Dr. Gunn's Organic History Supplement for The Difference Engine, a novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. May also be administered as Dr. Gunn's Patented History Restorer.

The Dictionary may be consumed straight-up as an aperitif or Difference Engine appetizer.
It may also be taken as needed while reading The Difference Engine, as a History Supplement. You can choose from the list of entries in the index, or you can browse from A to Z, using the Browse link at the bottom of each page.
After you've finished reading The Difference Engine, administer the remaining portion of the Dictionary as Dr. Gunn's Miraculous History Restorer.

The Difference Engine is a sophisticated box of games and puzzles devised by benevolent tricksters Gibson and Sterling, a novel that generously rewards the reader interested enough to read beyond it. This Dictionary will not spoil your fun by revealing its surprises.

Oh England, glorious and ancient realm,
the fortunes of thy polity are indeed strange.
-- Benjamin Disraeli,
Sybil, or the Two Nations.

'Tis strange, but true; for truth is
always strange -- stranger than fiction.
-- George Gordon, Lord Byron,
Don Juan

I hate definitions.
-- Benjamin Disraeli,
Vivian Grey

The Difference Dictionary
was first published
in slightly different form in
Science Fiction Eye,
and is included in the
Japanese translation of
The Difference Engine.
Text © 1990, 1996,
1999, 2000, 2003
by Eileen K. Gunn.

Site design also
by Eileen Gunn