Simultaneously a literary movement, ultra-hip subculture and burgeoning cottage industry, Steampunk is the most influential new genre to emerge from the late twentieth century. Spinning tales populated with clockwork Leviathans, cannon-shots to the moon and coal-fired robots, it charts alternative histories in which the British Empire never fell or where the atom remained unsplit. Spectacularly illustrated and international in scope, this comprehensive history explores Steampunk's many intricate expressions in fiction, cinema, television, comics and videogames, and traces its evolution into a truly global aesthetic, which has made its mark on art, architecture, fashion and even music. From the classic scientific romances of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Mary Shelley, through the dystopian futurescapes of Cyberpunk, to the otherworldly imaginings of Hayao Miyazaki, Alan Moore and China Mieville, author Brian J. Robb sets the key works of Steampunk squarely under the lens of his brass monocle and ventures into a world where airships still rule the skies.