With this extraordinary first tale in what promises to be a masterful series, Neal Stephenson decrypts with dazzling virtuosity the forces that shaped this century. Bouncing between World War II and the World Wide Web,
Cryptonomicon follows the exploits of Lawrence Waterhouse, a young mathematical genius assigned to a highly secretive outfit that has cracked the fabled Nazi Enigma code. Fast-forward to the present, where Waterhouse's grandson stumbles on a massive conspiracy rooted in his grandfather's original work - and which represents the path to imaginable riches and a future of ultimate freedom, or universal totalitarianism.
What are unabridged excerpts? The publisher explains "I felt that, given the style of the book, a normal abridgment would not work (the book is 900 pages), so I selected key scenes and then added short plot bridges (approved by the author) that would allow the listener to follow the story."
