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Cryptonomicon

By Neal Stephenson

(28)

| Hardcover | 9780380973460

Book Description

With this extraordinary first volume in what promises to be an epoch-making masterpiece, Neal Stephenson hacks into the secret histories of nations and the private obsessions of men, decrypting with dazzling virtuosity the forces that shaped this century.

In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mContinue

With this extraordinary first volume in what promises to be an epoch-making masterpiece, Neal Stephenson hacks into the secret histories of nations and the private obsessions of men, decrypting with dazzling virtuosity the forces that shaped this century.

In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the U.S. Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detatchment 2702-commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe-is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. It is a game, a cryptographic chess match between Waterhouse and his German counterpart, translated into action by the gung-ho Shaftoe and his forces.

Fast-forward to the present, where Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia - a place where encrypted data can be stored and exchanged free of repression and scrutiny. As governments and multinationals attack the endeavor, Randy joins forces with Shaftoe's tough-as-nails grandaughter, Amy, to secretly salvage a sunken Nazi sumarine that holds the key to keeping the dream of a data haven afloat. But soon their scheme brings to light a massive conspiracy with its roots in Detachment 2702 linked to an unbreakable Nazi code called Arethusa. And it will represent the path to unimaginable riches and a future of personal and digital liberty...or to universal totalitarianism reborn.

A breathtaking tour de force, and Neal Stephenson's most accomplished and affecting work to date, CRYPTONOMICON is profound and prophetic, hypnotic and hyper-driven, as it leaps forward and back between World War II and the World Wide Web, hinting all the while at a dark day-after-tomorrow. It is a work of great art, thought, and creative daring; the product of a truly icon

4 Reviews

  • FANTASTIC (for those of us who love math and numbers)!

    It's about code writing, and even though there were parts I couldn't totally understand I could still see the beauty in the process. Definitely a book to re-read some day.

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    ― Missmath144 said on Feb 24, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Cryptonomicon

    If you are highly analytical -- or wannabe -- then this book will keep the CPU of your mind firing as you apply logic throughout the plot in order to solve problems and understand enigmatic situations. Given the time period of this novel, you might find yourself enveloped in history. Wartime, to be ... (continue)

    If you are highly analytical -- or wannabe -- then this book will keep the CPU of your mind firing as you apply logic throughout the plot in order to solve problems and understand enigmatic situations. Given the time period of this novel, you might find yourself enveloped in history. Wartime, to be exact. And for any gamers out there, this kinda reminds me of <<The Velvet Assassin>> genre of character, game, plot, etc. With lotsa codes to break.

    Is this helpful?

    ― Kimberly Petrovic said on Oct 23, 2008 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Better the second time

    I am re-reading this book and now that I know how it ends, the book makes much more sense now.

    Whole sections of this book get stuck in my head and I find myself processing them over and over.

    Is this helpful?

    ― Sharpstick said on Nov 6, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780380973460 Hardcover $27.50 -- Amazon US
£16.69 -- Amazon UK
$39.50 -- Amazon CA
¥3503.00 -- Amazon JP
€22.67 -- Amazon FR
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+ 4 copies tradable: 1 in USA →
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