Snow is often regarded as a late-Victorian liberal who had little to say about the modernist period in which he lived and wrote. John de la Mothe, however, convincingly challenges this analysis with an insightful reassessment of Snow's place in twentieth-century thought. He argues that Snow's life and writings reflect a persistent struggle with the nature of modernity. This is most notable, de la Mothe reveals, in the Strangers and Brothers sequence of novels and the provocative thesis in The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. These works, along with the body of Snow's work and the multiplicity of his life, manifest Snow's belief that science and technology are at the centre of modern life.

John De La Mothe's profile page

"C.P. Snow and the Struggle of Modernity is engaging and challenging. Its scholarship is impressive. Intelligence and sensitivity inform the analysis of this complex and most crucial subject matter. It is a first-rate intellectual biography." Alkis Kontos, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto. "an original, provocative, and convincing study ... significant not only in its own right as the most comprehensive study to date of Snow's life and works but also as a successful integration of the three principal areas of his life and works: literature, science, and politics." Howard P. Segal, Department of History, University of Maine.

"C.P. Snow and the Struggle of Modernity is engaging and challenging. Its scholarship is impressive. Intelligence and sensitivity inform the analysis of this complex and most crucial subject matter. It is a first-rate intellectual biography." Alkis Kontos, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto.
"an original, provocative, and convincing study ... significant not only in its own right as the most comprehensive study to date of Snow's life and works but also as a successful integration of the three principal areas of his life and works: literature, science, and politics." Howard P. Segal, Department of History, University of Maine.