Headline snares McKay’s book of world-changing codes

Headline has snapped up 50 Codes that Changed the World by social historian and author of The Secret Life of Bletchley Park (Aurum Press) Sinclair McKay, a “cunning chronicle” of codes that have altered the course of history, which invites readers to try and solve them. 

Katie Packer, senior commissioning editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Anna Power at Johnson & Alcock for publication on 13th October 2022. 

The publisher’s synopsis reads: “There have been secret codes since before the Old Testament, and there were secret codes in the Old Testament, too. Almost as soon as writing was invented, so too were the devious means to hide messages and keep them under the wraps of secrecy.

“From the temples of Ancient Greece to the court of Elizabeth I; from antique manuscripts whose codes might hold prophecies of doom to the modern realm of quantum mechanics, you will see how a few concealed words could help to win wars, spark revolutions and even change the faces of great nations. Here is the complete guide to the hidden world of codebreaking, with opportunities for you to see if you could have cracked some of the trickiest puzzles and lip-chewing codes from history.”

Packer said: “Sinclair McKay is an incredible historian with an uncanny ability to bring the past to life in a multitude of ways. This  book, while fascinating and sweeping with its tales from history, will be the ultimate gift for any puzzle lover or quiz fanatic and the ultimate test for codebreakers far and wide.”

McKay’s books Bletchley Park Brain Teasers (Headline) and The Secret Life of Bletchley Park have sold more than 400,000 copies, according to the publisher. 

The author, who also writes for the Spectator and the Telegraph. said: “Secret codes are an invisible thread sewn through thousands of years of history. From the Biblical Old Testament cipher of the Writing on the Wall to Julius Caesar’s mighty empire, from the love ciphers of the Kama Sutra to Queen Elizabeth’s occultist Dr Dee – and not forgetting the miraculous brain factory of Bletchley Park that took on the Nazi Enigma codes – here are the key clandestine ciphers that have fired the engines of the world.

“It has been a delight to team up with the brilliant crew at Headline to explore this story through the sorts of fiendish puzzles and diabolical logic problems that codebreakers through the ages have sharpened their wits upon.”