[Washi]

You might enjoy a book that I recently read:

"The Code Book" by Simon Singh

It's a very interesting book that outlines the history of cryptography and cryptanalysis. The Vigenere cipher is one of the ciphers that is thoroughly discussed. I found a copy at the local library, though I'm sure that there is an electronic copy online somewhere.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Thanks I *will* look into it. BTW, have you read David Kahn’s classic, “The Codebreakers: the Story of Secret Writing”, though the title is somewhat of a misnomer? It could just have accurately been called “The Code Makers”.