Two hundred years ago, Britain lost the Napoleonic War and fell under the thumb of French domination. Gaining independence after decades of civil disobedience and anarchist bombings, the Socialist Republic of Britain is now a small, unimportant backwater connected by a railway bridge, steampowered dirigible, and mutual suspicion to France. When a British diplomat's murder is made to look like suicide, ferocious DetectiveInspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard stalks a ruthless murder squad through the heart of a Belle Epoque Paris, the center of the greatest empire in a world of steamdriven hansom cabs, automatons, and flying machines. LeBrock's relentless quest can lead only to death, truth... or war. * Following on the heels of his internationally acclaimed graphic novels The Tale of One Bad Rat and Alice in Sunderland , Grandville is a fantastical and audacious rollercoaster ride, visually stunning and rich in memorable detail.