In Victorian London, the Industrial Revolution takes a digital turn after Charles Babbage successfully constructs his Analytical Engine. This technological leap allows the Meritocratic Radical Party to seize political power, replacing traditional aristocracy with a technocracy governed by data and steam-powered calculations. The narrative follows paleontologist Edward Leviathan, political radical Sybil Gerard, and diplomat Laurence Oliphant as they converge around a mysterious set of punch cards. These encrypted programs represent a high-stakes struggle for information control amidst urban smog, labor unrest, and the rise of a pervasive surveillance apparatus.
Readers who enjoy detailed world-building and counter-factual history will find a meticulous depiction of a society transformed by premature computerization. The book attracts those interested in the mechanical origins of the information age and the socio-economic impacts of rapid disruption. A reader walks away with a concrete visualization of how society functions when information becomes a commodity before the invention of electricity. It provides a blueprint for the steampunk aesthetic while examining the loss of privacy and the rigid classification of citizens within a proto-digital bureaucracy.
- Published
- 1990
- Language
- EN
