George Passant is the first published of C. P. Snow's series of novels Strangers and Brothers, but the second according to the internal chronology. It was first published under the name Strangers and Brothers. It was published in the United Kingdom in 1940[1] and in the U.S. in 1960.[2]

George Passant
First edition (original title)
AuthorCharles Percy Snow
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesStrangers and Brothers
GenrePolitical fiction
PublisherMacmillan Publishers
Publication date
December 1940
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages320pp
ISBN0-333-04721-4 (hardcover edition)
OCLC12616695
Preceded byTime of Hope
(reading order) 
Followed byThe Light and the Dark
(published order)
The Conscience of the Rich
(reading order) 

Plot synopsis edit

George Passant is a solicitor in a small English town, whose idealism and eccentricity lead him to accumulate a group of young followers in a mentor-like capacity. Narrated by Lewis Eliot, the novel has the more general background of Eliot's rising career and the changes in English society through the 20th century.

Reception edit

In a 1960 book review in Kirkus Reviews, the book was called a "slowly, closely pursued examination and rationale and an enlightened discussion of questions of conscience and conduct and commitment. And as such, if within a narrower margin, it is filled with the concerns which are so fundamentally and essentially a part of this writer's work and have attracted a firm following."[2]

References edit

  1. ^ Nicolas Tredell. "The Literary Encyclopedia".
  2. ^ a b "Strangers and Brothers". Kirkus Reviews. 21 September 1960.