Prisoners, Lovers, and Spies is a book about concealing and revealing secret communications. It is the first history of invisible writing, uncovered through stories about scoundrels and heroes. Kristie Macrakis combines a storyteller’s sense of drama with a historian’s respect for evidence in this page-turning history of intrigue and espionage, love and war, magic and secrecy. From the piazzas of ancient Rome to the spy capitals of the Cold War, Macrakis's global history reveals the drama and importance of invisible ink. From Ovid’s advice to use milk for illicit love notes, to John Gerard's dramatic escape from the tower of London aided by orange juice ink messages, to al-Qaeda’s hidden instructions in pornographic movies, this book presents spellbinding stories of secret messaging that chart its evolution in sophistication and its impact on history.

Dr. Kristie Macrakis is a professor in the School of History, Technology, and Society at Georgia Tech.  She teaches courses on espionage history and history of science. She is also the author of Surviving the Swastika: Scientific Research in Nazi Germany (Oxford University Press, 1993), Science under Socialism: East Germany in Comparative Perspective (Harvard University Press, 1999), and Seduced by Secrets: Instide the Stasi's Spy-Tech World (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

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