Cryptonomicon is a difficult book to describe.  While most of the book is set in the past, some it set in a very near future.  It has elements of a historical novel, yet it won the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

 Cryptonomicon, as noted above, is set in two eras.  The first is set primarily in around World War II, and follows mathematican and code breaker Lawrence Waterhouse and Marine Sgt. Bobby Shaftoe.  The second era is set in the very near future, and centers around Randy Waterhouse (grandson of Lawrence), a computer program involved with a tech company start up.  As...