The Baroque Cycle

The Baroque Cycle, a series of books written by Neal Stephenson, appeared in print in 2003 and 2004. The cycle contains eight novels published in three volumes:

Deviations from Real History

• The IJsselmeer did not exist in the 17th and 18th centuries: it originated only in 1932. The equivalent body of water had the name of the Zuiderzee. Note too the correct capitalisation: IJsselmeer rather than Ijsselmeer.
• The yo-yo never existed as a bladed weapon, although inhabitants of the Philippines used a non-returning weapon otherwise similar in concept (but made from stone) in the 16th century.
• Blackbeard is shown aboard the "Queen Anne's Revenge" in 1713. He in fact did not take possession of that ship until 1717.
• Quicksilver begins in 1713 with the execution of a witch on Boston Common. But the last such execution in Boston took place in 1688. http://www.irishheritagetrail.com/aglover.htm (Stephenson probably chose that scene to complete the symbolic bracketing of the cycle; it begins with a witch hanging (a vestige of the Middle Ages), and ends with Daniel inspecting a steam engine (the birth of the Industrial Revolution.))
• Nicotine appears in pure form in the series, although it was first isolated in 1828.