Discusses the steampunk movement in fiction, film, art, music, and fashion, tracing its history from Victorian science fiction novels and detailing its evolution into modern popular culture.

It's a clockwork universe, Victoria: measuring the critical mass of steampunk -- An imaginary voyage to the past: steampunk origins in Victorian imagination and innovation -- Clanking metal men, Baroque airships, and clockwork worlds: the fiction, illustrated narratives, and story behind the stories -- From Forevertron to the Raygun rocketship and beyond: "making," art, craftsmanship, and aesthetic legitimacy -- Hair stays, goggles, corsets, clockwork guitars, and imaginary airships: fashion, accessories, music, and the steampunk subculture -- Magic lanterns, robot armies, giant tuning forks, and perambulating castles: steampunk movies and television -- The future of steampunk: will clockwork gears, mechanical corsets, and dirigibles be enough?