Yes there is some math experience assumed. I know your question was about recommended pre-requisites, not alternatives/supplements to this book, but let me just provide you with a few alternates that are a bit easier to step into.
1) Christof Paar's book, mentioned already by EFruit. It's currently available as a free download, but that will close up soon, so go download it now. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-04101-3 I bought the hardcopy ~8 years ago and still refer to it. (Note: also as mentioned, Prof. Paar has something like 20 one-hour lectures -- in English -- on Youtube.)
2) Jean-Philippe Aumasson's excellent book (2018) "Serious Cryptography". Very practical, very readable. JPA is the author of the Blake cryptographic hash functions.
3) David Wong's upcoming book "Real World Cryptography" (Manning, 2020). I've read parts of it via Manning's early access program, the book isn't released yet, but good stuff. David blogs regularly too.
That should give you enough to chew on for a while!
1) Christof Paar's book, mentioned already by EFruit. It's currently available as a free download, but that will close up soon, so go download it now. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-04101-3 I bought the hardcopy ~8 years ago and still refer to it. (Note: also as mentioned, Prof. Paar has something like 20 one-hour lectures -- in English -- on Youtube.)
2) Jean-Philippe Aumasson's excellent book (2018) "Serious Cryptography". Very practical, very readable. JPA is the author of the Blake cryptographic hash functions.
3) David Wong's upcoming book "Real World Cryptography" (Manning, 2020). I've read parts of it via Manning's early access program, the book isn't released yet, but good stuff. David blogs regularly too.
That should give you enough to chew on for a while!