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Reviewed by: Spying on Spies: How Elizebeth Smith Friedman Broke the Nazis' Secret Codes by Marissa Moss Aaren Tucker Moss, Marissa Spying on Spies: How Elizebeth Smith Friedman Broke the Nazis' Secret Codes. Abrams, 2024 224p illus. with photographs Trade ed. ISBN 9781419767319 19. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781647009786 17. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys Ad Gr. 5-9 Elizebeth Smith Friedman was a highly influential codebreaker during her lifetime, but due to her gender and the classified nature of her projects, she has remained largely unknown. As a young woman, Elizebeth defied her family's wishes in order to pursue higher education, and even after completing college, she struggled to find a place in the male-dominated U. S. workforce. Serendipitous circumstances led Elizebeth to take a position working for an eccentric wealthy man looking for a secret code that would prove Shakespeare's plays were written by Sir Francis Bacon. Elizebeth did not believe in this nonsense, but she took the job anyway, and it was there she met William Friedman, the man who would become her husband. Together, they developed much of the techniques of codebreaking, or what they called "cryptanalysis. " Elizebeth went on to have a storied career as a codebreaker, helping to decrypt messages in two world wars and catch criminal bootleggers during the Prohibition years. Moss provides interesting details of Elizebeth's personal life, including an aspirational portrait of her marriage and an entertainingly critical depiction of Elizebeth's professional nemesis, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. However, and perhaps due to the fact that some of Elizebeth's work remains classified, the book struggles to connect her effort to its outcomes; most of the exciting parts seem to happen independently of Elizebeth. While the text-heavy layout is nicely broken up by the short comics at the start of each chapter, they do not quite fully utilize the medium's potential. Nonetheless, this biography sheds light on a little-known historical figure and offers young readers unique insights into major events of the early twentieth century. Back matter includes photos, a glossary, an index, source notes, and an author's note and in-depth instruction on codes and ciphers. End Page 259 Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Aaren Tucker (Tue,) studied this question.