C. P. Snow was a British novelist and scientist whose work frequently explored the collision between two cultures: the humanities and science. He became particularly renowned for his novels, which delve into the moral dilemmas and societal workings within the educated elite. Snow himself often highlighted society's failure to grasp the interconnectedness of scientific and literary thought. His prose is marked by an analytical perspective on human motivations and social structures, offering readers a profound insight into the complexities of intellectual and political life.
Passion and conflict in wartime London
Homecomings is the sixth in the Strangers and Brothers series and sequel to Time of Hope. This complete story in its own right follows Lewis Eliot's life through World War II. After his first wife's death his work at the Ministry assumes a larger role. It is not until his second marriage that Eliot is able to commit himself emotionally.
Exploring the divide between the sciences and the humanities, this influential lecture by C. P. Snow argues that this separation hinders societal progress and problem-solving. Originally delivered in 1959, the lecture sparked significant discussion and debate in both the UK and the US, highlighting the need for interdisciplinary understanding. This reprint preserves the original text, allowing contemporary readers to engage with Snow's critical insights into the intellectual landscape of Western society.
Humphrey Leigh, retired resident of Belgravia, pays a social visit to an old friend, Lady Ashbrook. She is waiting for her test results, fearing cancer. When Lady Ashbrook gets the all clear she has ten days to enjoy her new lease of life. And then she is found murdered.
This story told in the first person starts with a child’s interest in the night sky. A telescope starts a lifetime’s interest in science. The narrator goes up to King’s College, London to study. As a fellow at Cambridge he embarks on love affairs and searches for love at the same time as career success. Finally, contentment in love exhausts his passion for research.
Společenskokritický román, v němž se na pozadí hospodářských a vnitropolitických sporů současné Anglie řeší vleklá soudní pře v složité dědické záležitosti, přičemž situace je zvažována očima tří starých pánů, pohledem historika, politika a přírodovědce.
Economic storm clouds gather as bad political weather is forecast for the nation. Three elderly peers look on from the sidelines of the House of Lords and wonder if it will mean the end of a certain way of life. Against this background is set a court struggle over a disputed will that escalates into an almighty battle.
Thomas Freer is a prosperous solicitor who is also the Registrar, responsible for his cathedral’s legal business. His son Stephen is one of a secret group of young men and women known as the core. When Stephen’s group activities land them in terrible trouble, no one guesses that the consequences will lead to a death and more.
Lewis Eliot, the diffident protagonist of the Strangers and Brothers sequence, retreats to the background in this absorbing study of his mentor, George Passant, a charismatic solicitor's clerk. In the years of economic depression between the wars, George - an idealistic radical bursting with notions of creating the world anew - gathers about him a group of young people who, restive and ambitious, trust him to emancipate them from the constraints of their provincial lives. But when his lofty aspirations become muddied with a need for money and desire for sexual freedom, his power over the group becomes a danger to them all. Politics, people and the rapidly changing social landscape of inter-war Britain are narrated with Snow's trademark subtlety and precision in this fascinating analysis of a god with feet of clay. A meticulous study of the public issues and private problems of post-war Britain, C. P. Snow's Strangers and Brothers sequence is a towering achievement that stands alongside Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time as one of the great romans-fleuves of the twentieth century.
