[nmadden]

Personally, I feel that HAC has aged surprisingly well compared to other books of that era. It’s focus on theory and fundamentals helps there. I still think it has some of the best introductions to cryptography topics. But, yes, read it in combination with a newer resource like Coursera’s Crypto I course, or Serious Cryptography by Aumasson. (I wouldn’t recommend the Boneh/Shoup book for newcomers. It is still very much a draft).