The Woman Who Smashed Codes

In 1916, a young Quaker schoolteacher and poetry scholar named Elizebeth Smith was hired by an eccentric tycoon to find the secret messages he believed were embedded in Shakespeare’s plays. But the urgencies of war quickly transformed Elizebeth’s mission, forcing her to apply her skills to an exciting new venture: codebreaking—the solving of secret messages without knowledge of the key. Working alongside her was William Friedman, a Jewish scientist who would become her husband and lifelong codebreaking partner. In this critically acclaimed national bestseller, Jason Fagone brings to light the extraordinary life of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, an unsung heroine who used her genius to hunt Nazi spies, steal enemy secrets during both world wars, and help invent a powerful new science that shaped the course of history.