Jason Fagone is a journalist who covers science, technology, and culture. Named one of the "Ten Young Writers on the Rise" by the Columbia Journalism Review, he works at the San Francisco Chronicle and has written for GQ, Esquire, The Atlantic, the New York Times, Mother Jones, and Philadelphia magazine. Fagone is also the author of Ingenious: A True Story of Invention, the X Prize, and the Race to Revive America and Horsemen of the Esophagus: Competitive Eating and the Big Fat American Dream. He lives in San Francisco, California.
"[Fagone] documents the amazing arc of his subject's life, often in
stunning detail...Ms. Friedman was not only crypto pioneer and a
patriotic spycatcher, but also an inspiring role model." --
Wired"The Woman Who Smashed Codes...has drawn comparisons to Hidden
Figures, though we think this one is better. In journalist Jason
Fagone's deft hands, we not only learn about a lost national
treasure, but also get new insight into the history of our country
at war." -- New York Post"[Elizebeth Friedman] was a tireless and
talented code breaker who brought down gangsters and Nazi spies...a
fascinating swath of American history that begins in Gilded Age
Chicago and moves to the inner workings of our intelligence
agencies at the close of WWII."
-- Los Angeles Times"Damned-near impossible to put down. The book
has everything: thrills, chills, kills, love, crypto, and a hopeful
sense that a nearly forgotten American genius, Elizebeth Smith
Friedman, is finally being given her due." -- Ars Technica"It's
unsurprising that the name Elizebeth Friedman doesn't ring a bell
for most Americans, given how much of her work was classified
during the war.... Still, this Quaker-born poet from Indiana was
the grandmother of the National Security Agency and virtually
created the modern code-breaking profession. Trust us on this one."
-- Forbes"This is the best work of nonfiction I've ever read--no
hyperbole...Fagone has painstakingly worked backward to piece
together a truth that has been buried for too long. In the process,
he has helped Friedman gain recognition as the American hero she
was." -- MIT Technology Review"In The Woman Who Smashed Codes,
journalist Jason Fagone recreates a world and a cast of characters
so utterly fascinating they will inhabit the psyches of its readers
long after the book has been read." -- Associated Press"One of the
year's best reads, it is both deeply researched and beautifully
told." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer"The Woman Who Smashed Codes
should be the next Hidden Figures...a story that anyone with
interest in the time period has to read, a key piece of the puzzle
about America's war effort." -- Washington Post"This book tells the
incredible, little-known story of code-breaker Elizebeth Smith and
her husband, cryptologist William Friedman, otherwise known as the
'Adam and Eve' of the NSA." -- New York Post"Reads like some wild
cross between a fairy tale and a gripping detective thriller... a
sheer delight to read." -- San Francisco Chronicle"Bursting with
details in everything from dinner parties to spy rings, Fagone's
book offers the story of a fascinating woman in perilous times, and
asks some uneasy questions about the present." -- NPR.org"[Fagone]
records the pair's accomplishments, trials, and love affair, taking
care to ensure that Elizebeth finally receives the recognition she
deserves...[a] carefully researched story of a smart and loyal but
overlooked woman." -- Library Journal (starred review)"Riveting,
inspiring, and rich in colorful characters, Fagone's extensively
researched and utterly dazzling title is popular history at its
very best and a book club natural." -- Booklist (starred
review)"The Woman Who Smashed Codes is historical reporting done
right, assigning credit where it is long overdue." -- Seattle Book
Review"A bang-up research effort [and] an engaging resurrection of
a significant player in the world of cryptology." -- Kirkus
Reviews"Superb storytelling" -- Providence Journal"Fagone is a
superb writer and has created a fascinating tale of a woman who
brought down Prohibition-era smugglers, Nazi's, counterfeiters,
gangsters and more. " -- Ben Rothke, RSA Conference"A powerful love
story, a story of war, and a fascinating biography, The Woman Who
Smashed Codes is a magnificent work of literary nonfiction that
sheds light on an important hidden figure. You will devour this
book." -- Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of Sin in
the Second City "Deeply reported and stunningly original, The Woman
Who Smashed Codes is a riveting narrative about one of the most
overlooked figures in American history--a figure whose remarkable
story was essentially ignored for more than seventy years simply
because she was a woman." -- Stefan Fatsis, bestselling author of
Word Freak"Jason Fagone is a master storyteller--and he's telling
one damn good story about a long-forgotten American heroine. It is,
among many things, the compulsively readable history of the
national security state in its infancy. His book is filled with
memorable villains, intrigue, and love." -- Franklin Foer, New York
Times Bestselling author of How Soccer Explains the World and the
forthcoming World Without Mind "Jason Fagone's stunning narrative
unearths an intimate and unexpected history of code breaking. This
remarkable tale reveals the fundamental role cryptology has played
in our past, and the untold story of the pioneering woman behind
its evolution. It is a treasure of a book." -- Nathalia Holt, New
York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls: The
Women Who Propelled Us From Missiles to the Moon to Mars"In The
Woman Who Smashed Codes, Jason Fagone rights a historical wrong,
unshrouding an unsung heroine and revealing the love story at the
root of the modern world's spy games. But this book's true
revelation is the author's talent: sure-handed, thrilling, and
lyrical." -- Benjamin Wallace, author of The Billionaire's Vinegar
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