A Study of History, abridged

by Arnold J. Toynbee, David Churchill Somervell (abridger), Jane Caplan (editor)

Mr. Toynbee's analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations has been acknowledged as an achievement without parallel in modern scholarship. In its way, Mr. Somervell's abridgement of this monumental work is also an unparalleled achievement, for while reducing the work to on - sixth of its original size, he has, preserved its method, atmosphere, texture, and, for the most part, the author's very words. Indeed, through this miracle of condensation, he has provided a concise version that is no mere summary but the very essence of Mr. Toynbee's work.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Classics, Philosophy, World History, Science, Politics

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Not the same as Arnold Toynbee, economist and nephew of Arnold Joseph Toynbee

British educator Arnold Joseph Toynbee noted cyclical patterns in the growth and decline of civilizations for his 12-volume Study of History (1934-1961).

He went to Winchester college and Balliol college, Oxford.

During both world wars, he worked for the foreign office. He additionally published Nationality and the War (1915), The Armenian Atrocities: The Murder of a Nation (1915), The German Terror in France: An Historical Record (1917), and Turkey, a Past and a Future (1917). He attended the peace conference of Paris in 1919 as a delegate.

From 1919 to 1924, Arnold J. Toynbee served as professor of modern Greek and Byzantine at King's college, London. From 1925, Oxford University Press published The Survey of International Affairs under the auspices of the royal institute of international affairs, and Toynbee, professor, oversaw the publication. From 1925, Toynbee served as research professor and director at the royal institute of international affairs. He published The Conduct of British Empire Foreign Relations since the Peace Settlement (1928).

His first marriage to Rosalind Murray produced three sons and ended in divorce in 1946. Toynbee, professor, then married Veronica M. Boulter, his research assistant. He published Civilization on Trial (1948).

Toynbee served as research professor and director at the royal institute of international affairs until 1955.
People published best known lectures of Toynbee, professor, in memory of Adam Gifford as An Historian's Approach to Religion (1956). His massive work examined development and decay. He presented the rise and fall rather than nation-states or ethnic groups. According to his analysis, the welfare depends on ability to deal successfully with challenges.

He also published Democracy in the Atomic Age (1957), Christianity among the Religions of the World (1958), and Between Niger and Nile (1965).

He died in York, North Yorkshire, England.

Reviews

[Dan Waniek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Cathedral...

by Dr Dan Waniek, MD
Copyright © 2006 danwaniek.org
A Study of History : Introduction to the Geneses of Civilizations by Arnold Joseph Toynbee, 1979
This is not a Book !... This is a Cathedral... Its well cut corner stones are great ideas developed by the last masters of history of our times. And the master of them all is as cautious as an engineer, as talented as any genius and - especially - as creative as some great lawyers and most great architects are about their lifetime's work. Montaigne once wrote something like " My work of art is my life". After reading Toynbee, one feels almost compelled to say just the opposite: Well, it may be only a book - even one originally published in twelve volumes - but this is his work of art. For many other lives have been lived, and never lost, in the shadows of this construction and into the blessed light of its interior. Sources for the whole master plan in Toynbee's masterpiece include perhaps less Thyucydides, Vico and Cantemir and more of such names as Abd al-Rahman Ibn Mohammad Ibn Khaldun, Gibbon, de Gobineau, Smuts, and lord Acton.
Countless, sometime arcane shelves of dusty bibliographical materials are treaded here into a delicate work of Gothic stone. Looking like fine laces, and sometimes like solid monoliths, the strong and yet delicate architecture of the book is both visible in any detail and compelling in toto, to say the least. Criteria for such modestly named " a " study appeared to the author almost all by themselves. It further took only some simple empirical development to turn the " knowledgeable field of studies " into a land of plenty. But what helped most, throughout the process of creation was the mind of the great master, Toynbee, bringing everything into one piece.

And then again, it's really the vision which commended a sense of wholeness and oneness in this blessed accomplishment of human genius. Toynbee had it while travelling by train somewhere in South-Eastern Europe and dutifully translated it into an incredibly simple grand projet that - subsequently - took thirty years to complete. It's perhaps a small tribute to the author - but not an avoidable choice - to read the whole set of volumes and not the many abridgements and the few but strange full editions of this masterpiece. If you do so, the results are incredibly deep and certainly worth the effort. You'll laugh for instance finding famous French historians busy at work - seeing their mind-entrenched " hexagone " wherever it never existed, by virtue of some retrospectoscope-minded methodology.

