From Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography: The Science of Secrecy The Code Book is a history of man's desire to decipher codes, from ancient Egyptian puzzles to contemporary computer encryptions, from the best-selling author of Fermat's Last Theorem. Similar to Fermat's Last Theorem, Simon Singh brings to life a bewildering tale of puzzles, codes, languages, and riddles that exposes man's ongoing quest to hide and reveal, as well as to decipher, other people's secret languages. The stories of those who create codes and those who breach them have shaped events throughout history. Major occurrences in the ongoing history of betrayal include the betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots and the deciphering of the enigma code, which aided the Allies in World War II.