Review of Parker Hitt: The Father of American Military Cryptology by Betsy Rohaly Smoot

Abstract

William Friedman did his bit to keep Hitt’s name alive at the National Security Agency, but it was David Kahn who preserved Hitt’s legacy as a cryptologist with his book The Codebreakers. Kahn who expressed an interest in codes and ciphers at an early age, first wrote to Hitt in 1949, asking him to autograph his copy of Hitt’s Manual. In November 1963 Kahn contacted Hitt with some questions, and Parker suggested that he read Friedman’s Elements of Cryptanalysis, if he could find it. He also suggested that Kahn contact Friedman, “one of my prot eg es ... .” (200)