Contents -- Preface -- A Short Course in Codes and Ciphers -- How Yardley Wrote His Best-Seller -- All-American Boy -- His Life's Work -- A History of American Intelligence before Yardley -- A Rival -- Staffers, Shorthand, and Secret Ink -- The Executive -- Morning in New York -- Yardley's Triumph -- The Fruits of His Victory -- The Busy Suburbanite -- End of a Dream -- The Best-Seller -- The Critics, the Effects -- Grub Street -- A Law Aimed at Yardley -- Hollywood -- China -- Canada -- A Restaurant of His Own -- Playing Poker -- The Measure of a Man -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Illustration Credits -- Index.