The Alternate World of 1979

An Illustrated History of New York City in the Robot Age

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Description | ISBN: 9781969944369

The Alternate World of 1979 is an illustrated alternate history that reimagines New York City at the dawn of the Robot Age, where personal robots have become a practical part of everyday life.

Through richly illustrated scenes, advertisements, technical diagrams, maps, media, and cultural artifacts, the book explores how robots reshape homes, transportation, work, public services, entertainment, recreation, and daily life across the city.

Designed as a hardcover edition (8.25 × 11", 90 pages), it offers an immersive journey through a familiar 1979 New York transformed by one extraordinary idea: what if robots had already become part of ordinary life?

Includes

90 pages of full-color illustrated alternate history

  • A reimagined 1979 New York City where personal robots have become part of everyday life

  • Explores homes, transportation, workplaces, public services, entertainment, recreation, and city infrastructure

  • Everyday scenes reveal how ordinary New Yorkers live and work alongside machines

  • Period-inspired advertisements, technical diagrams, maps, public information, movie posters, television pages, and other cultural artifacts expand the world

  • Richly illustrated scenes blend recognizable New York locations with speculative 1970s technology

  • A playful exploration of retro-futurism, urban life, and the cultural consequences of a world where the Robot Age arrived early

Image Gallery

Browse selected pages from the book’s illustrated interiors.

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