David Kahn, a historian of intelligence, particularly of communications intelligence, or codebreaking, is widely regarded as the world¡¯s leading expert on the history of codes and cryptology. His thousand-page The Codebreakers has been called a "classic" and the "standard"; The Codebreakers tells the story of secret writing from the hieroglyphs through the Enigma to the cryptosystems that make e-commerce possible. His most recent book is The Reader of Gentlemen¡¯s Mail, the life of the colorful, controversial Herbert O. Yardley, who brought the best intelligence ¡§C codebreaking --¬ to America. David Kahn is also the author of The Codebreakers, Hitler¡¯s Spies, Seizing the Enigma, and Kahn on Codes. He also appears from time to time on the History Channel and elsewhere on television as an expert in the history of cryptology and codes. For many years an editor at Newsday, the Long Island daily, he holds the Ph.D. in modern history from Oxford University. In addition to his books, David Kahn has written scholarly and popular articles on the subject of codes, cryptology and ciphers in publications ranging from The New York Times to Playboy, from the Journal of Strategic Studies to the Encyclopedia Americana. Some of David Kahn's articles about codes, codebreaking, and cryptology are featured in the Articles section of this site. Kahn has taught courses on modern political and military intelligence at Yale and Columbia and has testified before Congress on policy matters dealing with cryptology.

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Reviews of David Kahn's latest book The Reader of Gentlemen's Mail:

"Kahn is rightly surprised that H. O. Yardley, 'the most colorful and controversial figure in American intelligence,' has not had a biographer before. Yet if Yardley could read Kahn's account of his exploits, he would surely say that the wait was worth it. An enjoyable read about an important but arcane chapter of American history."--William E. Odom, author of Fixing Intelligence: For a More Secure America

"David Kahn has brought alive the period from the beginning to the middle of the last century in a way that should attract even those readers with no special interest in codes and ciphers. Masterful."--David E. Murphy, author of Battleground Berlin

¡¡ãYardley was both a patriot and a self-serving entrepreneur, and his life raises moral questions as much as it illustrates the history of cryptography. Kahn¡¯s biography of Yardley is fascinating reading.¡¡À--Harvey Klehr, coauthor of The Secret World of American Communism and The Soviet World of American Communism

"The world's best expert on codes brilliantly tells the fascinating story of the pioneer American codebreaker."--Arthur Schlesinger