Suggested Books for Learning Cryptography?

Kismet asks: "I see a lot of news and reviews about encryption on Slashdot regularly. The subject seems rather interesting. I suppose that cryptography is covered in CS classes, but for hobbyists, what is the best way to learn? What kind of math background does one need? Are there any good "beginning" books on the subject? What is the history of Cryptography? "

Comments

Applied Cryptography

[Prince Caspian]

I'm sure almost everyone will agree with me that the first book to read on the subject is Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier. It does not contain much history, but it does cover many, many different cryptographic techniques and implementations. The math required isn't too bad, and is covered in part of the book.

Best of all, it is a real pleasure to read. Schneier really captures the interesting aspects of the field.

For more info, check out the Slashdot review.

"Bugs are harder to cope with than features, because they are less well defined and less well designed."