During the 1920s Herbert O. Yardley was chief of the first peacetime cryptanalytic organization in the United States, the ancestor of today's National Security Agency. Funded by the U.S. Army and the Department of State and working out of New York, his small and highly secret unit succeeded in breaking the diplomatic codes of several nations, including Japan. The decrypts played a critical role in U.S. diplomacy. Despite its extraordinary successes, the Black Chamber, as it came to known, was disbanded in 1929. President Hoover's new Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson refused to continue its funding with the now-famous comment, "Gentlemen do not read other people's mail." In 1931 a disappointed Yardley caused a sensation when he published this book and revealed to the world exactly what his agency had done with the secret and illegal cooperation of nearly the entire American cable industry. These revelations and Yardley's right to publish them set into motion a conflict that continues to this day: the right to freedom of expression versus national security. In addition to offering an expose on post-World War I cryptology, the book is filled with exciting stories and personalities.

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Yardley was an egotist, and never hesitated to take first person credit for work actually performed by subordinates, according to people who knew him. In any case, it makes a great read!

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:

A great inside look at the earliest days of cryptographyJul 01, 1998
By kmj@canada.com
Anyone interested in the inner workings of ANY cryptoanalyst needs to read this book. Told in the first person Yardley reveals the amazing amount of genius and hard work cryptography required before the days of calculators and computers. It really is a great read.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Exceptional Insight into CryptographyAug 14, 2008
By M. Burroughs "Mike in SA"
I first heard of this book in 1967 while undergoing Air Force cryptologic training; unfortunately, it was out of print at that time. In 1975, I found a copy in an Air Force secure-area library and was able to read it there, but only during my lunch hours. Since it was a rare, out-of-print book, the librarian wouldn't let it leave the library, and I can't say that I blame her.

Because of security restrictions, Maj Yardley wasn't able to publish his book in the US legally, so his work-around was to have it published in the United Kingdom in 1931. When I learned that it had been republished and was available through Amazon, I immediately ordered a copy and read it again 30 years later.

This book gives insight into the fledgling cryptologic effort, referred to as the American Black Chamber, begun by the US in World War I. The effort literally started from scratch and existed on a shoestring budget, with Maj Yardley and a handful of others usually working very long hours. By 1929, after years of hard work, the "Chamber" had developed into a relatively sophisticated, successful operation.

Regrettably, naivete ruled the day when President Hoover's new Secretary of State, Henry L. Stimson (This effort was a State Department function back then.), upon learning of the existence of the Chamber, was horrified that we would even think of "spying" on someone else ("Gentlemen do not read each other's mail."). He summarily had the Chamber abolished, so all that work went down the tubes until later on when it had to be rebuilt for the effort of World War II.

It is an ironic footnote in history that by the time Mr. Secretary Stimson became Secretary of War during World War II, his views of the importance of cryptologics had changed--as did those of others in the military and diplomatic spheres of influence.

Read all about it. This is excellent reading, and it brings to life the difficulties and accomplishments of the American Black Chamber.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

An excellent bookDec 08, 2007
By James D. Crabtree "Doc Crabtree"
Aside from the subject of codes and ciphers, which this book does very well, The American Black Chamber also discusses how U.S. codebreaking affected the post-WWI naval disarmament conference which led to the famous 5-5-3 ratio of heavy warships amongst the British, American and Japanese navies. American negotiators knew in advance what the Japanese and British were willing to settle for and managed to get the best deal possible for the U.S.

Very much an eye-opener.

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