The year is 1855. The computer age has arrived a century ahead of time, with Charles Babbage's perfection of his Analytic Engine. The Industrial Revolution, supercharged by the development of steam-driven cybernetic Engines, is in full and drastic swing. Great Britain, with her calculating cannons, steam dreadnoughts, machine-guns and information technology, prepares to better the world's lot... The Difference Engine is a tour-de-force by two of SF's most talented and controversial writers, a brilliantly conceived alternate history steeped in superbly evoked atmosphere, featuring a dazzling cast of characters both fictional and historical.