The Two Cultures Controversy
Science, Literature and Cultural Politics in Postwar Britain

"This is an exceptionally thoughtful, and thought-provoking, work from which (truly) every modern British historian will learn something fresh and useful." -- Peter Mandler, H-Net Reviews

"An excellent piece of work . . . Ortolano gives us widescreen, wrap-around cultural history of postwar Britain." -- John Toye, Economic History Review

"Guy Ortolano has provided us with a detailed and insightful study . . . [He] shows . . . how we can use the Two Cultures to understand the wider ideological and social currents to which it was intimately related: liberalism, declinism, meritocracy, and technocracy." - Waqar Zaidi, Journal of British Studies

"As I read further and further into this text, I could ever more readily hear and feel, even smell, a Britain now largely gone. . . . Ortolano has captured an important lost moment - even a last moment - in the rise and fall of a Britain dominated by a narrow educational and social ruling stratum." -- David Coates, American Historical Review

"[A] very important work on a key topic of twentieth-century British history." Frank A.J.L. James, British Journal for the History of Science

"Ortolano has brought [Snow and Leavis] splendidly back to life ... At the same time, thoroughly and imaginatively discussed here, the debate and its ramifications raise issues important for Britain and elsewhere for the second half of the 20th century and beyond. Highly recommended." Peter Stansky, Choice

"In this deeply researched and closely argued book, Guy Ortolano ... helps explain why what began as a rather modest Cambridge lecture became the focus of some of the sharpest and most significant debates of the postwar era." - Bruce J. Hunt, British Scholar

"This is a book that will be of value to anyone interested in the history of modern Britain, and it announces the arrival of a very significant historian indeed." - William Whyte, English Historical Review

"Marked by careful research, sensitive analysis, and a good mixture of empathy and criticism in its approach toward its subjects, Ortolano's work should be read by anyone who is interested in the famous controversy (or other seemingly similar episodes)." -- Daniel Ussishkin, Journal of Modern History