Book description
The year is 1714. Daniel Waterhouse has returned to England, where he
joins forces with his friend Isaac Newton to hunt down a shadowy group
attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers with 'Infernal Devices' -
time bombs. As Daniel and Newton conspire, an increasingly vicious
struggle is waged for England's Crown: who will take control when the
ailing queen dies?
Tories and Whigs clash as one faction jockeys to replace Queen Anne
with 'The Pretender' James Stuart, and the other promotes the
Hanoverian dynasty of Princess Caroline. Meanwhile, a long-simmering
dispute between Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz comes to a head,
with potentially cataclysmic consequences.
Wildly inventive, brilliantly conceived, The System of the
World is the final volume in Neal Stephenson's hugely ambitious
and compelling saga. Filled with a remarkable cast of characters in a
time of genius, discovery and change, The Baroque Cycle is a
magnificent and unique achievement.
Neal Stephenson is the author of The Baroque Trilogy
(Quicksilver,
The Confusion
, and
The System Of The World).
His other books include
Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, The Diamond Age
, and
Zodiac,
as well as
Cobweb
and
Interface,
written in collaboration with Frederick George
.
Winner of the 2003 Arthur C. Clarke Award for
Quicksilver
, Stephenson was short listed for the same award in 2005 for
The
System Of The World
. He lives in Seattle.
