Re: textbooks

[patrick@Verity.COM (Patrick Horgan)]

Good suggestions all, but don't forget "Network Security Private Communication
in a PUBLIC World" by Kaufman, Perlman and Speciner.  This book covers a lot
of great stuff.  It doesn't use complicated math when not required, and explains
the math very clearly when it's needed.  It explains DES and IDEA well enough
in plain language that you can understand how to implement them.  While I love
Bruce's book, it's much harder to understand than NSPC.  I highly recommend
this book to everyone.  I don't think any crypto library would be complete 
without it.  It's in contention for the official bible of crypto along with
Bruce's book.

Patrick

> From: "Dana W. Albrecht" <dwa@corsair.com>
>  
> I also suggest "A Course in Number Theory and Cryptography, 2nd Edition"
> by Neal Koblitz, published by Springer Verlag.
> 
> "Applied Cryptography" is certainly the book of choice, but Koblitz
> is an excellent secondary reference for covering a lot of the relevant
> mathematics in more depth.
> 
> In my opinion, "Applied Cryptography" was written from the perspective
> of computer science, "The Codebreakers" was written from the perspective
> of history, and Koblitz's book was written from the perspective of
> mathematics.
> 
> They are all nicely complementary.
> 
> Dana W. Albrecht
> dwa@corsair.com
> 
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