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Abstract
The cryptology literature and other sources mention several dozen books that are entirely or partially encrypted. However, a systematic treatise about this issue has never been made. This article aims to close this gap. The author has assembled a list of encrypted books that contains 41 entries, so far. Based on this list, an overview on encrypted books is given. Encrypted books are classified according to criteria like purpose, solved/unsolved, encryption method, and creation time. Numerous open research questions are identified. Finally, it is a goal of this article to ask readers for additional information about the books on the list and for encrypted books that are still missing.
Acknowledgments
The author expresses his thanks to Tony Gaffney, Dr. David Kahn, Susanne Kisser, Oliver Knörzer, Armin Krauß, Benedek Láng, Professor Dr. Wolfgang Lechner, Nick Pelling, Dr. Brigitte Pfeil, Rafał Prinke, Dr. Gordon Rugg, Tobias Schrödel, and Professor Dr. Arno Wacker. Karsten Hansky is gratefully acknowledged for providing the photo of Action Line Cryptogram.
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Notes on contributors
Klaus Schmeh
Klaus Schmeh (born in 1970) is a German computer scientist focusing on encryption technology. His avocation is working as a science writer and blogger specializing in cryptology. His recent book, Codeknacker gegen Codemacher [43], is a 500-page popular scientific work about the history of cryptography with much information never before covered in a crypto history book. Klaus is a member of the editorial board of Cryptologia. His website (www.schmeh.org) includes a crypto history blog (in German) and a list of open research topics in crypto history (in English, directly accessible via http://tinyurl.com/ofyocbr).