It's a bit of both. I learned a ton of the period from the baroque cycle. Stephenson inserts the most curious historical details of the period into the books an

It's a bit of both. I learned a ton of the period from the baroque cycle. Stephenson inserts the most curious historical details of the period into the books and you are constantly checking wikipedia - did this really happen? Usually the most outrageous details are picked from history. Such a marvelous trilogy.