Wound up skimming through this very quickly because it was not quite what I expected. Mostly it was much denser than I imagined and just didn't want to spend the time on it. What I saw was well done. ( )

A marvelous tale of the first mechanical man created in the late 19th century. Equal parts art book, graphic novel, history text--this Gump like adventure has the mechanical man Boilerplate moving through history but not in a way that trivializes like Gump...but as a critique of the world man created as the 20th century burst into being. Created with the intention of freeing man from war, Boilerplate instead was misused like new technology often is. Can almost be read as a straight historic text as Boilerplate's interaction with history is presented in a thorough and fleshed out manner. Each event is presented in a historical context, given a full background with tasty famous people mixed in all over the place. From the Boxer Rebellion to Teddy Roosevelt's mythic charge up San Juan Hill to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, it's a delightful trip through time. Especially interesting to me was the original US/Korean conflict--known as the Korean Expedition of 1871. The art work is fantastic--original and recreations with Boilerplate inserted in history--historical photographs with Boilerplate inserted all seem to work. The work is effortless and never seems forced. ( )

Whimsical historical fiction boasting wonderful illustrations and doctored photography that inserts the world's first robot into various historical events ranging from the Chicago World's Fair to the World War I. The book actually boasts some solid history and is entertaining as an early 20th century travelogue of important events as well as a fun sci-fi adventure of the steam-punk variety. ( )

An interesting tongue in cheek reinterpretation of history ...with a robot. Though as fun as it is, the moralizing within this 'history book' felt a bit too thick. ( )

Boilerplate reads like a textbook or maybe one of those Time-Life history books from the 1980's covering the period 1893-1918 when Professor Archie Campion's Mechanical Marvel walked the Earth. In hopes of eliminating the loss of life in war, Campion invented the automaton Boilerplate to be a robot soldier. This book covers the life and times of Professor Campion, his remarkable sister Lily, and the mechanical marvel itself, Boilerplate. A noble automaton, Boilerplate served in the Spanish-American War in Cuba and the Phillipines, is on hand for the Boxer Rebellion and the Russo-Japanese War, and finally serves as a doughboy in The Great War where he vanishes while searching for the Lost Battalion. Along thew way he becomes acquainted with Theodore Roosevelt, Nikola Tesla, Jack London, Mark Twain, Frank Reade, Alice Roosevelt, Jack Johnson, Lewis Hine, T.E. Lawrence, Jeanette Rankin, Pancho Villa, and Black Jack Pershing. It shouldn't be too big a spoiler to reveal that this robot never existed. The beauty of this book is in its historical detail. Sidebars cover historical events in accurate detail without mentioning the fictional centerpiece of this book. I could see this could be an interesting teaching tool for children, because there's so much history here as long as you keep in mind that the robot is fake. This is a unique and entertaining take on alternate history. ( )