A compulsively readable account of the most mysterious manuscript in the world, one that has stumped the world’s greatest scholars and codebreakers. The Voynich Manuscript, a mysterious tome discovered in 1912 by the English book dealer Wilfrid Michael Voynich, has puzzled scholars for a century. A small six inches by nine inches, but over two hundred pages long, with odd illustrations of plants, astrological diagrams, and naked women, it is written in so indecipherable a language and contains so complicated a code that mathematicians, book collectors, linguists, and historians alike have yet to solve the mysteries contained within. However, in The Friar and the Cipher, the acclaimed bibliophiles and historians Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone describe, in fascinating detail, the theory that Roger Bacon, the noted thirteenth-century, pre-Copernican astronomer, was its author and that the perplexing alphabet was written in his hand. Along the way, they explain the many proposed solutions that scholars have put forth and the myriad attempts at labeling the manuscript's content, from Latin or Greek shorthand to Arabic numerals to ancient Ukrainian to a recipe for the elixir of life to good old-fashioned gibberish. As we journey across centuries, languages, and countries, we meet a cast of impassioned characters and case-crackers, including, of course, Bacon, whose own personal scientific contributions, Voynich author or not, were literally and figuratively astronomical. The Friar and the Cipher is a wonderfully entertaining and historically wide-ranging book that is one part The Code Book, one part Possession, and one part The Da Vinci Code and will appeal to bibliophiles and laypeople alike.

"In 1953, a man was found dead from cyanide poisoning near the Philadelphia airport with a picture of a Nazi aircraft in his wallet. Taped to his abdomen was an enciphered message. In 1912, a book dealer named Wilfrid Voynich came into possession of an illuminated cipher manuscript once belonging to Emperor Rudolf II, who was obsessed with alchemy and the occult. Wartime codebreakers tried--and failed--to unlock the book's secrets, and it remains an enigma to this day. In this lively and entertaining book, Craig Bauer examines these and other vexing ciphers yet to be cracked. Some may reveal the identity of a spy or serial killer, provide the location of buried treasure, or expose a secret society--while others may be elaborate hoaxes. Unsolved! begins by explaining the basics of cryptology, and then explores the history behind an array of unsolved ciphers. It looks at ancient ciphers, ciphers created by artists and composers, ciphers left by killers and victims, Cold War ciphers, and many others. Some are infamous, like the ciphers in the Zodiac letters, while others were created purely as intellectual challenges by figures such as Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman. Bauer lays out the evidence surrounding each cipher, describes the efforts of geniuses and eccentrics--in some cases both--to decipher it, and invites readers to try their hand at puzzles that have stymied so many others. Unsolved! takes readers from the ancient world to the digital age, providing an amazing tour of many of history's greatest unsolved ciphers"--

A facsimile of an object of unknown authorship that has been the source of study and speculation for centuries and remains undecipherable to this day.

The search for a coded book of secrets leads to dramatic repercussions... In Paul Doherty's The Magician's Death, Hugh Corbett's must decipher a book of secrets and keep in check rivalries, passions and brutal murders. Perfect for fans of Ellis Peters and Susanna Gregory. The monk and scholar Roger Bacon claimed to have seen many marvels of nature and science and concealed these in a book written in an unbreakable code. Sir Hugh Corbett has been instructed to organise agents in Paris to steal this Book of Secrets. They do so but pay a violent price and the French King Philip IV now wishes a meeting between the scholars of England and France to discuss breaking the code. Edward I has no choice but to allow the meeting to take place at Corfe Castle, which becomes a place of murder and mayhem. Young women from the castle are being slain whilst horrific things are witnessed in the nearby forest. The situation becomes more serious when two of the French scholars die in sinister circumstances. Corbett and Ranulf-atte-Newgate have to thread this maze of malevolent murder whilst trying to decipher the great secrets of one of England's most outstanding scholars. What readers are saying about The Magician's Death: 'Doherty's novel is written with a great flow, action and description and creates a vivid picture of the time and people' 'This is one of the best books so far...exciting and unputdownable' 'Murder, intrigue, treachery, a little romance, and lots of action combine to give the reader an excellent read'