You'll almost hear a lawyer pleading in court in a feast of intellectual cases, like that of Mahmud of Gazana. You'll grasp the desperately - and terminally - futile emptiness of " the West and the Rest " frame of mind. And you'll see how ideas pass from one mind to another as if by miracle, in the gentle light of spiritual and caring understanding. Like Sfântul Duh, this isn't straightforward, and could be invoked but not produced. As Jean Cocteau wrote, in an ironical epitome of ambient nationalistic fury, about France, " C'est le coq sur le fumier. Enlevez le fumier et le coq se meurt ". Arnold Joseph Toynbee's twelve-volume masterpiece is by far the greatest book of the 20-th century produced by a single mind. The other one, which is unrestricted, is Father Dumitru Stăniloae's translation of the Church Fathers, collected in Filocalia românească. If the professor Toynbee were not the greatest historian since Thucydides, he would no doubt be a prophet. Written with profound wit - sometimes deeper than we may grasp at our first reading, but always tasty - such a text could be easily produced in any court of law. It would win the day ! No juror and few judges would afford to take it superficially... Especially nowadays... For here you will read nothing less than a crystalline mind in the process of thinking clearly and expressing itself simply and completely on the matter of civilization. It's a cardinal paradigm. It's a dream came true.

Toynbee extracted historical knowledge from the countless nationalistic shelves and transported it into the realm of metaknowledge, using empirical as well as historiographical science. Much unlike relativists and other nonsense-"historiographers" ( the name of Boia comes to mind as one of the worst counter-examples), he did not destroy national histories in the process. He only did what he knew best, telling the truth : He paid hommage to "the last infirmity of noble minds". Do not take this book with a grain of salt, with easy-going coffe-table albums or even with your usual intellectual arrogance. Take it into the island where you would retire! It's more than a book you are contemplating here ! It's the epitaph of the Western Civilization, carved in lasting, if delicately and well cut stone.

ISBN : 0192152076, BOBE-2648-REFS-0001, RANK : # Who cares, really ?, There are, of course, thousands of pages, This is the Oxford University Press edition, using Toynbee's own sketches and maps.

[Clay Kallam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read "A Study of History" in the 1970s and found it fascinating and insightful. Rather than looking at one nation or area or time span, Arnold Toynbee compared what he called "civilizations" to see if he could find common denominators in their development or their structure. A 2017 re-read, though, revealed some issues.

First, the definition of "civilization" is a little murky, as, for example, he counts the Roman Empire as part of the Hellenic "civilization." At one level, certainly there is continuity and connection, but to say that Sparta and Pergamon, separated by hundreds of years and a vast cultural chasm, are from the same civilization is a stretch. But it only takes a little squinting to make it easy enough to swallow, and the grand idea overrides the pesky little details.

Second, as Toynbee freely admits, there are fewer common patterns than one might expect, and his in-depth examination of one or two aspects of a particular civilization tend to appear more anecdotal than substantial.

Finally, in terms of overall concerns, Toynbee places a major emphasis on the role of what he calls "higher religions." The fact that these religions sometimes bleed over into more than one civilization complicates his original argument that comparing civilizations is an effort that makes sense, and it also leads to perhaps the most fundamental criticism of this extremely impressive work of scholarship and grand analysis.

Though Toynbee identifies 30-some civilizations and can trace the historical record back more than 5,000 years, it's not at all clear that we have any kind of perspective on these large-scale trends Toynbee seeks to identify and trace. Are, for example, the higher religions an artifact of a stage of development, or an enduring aspect of human history that will always be in play? If so, then his emphasis on their importance makes sense; if not, they are as evanescent as the importance of stirrups in warfare -- crucial for a brief time but not fundamental in any sense.

Toynbee also discusses his idea of "creative" and "dominant" minorities that are the driving force in civilizations. When the civilization is on the rise, the creative minority leads the way, and the mass of people follow happily, adopting the ideology and goals of that minority (he calls the process "mimesis.") When the civilization begins to stagnate, the creative minority shifts to a dominant minority, and imposes its values (and desire to retain power) on the majority. This was very likely true when only a minority of people had access to education, to the ability to manipulate the levers of power, to economic clout, but with a broader segment of society much more capable of being involved in the processes of civilization, it's unclear if that kind of minority retains the power to create consensus it once had.

