CRYPTONOMICON by Stephenson, Neal - 1999

London: William Heinemann, 1999. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First British edition. "This complex and ambitious cyber-thriller, which begs comparison with Pynchon's GRAVITY'S RAINBOW, features half a dozen well- conceived plot lines. During World War II, the mathematical genius and cryptographer Lawrence Waterhouse, a friend of Alan Turing, is instrumental in breaking the Nazi's Enigma code. Some 60 years later, his grandson Randy, a computer hacker, is involved in setting up a small- scale, but high-tech data haven in Southeast Asia, only to find out that his project has attracted the attention of a number of powerful governments, multinational corporations, and secret organizations. Randy also discovers evidence of a secret conspiracy that may be centuries old." - Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-1075. Locus Award winner. Hugo Award nominee for best novel. A prelude to the author's "Baroque Cycle" of novels. Trade paperback format. A fine copy. (#161575)