The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life

In both World War I and World War II, Elizebeth Smith Friedman was a top cryptanalyst in the U.S., helping to crack secret codes when the FBI couldn’t solve a puzzle. When she wasn’t breaking the codes of America’s enemies, she was often called on to help bust crime rings and smuggling operations run by the mob.

Yet her name is known by few.

Married to William Friedman, one of the U.S.’s best code breakers in his own right, she led what seemed on the outside to be a quiet, normal life. This book, categorized as teen and young adult nonfiction, traces the story of how a young woman who was good at solving puzzles became a sought-after code breaker.