And of course the entire idea of the Internet was non-existent when Toynbee finished his work on this edition in 1972, and the global village of Marshall McLuhan was just some academic pipedream. Toynbee's belief that a world government was not only necessary but also inevitable seems more than a little outdated in these fragmented days, though of course the wheels of history grind very slowly and who knows how the planet will be governed after climate change shifts the paradigm.

(There is one very contemporary note that Toynbee anticipated that I can't help but mention. He says that civilizations on the decline deal with barbarians in two ways: They build walls and sell them weapons. Donald Trump, of course, wants to "build that wall," and for generations, the United States has been arms seller to the world, and many of the weapons wielded by the terrorists that Toynbee would likely identify as the 21st century version of barbarians are of American origin.)

All in all, "A Study of History" is very much a creature of its time and place. Toynbee's style old-fashioned and ornate, and he is fond of inserting quotes in their original languages (German, French, Latin) as he assumes his readership is of course somewhat fluent in more than English. He also lingers too long on examples and anecdotes, and after a while, the mind numbs from historical detail piled on top of historical detail.

Nonetheless, "A Study of History" will reward the patient reader. Toynbee views the world and its stories from a vast distance, detached (as best he can) from the random walk of historical events. We are all so caught up in today's disasters and misadventures, and how the recent past has scarred the present and future, that we forget that history does repeat itself in many ways, and that we can shed light on today and tomorrow by looking carefully at centuries long past. "A Study of History" does just that, and though it seems to us that the world has passed it by, it's also possible that future generations will look on it as one of the great achievements of 20th century thought.

[Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toynbee's A Study of History is one of those voluminous treatises that I simply can't think of any specific points to include in my review, for the book itself already includes virtually everything worth consideration within the field of study. The topics in which this book concerned were on the cultural level of civilizations and on the spatiotemporal level of the globe in millennia. The main parts of discussion were divided into three sections: concerning peace, war, and confrontation between civilizations, while for each individual civilization four phases of its lifespan are primary targets of concern: genesis, growth, breakdown, and disintegration. In my review, instead of detailing and paraphrasing the words of Toynbee, I would simply focus on a few interesting ideas/assertions from the book and talk a little bit about my personal understandings regarding these ideas.

First is the idea of substituting capacities -- an idea that's no stranger to us, for we apply the same idea to individuals all the time: we tell people with physical disabilities not to lose hope in sports but to explore with their mental capacity, we encourage students who are bad at sitting inside classrooms to pursue careers in outdoor activities. We see this phenomenon in larger entities such as societies and states as well: countries with limited resources often developed alternative sources of profit, with prime examples such as Japan and Singapore. In Toynbee's book, however, he further extended this idea to civilizations with some modifications. As it turned out, civilizations are also capable of developing substituting capacities -- the conquered colonies of the Roman Empire were able to profoundly influence Rome through their prevailing arts and culture (Greek mythology and philosophy, Eastern architecture, and Christianity are all good examples), while the conquered peoples were often able to form more cohesive national identity under oppression (Jews are the best example). As a Chinese, the history of China seems to me another fitting example of substituting capacity: while China was frequently attacked and conquered by nomads, the nomadic culture of the north would always be assimilated into the mainstream Chinese culture. This idea does seem quite convincing, although I do have some doubts because we see many counterexamples in history, too. Not all those conquered nations were able to rise up on a different battlefield and subjugate their master culturally, and not all those conquered peoples were able to repel the suppression and rejuvenate after centuries of diasporas. There are certainly merits in Toynbee's theory, but the interesting thing about history is that there is never a definite rule of thumb that would always work.

Another very thought-provoking statement in the book was that technological advances were results, instead of causes of the development of civilizations. A converse of this statement goes, the lag in technological development is an indication of the decline of civilization. Toynbee used the "All roads lead to Rome" example -- which was not an exaggeration of Roman transportation at its pinnacle, but as the imperial power declined and centralized government faded away, warlords and local kings built passes and outposts all around their territories, essentially destroying the old Roman road system and leading to the Dark Ages. Again, as a Chinese, this inevitably reminded me of the decline of Chinese civilization in the later imperial periods -- the stagnation in technological breakthroughs wasn't a reason for China's decline, it was a precursor to it. The reason I find this way of thinking important is because that we often invert causes and effects, moreover we also mix causal relations with random occurrences; a right way of looking at history involves correctly analyzing the relations between various historical events.

