Story summary
Streszczenie książki Biały szyfr
- 8 min czytania
- 9 parts
- Nagranie wkrótce
A silver-haired safecracker leaves Dartmoor prison and must steal a German secret from a Dutch embassy safe.
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Biały szyfr — najważniejsze informacje
Streszczenie: 8 min czytania
- Czas czytania
- Około 4 h 20 min3 h 25 min fast, 5 h 5 min slow
- Długość
- Liczba słów: 61 400
- Poziom trudności w bibliotece
- Średni longer sentences, everyday words
- Pierwsze wydanie
- 1919by Henry Leverage
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Ile czasu zajmuje przeczytanie klasyków · Zaktualizowano
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Biały szyfr in short
The White Cipher is a chase story built around one question: what is the key to a secret that no expert can read? A master safecracker is pulled out of Dartmoor and sent to Holland. He is promised a pardon, followed by the law and shadowed by a rival who wants the same prize. Along the way he meets a woman from his past who may be friend or trap.
What Biały szyfr is about
What would a master thief do if the law let him out of prison early, handed him a gentleman's wardrobe and asked for a favor? In The White Cipher, a silver-haired American named Chester Fay walks out of Dartmoor after five years behind bars. A Scotland Yard inspector drives him away in a fast black car, and he has no idea why.
Henry Leverage wrote this adventure after the Great War, when chemists and spies fought a quiet war of their own. Fay must open an embassy safe without a trace, for inside lies the key to a code that could break a German monopoly.
Dla kogo. Readers who love gentleman thieves, safecracking, secret codes, sea chases and quick, clever dialogue will enjoy this postwar adventure.
The story in 9 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A prisoner freed and offered a bargain
Dawn comes gray inside Dartmoor prison. Prisoner C-45 lies awake and watches the barred door cast tiny crosses on the wall. He is Chester Fay, serving ten years for opening a jeweler's safe in Hatton Garden by means Scotland Yard cannot explain. An old turnkey tells him to dress, because he is going out.
In the courtyard waits Inspector MacKeenon, whose testimony about one fingerprint sent Fay away. A black car carries them across the misty moor. Fay weighs a dash for the marsh, then stays, because the mystery grips him harder than freedom.
In a quiet London house, a man in a mask too small to hide his square jaw sits behind three black tin boxes. He is Sir Richard Colstrom, chief of the Criminal Investigation Division. The boxes hold the formulas for thirty-six German dyes, written in a cipher that has beaten experts in four countries. The key sits in an embassy safe, an American Seabold, the same make Fay opened at Hatton Garden.
Sir Richard offers a bargain. Bring back the packet, and the lost years count as a mistake. Refuse, and Dartmoor waits. Fay haggles like a professional and wins the silver greyhound badge of the King's Couriers, which opens every border. Even a bargain between enemies can hold a little respect.
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A woman from the old days holds a revolver
Free in London for the first night in five years, Fay feels lonely and restless.
- 3Zacznij za darmo, by czytać
Tools, a dagger and a crossing to Holland
Fay memorizes the diagram and burns it.
- 4Zacznij za darmo, by czytać
The embassy safe has been opened before him
In Holland, Fay studies the embassy like a stage set.
- 5Zacznij za darmo, by czytać
A marsh ambush and a ship that must sink
After the robbery Fay pins the silver greyhound back on his lapel and finds Saidee waiting in the dark.
- 6Zacznij za darmo, by czytać
The packet, the cardsharp and the chase to sea
On a cliff above the sea, Fay opens the packet at last.
- 7Zacznij za darmo, by czytać
Small things decide the fate of big plans
The book comes back again and again to trifles.
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Trust, loyalty and the cost of freedom
Fay never stops mistrusting the police.
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How the story is told and what to watch for
Leverage writes in a brisk, pulpy style full of animal images.
Read all 9 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Chester Fay An American safecracker freed from Dartmoor to open an embassy safe. He wants his freedom, and he distrusts every policeman he meets.
- Saidee Isaacs A dark-eyed, jeweled woman from Fay's past who helped to plan his release. She wants him to go straight and to finish the mission.
- Sir Richard Colstrom The chief of the Criminal Investigation Division. He hires Fay to steal a cipher key and admires enterprise, even in a thief.
- Inspector MacKeenon A sly, hound-like Scotland Yard man who watches Fay across London and the sea. He wants the key and the cracksman both.
- Dutch Gus A bulky German crook and informer who trails Saidee and Fay. He wants the cipher key for his own gang and for Germany.
- Harry Raymond Known as Ace-in-the-hole Harry, a deep-sea card cheat in smoked glasses who fleeces passengers on the northern steamers.
How it ends (spoiler)
The cipher is solved by a simple trick. The formulas are written in radium salt on white paper between the typed lines, and they show only in the dark. The glasses were thick enough to read them. Saidee's switch of the lights leads Sir Richard to the answer, with the Prime Minister looking on. Fay is offered a freelance place with the King's Couriers, and he accepts it on one promise. He walks away with Saidee.
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Pytania o Biały szyfr
What is The White Cipher about?
It follows American safecracker Chester Fay, freed early from Dartmoor prison to steal a cipher key from a Dutch embassy safe. Scotland Yard, a rival crook and an old flame all pull at him as he travels from London to Holland and the North Sea.
Who is Chester Fay?
Chester Fay, also called Edward Letchmere, is a silver-haired American cracksman known as one of the best in the world. He was jailed for opening a Hatton Gardens safe, and his skill with locks makes him the Yard's choice for a delicate job.
What does the silver greyhound mean in the book?
The silver greyhound is the badge of the King's Couriers, an old order chosen for speed and loyalty. Whoever wears it passes through customs and borders without papers, which makes it the perfect passport for Fay's trip to Holland.
Is The White Cipher easy to read?
It reads quickly. Short chapters, vivid scenes, lively dialogue and constant movement from London to Holland and the sea keep the pace brisk. Period slang is often explained by the characters themselves, so the story stays clear and fun to follow.
What is the main message of the book?
The book argues that small details matter, and that trust between enemies can be built through risk and shared work. It also shows a man who has lost his freedom learning what he will do with it.
Zacytuj to wydanie
Leverage, Henry. The White Cipher. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-white-cipher.
Leverage, H. (2026). The white cipher. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-white-cipher (Original work published 1919)
Leverage, Henry. The White Cipher. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-white-cipher.
@book{leverage2026white,
author = {Leverage, Henry},
title = {The White Cipher},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-white-cipher},
note = {First published 1919}
}
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