turned freedom fighters&#151teamed up with corporate interests to beat Big Brother and ensure our privacy on the Internet. Levy's history of one of the most controversial and important topics of the digital age reads like the…


Book cover of Cryptography: A Very Short Introduction

Keith M. Martin Why did I love this book?

This is a very short (of course!) introduction to cryptography, but it is masterful in its concise conveyance of all that really matters on this topic. I have no hesitation in admitting a close relationship with both authors, but most particularly Fred Piper, who was my doctoral supervisor. Fred has been a mentor throughout my professional life, and this book presents his take on the crucial components of modern cryptography, written for a general audience. I’ve seen this book in airport bookshops and thought `how cool – you can buy a book on cryptography that is written so well you could read it on a plane!’ I have now written two books about cryptography that are less short, and might need longer plane journeys, but Cryptography: A Very Short Introduction remains an inspiration to me.

By Fred Piper, Sean Murphy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cryptography as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book is a clear and informative introduction to cryptography and data protection - subjects of considerable social and political importance. It explains what algorithms do, how they are used, the risks associated with using them, and why governments should be concerned. Important areas are highlighted, such as Stream Ciphers, block ciphers, public key algorithms, digital signatures, and applications such as e-commerce. This book highlights the explosive impact
of cryptography on modern society, with, for example, the evolution of the internet and the introduction of more sophisticated banking methods.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University…


Book cover of The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

Keith M. Martin Why did I love this book?

Anyone interested in digital security simply has to read this book. It isn’t really a book about cryptography, although cryptography plays a minor role. This is simply a wonderfully-told honest tale about someone ahead of their time who decided to investigate an anomaly they noticed on a computer system they were responsible for in the 1980s. Through bloody-minded perseverance, Stoll unraveled something that foretold much of what has happened since – the extraordinary complexity and connectivity of modern computers and the ramifications that events somewhere in the network can have elsewhere. Such a tale would probably be dull and technical if written today. But mapped into the more naïve and fledging cyberspace of the 1980s, this is an absolute page-turner. 

By Clifford Stoll,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Cuckoo's Egg as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Before the Internet became widely known as a global tool for terrorists, one perceptive U.S. citizen recognized its ominous potential. Armed with clear evidence of computer espionage, he began a highly personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatened national security. But would the authorities back him up? Cliff Stoll's dramatic firsthand account is "a computer-age detective story, instantly fascinating [and] astonishingly gripping" (Smithsonian).

Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a 75-cent accounting error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on his system. The hacker's code name…


Book cover of Bitcoin: The Future of Money?

Keith M. Martin Why did I love this book?

Most digital technologies crucially rely on cryptography for their security, but few are entirely built from cryptography. Bitcoin is – simply – cryptography. The idea that money can be created from cryptography is a little bit mind-blowing, even for a cryptographer like myself. Dominic Frisby wrote one of the first, and finest, books about the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin. He explores not just the incredible story of the founding of Bitcoin, but also gives an accessible explanation of how it works and what role it might play in our wider financial system. If you have let the term 'cryptocurrency’ wash over you but remain just a tiny bit curious, this book is your best route towards enlightenment. Whether you then decide to invest in any cryptocurrency is another matter altogether!

By Dominic Frisby,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bitcoin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Following the economic crisis of 2008, the website `bitcoin.org' was registered by a mysterious computer programmer called Satoshi Nakamoto. A new form of money was born: electronic cash. Does Bitcoin have the potential to change how the world transacts financially? Or is it just a passing fad, even a major scam?

In Bitcoin: The Future of Money?, MoneyWeek's Dominic Frisby's explains this controversial new currency and how it came about, interviewing some of the key players in its development while casting light on its strange and murky origins, in particular the much-disputed identity of Nakamoto himself.

Economic theory meets whodunnit…


Explore my book 😀

Cryptography: The Key to Digital Security, How It Works, and Why It Matters

By Keith M. Martin,

Book cover of Cryptography: The Key to Digital Security, How It Works, and Why It Matters

What is my book about?

Cryptography plays a critical role in our everyday lives. It underpins the security of our mobile phone calls, credit card payments, web searches, internet messaging, and cryptocurrencies—in short, everything we do online. Broadly defined as a set of tools for establishing security cyberspace, cryptography enables us to protect and share our information. Understanding the basics of cryptography is the key to recognizing the significance of the security technologies we encounter every day, which will then help us respond to them. In clear, concise writing, information security expert Keith Martin answers all these questions and more, revealing the many crucial ways we all depend on cryptographic technology. Essential reading for anyone with a password, Cryptography offers a profound perspective on personal security, online and off.

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From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

By Ben Stanger,

Book cover of From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

Ben Stanger Author Of From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Harvard- and MIT-trained physician-scientist, and I am drawn to research problems that bridge the basic and the practical – how a better understanding of cells and tissues can inform new therapies for cancer and other diseases. As children, we are all scientists – mini-hypothesis generators trying to make sense of the world. I suppose I never outgrew that curiosity. My list of best science books credits writers who bring to life the excitement that comes from looking at the natural world in a new way, a spirit that I try to emulate in my own writing. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have!

Ben's book list on science written by scientists

What is my book about?

Everybody knows that all animals—bats, bears, sharks, ponies, and people—start out as a single cell: the fertilized egg. But how does something no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence give rise to the remarkable complexity of each of these creatures?

FROM ONE CELL is a dive inside the cell and its evolutionary prerogatives to explain how these "endless forms most beautiful," as Charles Darwin called them, come about. Along the way, we learn about the scientific process, filled as it is with serendipity, as the story is told through the eyes of the scientists who informed…

From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

By Ben Stanger,

What is this book about?

Every animal on Earth begins life as a single cell. From this humble origin, the nascent creature embarks on a risky journey fraught with opportunities for disaster-yet with astounding regularity, it reaches its destination intact. From One Cell illuminates this epic transformation-still one of nature's most mysterious feats-to show where we all come from and where we're going.

Through the eyes of the scientists unraveling the secrets of development, we see how all the information needed to build a human fits into a fertilised egg, and how the trillions of cells that emerge know what to become and where to…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in cryptography, espionage, and spies?

Cryptography 30 books
Espionage 600 books
Spies 628 books