Last but not least, I would like to quickly touch on futurism -- a topic Toynbee spent quite some chapters on. Futurism, in a historical sense, can refer to anything that seeks to cut the ties to the past and traditions and focus solely on tomorrow. This stream of thoughts often caused intense social conflicts and resulted in neither a continuation of the status quo nor a world without any traces of the past. Qin Shi Huang's political and cultural unification of China is a prime example of the effects of futurism; the radical policies of burning all the classics and massacring scholars possessing unwanted knowledge turned out to be ineffective and harmful, eventually contributing to Qin's quick downfall. Byzantine's Leo III initiated iconoclasm for purer religions, but only infuriated his Christian neighbors and further caused damages to his empire. Beyond the definition of futurism, I'd argue that any civilization under the guidance of idealism is destined to fall, for history is never a construction of human ideals and reasons.

As aforementioned, A Study of History is a voluminous treatise and certainly requires a much longer period of time for digesting the contents than simply reading through the pages. I will almost certainly come back in the future and seek new understandings.

[noblethumos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arnold Toynbee's monumental work, "A Study of History," stands as a seminal contribution to the field of historiography. Published between 1934 and 1961, this extensive analysis presents a comprehensive framework for understanding the rise and fall of civilizations throughout human history. In this academic book, we aim to delve into the key themes, methodologies, and arguments put forth by Toynbee, critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of his approach, and discuss the enduring significance of "A Study of History" in the broader field of historical scholarship.


"A Study of History" encompasses a vast range of historical epochs, civilizations, and cultural contexts, providing a panoramic view of human development. Toynbee's central thesis revolves around the cyclical nature of civilizations, proposing that their rise and decline can be traced to their respective responses to challenges and the ensuing interaction between internal and external factors.

Toynbee's work can be divided into several key sections. Firstly, he presents his methodology, which involves the examination of the rise and fall of civilizations through the lens of "challenge and response." He identifies specific challenges, such as environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors, and explores how different societies and civilizations have adapted or failed to adapt in the face of these challenges.

Secondly, Toynbee examines the role of religious and spiritual systems as crucial determinants in shaping the destiny of civilizations. He argues that religious or spiritual fervor often serves as a unifying force during periods of growth, while its decline can signal the beginning of a civilization's decline.

Furthermore, Toynbee explores the interplay between civilizations and the impact of cultural exchange and encounters. He delves into the concept of "encounters between civilizations" and examines how these interactions, whether through conflict or mutual influence, shape the development and trajectory of societies.


"A Study of History" remains a seminal work in historiography due to its ambitious scope and interdisciplinary approach. Toynbee's work stands out for its meticulous research, extensive use of primary sources, and analytical depth. His emphasis on cultural factors and the role of ideas in shaping civilizations provides a nuanced perspective on historical processes.

The strength of Toynbee's work lies in his ability to integrate diverse historical narratives into a comprehensive framework. By drawing upon a wide range of case studies, he establishes a foundation for understanding the cyclical patterns and dynamics of civilizations. Moreover, Toynbee's emphasis on the role of challenge and response provides a valuable lens through which to analyze historical events and processes.

However, "A Study of History" has also attracted criticism. Some scholars have questioned the generalizability of Toynbee's framework, arguing that it may not adequately account for the uniqueness and contingency of individual historical contexts. Additionally, his reliance on a teleological view of history and his focus on civilizations as the primary unit of analysis have been subjected to critique, particularly from postcolonial and subaltern perspectives.


Arnold Toynbee's "A Study of History" remains a monumental work in the field of historiography. The book's comprehensive scope, meticulous research, and interdisciplinary approach continue to provide valuable insights into the rise and fall of civilizations. While scholars may debate the applicability of Toynbee's framework and his teleological perspective, his emphasis on challenge and response, cultural factors, and the interplay between civilizations contribute to the richness of the book. "A Study of History" stands as an enduring resource for historians and scholars, inviting further inquiry and shaping discussions on the course of human development.

