It is war time and the enemy is sending coded messages about their plans. The code has been broken, and that has created problems. Since what and who and where (as well as how) this is done, is Top Secret, how do you then send these messages on to those who need to know? And how do you convince them the message is accurate and legitimate? And, (very important here) how do you keep the enemy from knowing you've cracked their code? And after the war? Then what? The secrecy was to be maintained. No special awards for these folks, no newsletters, no reunions, it couldn't appear on a resume ... The Secret Lives of Codebreakers: the Men and Women Who Cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park, by Sinclair McKay poses a lot of questions, but is an excellent read!

Paul Lunde is listed as the general editor for The Book of Codes: Understanding the World of Hidden Messages: an Illustrated Guide to Signs, Symbols, Ciphers, and Secret Languages (and what a job he did)! There is an almost overwhelming amount of information in this book! From animal tracks, to ancient languages, smoke signals and semaphore, military codes, commercial codes (think trademark logos), and onto cyber codes and dna .... and so much more. There's even a chapter on magic and fantasy codes. Rich with pictures, diagrams and illustrations, you can spend hours and hours with this book. (I certainly did)!

At Bletchley Place the goal was to crack the Enigma Code. Here, in the United States, the armed forces needed a code that rendered messages indecipherable to enemies listening in. Philip Johnston knew how hard the Navajo language was the learn and speak and he proposed that it would be good for this code. How that happened is explained in Navajo Code Talkers, by Andrew Santella. Yes, it's a kid's book but it gives a good introduction to this amazing group of people. Like the folks at Bletchley, they could not talk about what they did in the war so recognition was a long time coming. Finally, in 1969 that this secret was revealed and the rest of us could learn of their service.

Reading Hermit With Dog