This book is being published in a tumultuous time. Both of these initiatives try to ensure the government's ability to conduct electronic surveillance. Law enforcement has always been able to conduct court authorized surveillance if possible, but this is the first time that the people have been forced to take active measures to make themselves available for surveillance. The same law enforcement authorities who illegally tapped Martin Luther King Jr.'s phones can easily tap a phone protected with Clipper. It's a poor idea to deploy a technology that could some day facilitate a police state.
Encryption is too important to be left solely to governments.
I wrote Applied Cryptography to be a both a lively introduction to the field of cryptography and a comprehensive reference work. I have tried to keep the text readable without sacrificing accuracy. This book is not intended to be a mathematical text. Although I have not deliberately given any false information, I do play fast and loose with theory. For those interested in formalism, there are copious references to the academic literature.