of Ian McEwan (who upon the publication of his novel Atonement was accused of plagiarizing parts of a nurse’s diary from World War II), Pynchon has described himself as a writer of “historical fiction,” and his preoccupation with historical matters and the writing of history – present from V. up to and including his self-labeled “historical romance” Bleeding Edge – reaches its fullest expression in his three global novels. In an encyclopedic fashion, all three novels map the complexity of the historical transition point in question, both the familiar and unfamiliar aspects, and not least the repressed possibilities in the different periods. Mason & Dixon is thus a veritable catalogue of the multiplicity of the 18th century. During their travels through Europe, Africa and America, the title charactersthe rise of industrial capital in domestic markets as well as early forms of global trade. 2) Monopoly capitalism or the stage of imperialism which lasted until the outbreak of World War II and was characterized by the exploitation of colonial territories and of the aggressive development of international markets. 3) Late or multinational capitalism, which grew out of World War II and is characterized by a decolonizing of the colonies and the emergence of a new economic world system.30 According to Mandel, these three stages of capitalism correspond in turn to three major stages of technology: The mechanical technology of the original industrial revolution, the electric technology which emerged around 1890, and the electronic technology which grew out of World War II. The complex relation between humans