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BKAPCRYP.RVW  960610
 
"Applied Cryptography", Schneier, 1996, 0-471-11709-9, U$49.95/C$64.95
%A   Bruce Schneier schneier@chinet.com schneier@counterpane.com
%C   22 Worchester Road, Rexdale, Ontario   M9W 9Z9
%D   1996
%G   0-471-11709-9
%I   John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
%O   U$49.95/C$64.95 800-263-1590 fax: 800-565-6802 800-CALL-WILEY
%P   784
%T   "Applied Cryptography"
 
For anyone who wants to study cryptography, you can save yourself a lot of time
and effort by getting Schneier's book.  From the simple Ceasar cipher to RSA
and beyond, there is nothing the book doesn't at least touch on.  Protocols,
techniques, algorithms, and even source code are included.  A "Real World"
section looks both at specific implementations and at the politics of
encryption.
 
Schneier notes that his work is *not* a mathematical text.  It is difficult to
say how much of a shortcoming this is for any given reader, but a safe bet is
"not much".  For those who do need more rigorous treatments of specific topics,
the bibliography lists almost two thousand references, all of which are
described and cited within the book text at some point.  Source code in C is
available for the DES, LOKI91, IDEA, GOST, BLOWFISH, 3-Way, RC5, A5, and SEAL
algorithms.
 
He also states that the encyclopedic nature of the book detracts from its
readability.  Not so.  The work is both encyclopedic *and* readable.  Schneier
has done marvelously well with what is normally a dead and dry topic.  His
examples are ludicrously absurd--and therefore lucid and memorable.  (He even
uses Monty Python's immortal phrase, "My hovercraft is full of eels" in one
illustration.)
 
As course text, research basis or just a (serious) hobbyist's reference, this
work is highly recommended.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994, 1996   BKAPCRYP.RVW  960610

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