This accessible textbook presents a fascinating review of cryptography and cryptanalysis across history. The text relates the earliest use of the monoalphabetic cipher in the ancient world, the development of the “unbreakable” Vigenère cipher, and an account of how cryptology entered the arsenal of military intelligence during the American Revolutionary War. Moving on to the American Civil War, the book explains how the Union solved the Vigenère ciphers used by the Confederates, before investigating the development of cipher machines throughout World War I and II. This is then followed by an exploration of cryptology in the computer age, from public-key cryptography and web security, to criminal cyber-attacks and cyber-warfare. Looking to the future, the role of cryptography in the Internet of Things is also discussed, along with the potential impact of quantum computing. Topics and features: presents a history of cryptology from ancient Rome to the present day, with a focus on cryptology in the 20th and 21st centuries; reviews the different types of cryptographic algorithms used to create secret messages, and the various methods for breaking such secret messages; provides engaging examples throughout the book illustrating the use of cryptographic algorithms in different historical periods; describes the notable contributions to cryptology of Herbert Yardley, William and Elizebeth Smith Friedman, Lester Hill, Agnes Meyer Driscoll, and Claude Shannon; concludes with a review of tantalizing unsolved mysteries in cryptology, such as the Voynich Manuscript, the Beale Ciphers, and the Kryptos sculpture. This engaging work is ideal as both a primary text for courses on the history of cryptology, and as a supplementary text for advanced undergraduate courses on computer security. No prior background in mathematics is assumed, beyond what would be encountered in an introductory course on discrete mathematics.

Based on a real-life artifact, found in the desolate expanse near Haskell, Texas, this adrenaline-fuelled adventure, in the tradition of Dan Brown and Steve Berry, promises a riveting ride from an exciting new voice in the genre. The Serpent Code is a heart-pounding international thriller. Dr. Briel Payce is thrust into a perilous quest to uncover the unsettling secrets that connect Mexico’s Feathered Serpent God, Quetzalcoatl, with Texas’s Spider Rock. When the Spider Rock vanished under mysterious circumstances in 1909, it left behind a legacy of intrigue and legend—and its weblike pattern and puzzling glyphs ensnare treasure hunters to this day. Five years after her best friend Percy Gilbert’s disappearance in Mexico, Briel Payce receives a cryptic video, igniting her conviction that Percy dug up something far more perilous than the Spider Rock. Teaming up with the intrepid Dean Leggatt, they trace a series of puzzles Percy left them through Mexico City, only to discover they’re not alone. As the stakes escalate, Briel races against time to unveil the truth concealed within the Spider Rock, knowing that her very survival hinges on her success. In a relentless chase, alliances blur, and adversaries masquerade as allies, leaving Briel in a treacherous maze, where trust is a fleeting illusion. Will she expose the elusive secret or be consumed by the shadows that guard it? The Serpent Code is a mind-bending odyssey where every step brings Briel closer to revelation, and nearer to the abyss.

From the middle of the twentieth century, dozens of medievalists and other performers have recorded early English. Many educational institutions already own sound recordings of English before 1500, or may wish to purchase the most useful ones available. This discography aims to assist teachers, administrators and librarians to make the best use of their resources.

Manly Palmer Hall was a writer, lecturer, mystic philosopher, founder of the Philosophical Research Society, an expert in tarot readings, and a Freemason. He wrote a series of occult books that became famous due to the author’s breadth of knowledge. Among his books, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry and The Secret Teachings of All Time: An Encyclopedic Exposition of Hermetic, Kabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolic Philosophy are best known. His books are primarily informational and contain numerous illustrations and original texts describing mystical components: Freemasonry symbols, Rosicrucians’ documents, recipes by alchemists, and Kabbalistic rules. The Lost Keys of Freemasonry The Secret Teachings of All Ages

Manly Palmer Hall wrote this book at age twenty-one and self-published it later in his mid twenties. The book is pure conceptual truth without bogging ourselves down with the details. Great read for anyone who likes Joseph Campbell and wishes to follow up on the Power of Myth and get into the right-hand occult.