

“It was a surprise to me, for no matter what may be said about my organization, it can never be charged that any of us ever played politics, either for promotions or for honors. In fact, we were happy to remain unknown, hidden behind curtains, as long as our work was useful to the United States Government.” (Herbert O. Yardley in, The American Black Chamber, p.322)
Dropping the Façade & Unveiling His Lies
Soon after the release of Herbert O. Yardley's novel, "The American Black Chamber," William F. Friedman and other members of the cryptographic community were quick to express their outrage over what they read. In fact, these cryptographers viewed Yardley's words as a desperate and self-aggrandizing effort to elevate his position within his position, all the while degrading his fellow peers. In his book, Yardley revealed important state secrets, overstated and dramatized his own role in the decipherment of codes in the American Black Chamber, and misconstrued crucial aspects of the cryptographic work done during and after the war.
Intent on calling Yardley out on his life, Friedman and many other members of the cryptographic community congregated to annotate his novel, and call him out on all his lies.