“You’ll wish it were longer.” — Time Magazine
Set against the backdrop of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Neal Stephenson’s New York Times bestselling novel brings to life a cast of unforgettable characters in a time of breathtaking genius and discovery, men and women whose exploits defined an age. The tales of Daniel Waterhouse, Jack Shaftoe, and Eliza de la Zeur intertwine as they traverse a landscape populated by mad alchemists, Barbary pirates, and bawdy courtiers, as well as historical figures including Samuel Pepys, the young Ben Franklin, and Louis XIV, among others.
Traveling from the infant American colonies to the Tower of London to the palace at Versailles, and all manner of places in between, this magnificent historical epic brings to vivid life a time like no other, and establishes Neal Stephenson as one of the preeminent talents of our age.