SPYING ON SPIES

The absorbing story of one of America’s most talented and least appreciated cryptographers and code breakers.

Fresh out of college, Friedman was hired by an eccentric millionaire who was eager to prove that Shakespeare’s plays were written by someone else. While poring over them in search of secret messages, she taught herself skills that allowed her to break codes and ciphers for the military during both world wars—and, at some personal risk, to help the Justice Department fight organized crime in between. Much of her work is still classified, and she died in 1980, but Moss layers a nuanced account over the relatively thin bed of documentation, including relevant background about contemporary events. Illustrated tableaux highlight significant incidents and explain various codes. The book offers a sensitive picture of Friedman’s married life with a husband who was likewise a brilliant cryptographer working on secret projects that couldn’t be talked about, even at home, and tallies one thrilling feat of counterespionage after another, culminating in the breakup of an extensive Nazi spy ring in South America. (Friedman and her small team solved multiple Enigma machine codes, just like the thousands of workers at Bletchley Park.) Unsurprisingly, she also faced obstacles ranging from FBI interference to dangerously revealing (and sexist) news profiles. Readers will be suitably impressed and riveted.

A bracing celebration of one gifted woman’s insufficiently heralded achievements in war and peace.