Toynbee, Arnold Joseph (1889-1975), was a famous British historian. His outline of civilizations, A Study of History, was published in 12 volumes from 1934 to 1961. Toynbee divided world history into 26 civilizations and traced their rise, decline, and fall. He explained that the rise and fall of these civilizations resulted from repeating “patterns” in which similar “challenges” were met with similar “responses.” See Civilization (Rise and fall) .
Toynbee’s original and bold approach to world history had a wide appeal. A two-volume abridgment of his great work sold widely in the United States and Europe. His writings include a number of volumes dealing with social-historical problems, such as Nationality and the War (1915), Civilization on Trial (1948), and The World and the West (1953).
Toynbee was born on April 14, 1889, in London. He studied at Oxford University and at the British Archaeological School at Athens, Greece. Toynbee became a professor of international history at the University of London in 1925. He died on Oct. 22, 1975. Toynbee’s uncle Arnold Toynbee was a well-known social reformer and economist.
