// Comparison
La science du secret vs Social Engineering: Which Should You Read?
Two cybersecurity books on Foundations, compared honestly: who each is for, what each does best, and which to read first.
A lucid popular-science history of cryptography by Jacques Stern, one of France's most eminent cryptographers — from classical ciphers to public-key and the science of secrecy.
Christopher Hadnagy's broad procedural reference on social engineering as a discipline — recon, pretexting, elicitation, microexpressions, and the structured engagement model his consultancy operationalized.
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Key takeaways
- Popular cryptography history written by a top-tier cryptographer (Stern, ENS), so the science is impeccable.
- Traces the arc from classical ciphers to public-key — the conceptual leaps, not the code.
- A French equivalent of The Code Book with a researcher's eye; dated on modern primitives but timeless on fundamentals.
- SE is a structured engagement, not a stunt; the book operationalizes the kill chain in a way most practitioners can adapt directly.
- Microexpression and influence material is borrowed but well-applied; the chapters on elicitation are the book's most cited.
- The framework (information gathering → pretext → influence → exit) is the book's lasting contribution and the implicit syllabus for most modern SE training.
How they compare
La science du secret and Social Engineering are both rated 4/5 in our catalog. Pick by topic preference and reading style rather than by rating.
Both books target intermediate-level readers, so the choice is about topic, not difficulty.
La science du secret and Social Engineering both cover Foundations, so reading them in sequence reinforces the same material from different angles.