BOOK REVIEW: SPYING ON SPIES: How Elizebeth Friedman Broke the Nazis' Secret Codes. Darlene Beck Jacobson

 This month I am really excited to share a new middle grade book from best selling author/illustrator Marissa Moss.

 

SPYING ON SPIES: How Elizebeth Smith Friedman Broke the Nazis' Secret Codes is a fascinating and easy to understand middle grade book that details the historical record of one of America’s most important – and mostly unknown – cryptographer and code breaker of all time. Elizebeth Smith Friedman (along with her husband William) was instrumental in breaking the “unbreakable” Nazi and Japanese codes and ciphers of WWII, saving countless lives in the process. 

Unappreciated and given little credit for her extraordinary work during both world wars and Prohibition, Elizebeth is finally getting recognition for her decades as a cryptographer and code breaker for the US government. Thanks to the release of classified documents, author Moss has brought Elizebeth’s amazing story to light. The secretive work of the husband-and-wife team is told in rich detail thanks to Moss’s ability to bring history to life in a readable and easily digested format. Chapter illustrations highlight Elizebeth’s personal life and the struggles she had to endure to succeed at her important work. 

This book is a wonderful addition to the history of early 20^th Century America through WWII. Back matter includes lessons in code breaking and cryptography as well as Friedman family photos, glossary, and references. An excellent classroom resource and good reading for anyone interested in amazing females overlooked in history.