Excerpt: The Night When "Frankenstein" Was Born

Anything is possible.

The old world is passing away. A new world is coming into being, still disoriented and clumsy groping its way to the light, but emergent. Napoleon is defeated, but the spirit of revolution still simmers in back alleys and quiet hearths. The diplomats in Vienna are trying to force Europe back into the medieval mold that suits them, even as the Luddites in England smash weaving machines and plutocrats worry over their mad king. The fearful see signs of the Apocalypse; the weather is unseasonable, astronomers report sunspots, crops fail. But even as Religion forts up against Reform, Science daily announces new wonders--galvanism, new elements, even new heavenly bodies. The world stands on the brink of infinite possiblity.

And the poet Percy Shelley will be late for tea.