GPT

[J.D. Steens · Rating 1 out of 5]

Toynbee starts out strong. He acknowledges that most histories reflect nationalism (tribalism) and his task is to write an objective study involving civilizations that illustrate the universal currents of history, which he sees as the progressive movement toward freedom and Christian ("higher religion") expression, and self determination. While he touches other cultures, his focus in this volume is on Western civilization and its Greek roots.

Toynbee references a dialectical historical process that involves an imperfect creative responses to challenges. His dialectic is more akin to a Hegelian-like progression toward freedom and compassion rather than an open-ended challenge-response-resolution dialectical process that leads only to an endless cyclic (rise and fall) view of history, toward no particular end.

As to what draws history to this end of freedom and such, Toynbee believes there's a "supra-human spiritual reality" at work. How do we know that? Toynbee says that humans have the capacity to make judgments about right and wrong, and "an obligation to take sides," and that "love is perpetually striving to overcome hate," though "love's victory is not assured." This, in turn, he writes, "suggests that in and beyond and behind the Universe, as well as in a human being's conscience, there is some spiritual power that is making for good."

Other culture's might see Toynbee's conclusions, suggesting that the West and Christianity are at the vanguard of history, differently. More importantly, it could be that our capacity to choose comes from evolution, not a supra-human spiritual reality, and that such choices are based on conflicting versions of self-interest and the freedom to serve that interest. In that case, universal historical patterns may be more about perpetual tension and conflict than progression toward freedom and compassion. Toynbee's extensive scholarship is impressive, but his historic evidence can be interpreted in an alternative way.

[Doug Schreiber · Rating 3 out of 5]

To restate the obvious - Toynbee's knowledge and perception of the span of history is broad and inclusive of "the whole world." He makes salient points and the artwork that accompanies this collection of his writings is as impressive as the breadth of Toynbee's knowledge.
Toybee writes with the aura of snobbery that often accompanies such broad knowledge. He recants facts and forces ideas, but, doesn't draw consistent conclusions or assess the overall impact of his historical analysis. This wouldn't be a major flaw, except that is exaclty what he proposes to do in this collection of articles.
It is however a rewarding read, but should not be attempted if you don't already have a broad knowledge of history. He delves lightly into ideas and draws cursory insights that cannot be fully understood by his own recanting of facts.

[Chander · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb narrative in the History of how civilizations came into being with an insight of how the balances between internal stagnancy against external pressures (there was interesting a golden ratio theory to this too !!!) leads to rise and fall of civilizations, nations and societies. A must read.

[Dara Salley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually somewhat enjoyed this book, but I only made it 50% of the way through. Reading this book is like listening to a lecture by an entertaining British professor. You have to admire how certain he is in his opinions. There is no question in Toynbee's mind that Western civilization is the apogee of all civilization. He's very quick to dismiss entire millennia as "abortive" or "stagnant." I think that in the 21st century we need a new definition of success. Perhaps Western civilization is the most successful in some senses, but it has also created a world that is rapidly becoming uninhabitable due to climate change and overpopulation. Maybe some of those indigenous, "stagnant" civilizations could have something to teach us about living in harmony with the planet, instead of pursuing growth at all costs.

[Nicholas Shelokov · Rating 5 out of 5]

The seminal work of comparative history which has been thrown into the dust bin of the history departments of modern academia. Toynbee's ideas of comparative history have largely been replaced by pseudo-Hegelian and neomarxist ideas of non-narrative driven, historical progression. Having conquered the universities, the false conception of a material progression has become the predominate historical philosophy of he ruling classes who then spread that dogma to the proletarian masses through their near monopoly of "truthful" information media. The promotion of the theory of material progression over comparative histography has poisoned the well for the laboring masses, rending the philosophies Toynbee or other counter-revolutionary authors powerless in public discourse.

[Med · Rating 5 out of 5]

من فارسی اینو خوندم و میتونم بگم یکی از بی نظیر ترین کتابای تاریخ بشریت هست.فقط اینکه اصلا کتاب ظاهرا ده جلد است و امیدوارم بتونم یه روزی اصل یا ترجمه کامل رو بخونم...چیزای خیلی خیلی مهمی ازش برای زندگیم یاد گرفتم و قسمت شیطان و خداوندش هم که دیگه واقعا بی نظیره

[Giovanni Emmanuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, one of the best written on human history; one book everyone should read.

[Ricardo Andrés]

its great

[Omar Sharif]

Very informative, although some concepts were a bit new to me.