The Confusion is the second volume in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. It consists of two books, Bonanza and The Juncto.
The two books are "con-fused": a few chapters from one book are followed by chapters from the other. In this way, the two stories are told roughly as they occur in time. The Confusion is the only volume in which books are interleaved.
Significance of the title
The term confusion has several meanings relevant to the books.
- the volume consists of two books that have been "con-fused"
- metallurgic confusion, the process of mingling two metals into an alloy, is important in refining gold
- crytographic confusion, making the relationship the a key and ciphertext as difficult to break as possible
Book Covers
North American trade paperback, ISBN 9780060733353
Special hardcover edition, ISBN 9780060599348
UK trade paperback, ISBN 9780099410690
_Mass_PB_9780060833237.jpg "Cover of The Confusion, Part II (book) Mass PB 9780060833237.jpg (42 KB)")
North American mass market paperback of second part of The Confusion, ISBN 9780060833237