Chinese Black Chamber

By Herbert O. Yardley

Book Overview

Herbert O. Yardley is one of the legendary figures in the history of espionage. He founded and directed the famous 'American Black Chamber' in World War I and thereafter. When Secretary of State... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0450060594
• ISBN13: 9780450060595
• Release Date: May 1984
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton General Division
• Length: 225 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Espionage real life thriller about pre world war 2 intrigue

Very interesting. The author was a multiple agent for several governments & lived to tell about it. He lived thru terrible times in China as the Japanese were trying to conquer China. His exploits & events are almost beyond belief, & maybe some of them are, but it is still a very good read. Highly recommend.

A great lost classic

I read this years ago when i checked it out of the public library. It has been one of my favorite books and captures the heady period of pre-Maoist warlord ridden China before WWII. It reads like a spy "temple of doom" novel with Yarldey shamelessly being the main character but its a great read.What's interesting is that cryptography played such an important role so far back before computers and data lines. Although not a very technical book for crypto-fans, it captures the spirit of the early codebreakers as misfits and outcast. Just like the Flying Tigers, Yardley gives a very unique look at the role that Americans played in China before the Pacific War. I highly recommend this book if it ever comes back into print.

Bring on the codes and the beautiful babies!

Hired by Chiang Kai Shek to crack Japanese spy codes (this was after the KMT retreat into the hills), Yardley found himself in the beseiged city of Chungking where EVERYONE IS A SPY (Ted White makes an appearance as a green reporter to whom Yardley teaches poker.) Pre-dating Cold War factionalism, Yardley wrote with a candidness that seems eccentric today (this man had no "ISSUES"); but in his day, he was seen as dangerously indiscreet. His American Black Chamber (located in New York City!) was shut down after a successful run for budget reasons - unemployed and then ostracized when his book on cryptography was banned for revelations of American code cracking methods, Yardley found himself ~temping~ for the "Generalissimo" in the Chinese backwater. An incredibly talented cryptographer and unabashed ladies' man, Yardley provides a charming and lucid slice of that life to which this review cannot do justice. Note that this book is "Hard to Find" - find it! Find its precursor, "Ameri