The Difference Engine

<p><b>The 20th anniversary edition of the classic steampunk novel <br>With new commentary by the authors<br></b> <br>1855: The Industrial Revolution is in full swing, powered by steam-driven cybernetic Engines. Charles Babbage perfects his Analytical Engine, and the computer age arrives a century ahead of its time. Three extraordinary characters race toward a rendezvous with the future: Sybil Gerard - fallen woman, politician's tart, daughter of a Luddite agitator; Edward &quot;Leviathan&quot; Mallory - explorer and paleontologist; Laurence Oliphant - diplomat, mystic, and spy. Their adventure begins with the discovery of a box of punched Engine cards of unknown origin and purpose. Cards someone wants badly enough to kill for.<br><br>Part detective story, part historical thriller, <i>The Difference Engine</i> took the science fiction community by storm when it was first published twenty years ago. This special anniversary edition features an Introduction by Cory Doctorow and a collaborative essay from the authors looking back on their creation. Provocative, compelling, intensely imagined, this novel is poised to impress a whole new generation.</p>