Robert Rankin is kinda all over the place in terms of writing and themes (and doesn't actually classify his stories as steampunk), but there might be some of what you're looking for in there somewhere.
He did a trilogy that is based off War of the Worlds but set after the Martian invasion. Book 1, "The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions" leans into the cruelty of British Empire as they use reverse engineered Martian technology to first commit genocide of the Martians by infecting "undesirables" with diseases and sending them to mars as a way of wiping out most of the population before invading and killing the rest. They then use their advanced technology to violently enforce their hegemony upon the rest of the earth. The main drive of the story is the protagonist and his mentor stealing a culturally important relic from a remote Pacific Island so they can sell more tickets to their freakshow.
Robert Rankin is kinda all over the place in terms of writing and themes (and doesn't actually classify his stories as steampunk), but there might be some of what you're looking for in there somewhere.
He did a trilogy that is based off War of the Worlds but set after the Martian invasion. Book 1, "The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions" leans into the cruelty of British Empire as they use reverse engineered Martian technology to first commit genocide of the Martians by infecting "undesirables" with diseases and sending them to mars as a way of wiping out most of the population before invading and killing the rest. They then use their advanced technology to violently enforce their hegemony upon the rest of the earth. The main drive of the story is the protagonist and his mentor stealing a culturally important relic from a remote Pacific Island so they can sell more tickets to their freakshow.