The book goes into excruciating details at explaining the details of various cryptographic systems; from the Vigenere ciper to Quantum cryptography, without being prosaic. The story of the German Enigma and the cracking of the same by the ‘Ultras’ at Bletchley Park has been wonderfully described. What sets this book apart from many other popular books on cryptography is the intermingling of stories and technical details in a harmonious proportion.

The book begins from the decipherment of the ciper of Mary, the queen of Scots and concludes with a fine discussion of PGP and quantum cryptography; on the way covering such important and interesting topics including the Enigma Machine, Linear B and other ancient writings, public key cryptography and much more. What I found particularly interesting and new was the use of the Navajo people as code-talkers during World War II.

But these excellent books however have become an unfortunate casualty of the fall of the former Soviet Union. Not only were the books excellent in themselves but the prices were ridiculously cheap, especially during my college years, when a limited amount of money was fated to satisfy my various youthful desires – at about USD 0.25 you could get a hardcover book of 100 pages with multi-colored graphics.

I used to mostly buy them from the roadside vendors, which there were plenty of in my city. Sprawled across a wide area along the roadside, it was like standing on heavens edge. I still regularly dream about sauntering along a city road when I stumble upon one of the most beautiful visions a book lover can see; a roadside full of Mir books.

I had tried to trace with some book distributors and sellers but save for a couple they are all gone. I’ve also read somewhere that the stock of books had been burnt post the aftermath of the Soviet Union collapse. What a loss! Just in case someone gets to knows any source to buy these books, please let me know.

For some of those who my care, I’m giving a list of Mir titles with me:

1. On the way to Super Elements by G.N. Flerov, A.S .Ilynov
2. The Greatest Speed by S.R. Filonovich
3. Energy and Entropy by G.N. Alekseev
4. All over the Globe by D. Sharle
5. This Amazingly Symmetrical World by L. Tarasov
6. Physics can be Fun by Ya Perelman
7. Photons and Nuclei by A.I. Kitaigorodsky
8. Entertaining Electronics by E. Sedov
9. Orbits of Peace and Progress by P. Popovich

So long Mir!