David Kahn

David Kahn was an American journalist, author, and historian of cryptology. His book The Codebreakers, first published in 1967, assembled a wide-ranging history of secret writing and codebreaking for general readers.

Documenting a hidden field

Kahn's reporting and research opened public discussion of cryptologic history at a time when much of it remained obscure or classified. He later earned a doctorate in modern history at Oxford and continued to write about intelligence and military history.

Place in the archive

His work belongs beside technical research because security culture also depends on the records that explain its past. Readers should nevertheless distinguish Kahn's role as historian from the operational work of the cryptanalysts he documented.

In memoriam

Kahn died in 2024. His books remain important entry points into the history of cryptology.

Timeline

• 1930-02-07Born in New York, United States.
• 1967Publishes The Codebreakers.
• 1974Receives a doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford.
• 1978Publishes Hitler's Spies: German Military Intelligence in World War II.
• 2024-01-23Dies in the Bronx, New York.