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One of the most remarkable thinkers of this century, Arnold Toynbee won world-wide recognition as the author of the monumental ten-volume A Study of History. Its publication and phenomenal success brought him fame and the highest praise, as the reading public proclaimed him the most renowned scholar in the world. This thought-provoking, engaging study of Toynbee, written by one of today's most eminent historians, weaves together Toynee's intellectual accomplishments and the personal difficulties of his private life. Providing both an intimate portrait of a leading thinker and a judicious evaluation of his work and his legacy for the the study of history, William H. McNeill offers both a biog...
Arnold Toynbee's A Study of History has been acknowledged as one of the greatest achievements of modern scholarship. A ten-volume analysis of the rise and fall of human civilizations, it is a work of breath-taking breadth and vision. D.C. Somervell's abridgement, in two volumes, of this magnificent enterprise, preserves the method, atmosphere, texture, and, in many instances, the very words of the original. Originally published in 1947 and 1957, these two volumes are themselves a great historical achievement. Volume 1, which abridges the first six volumes of Toynbee's study, includes the Introduction, The Geneses of Civilizations, and The Disintegrations of Civilizations. Volume 2, an abridgement of Volumes VII-X, includes sections on Universal States, Universal churches, Heroic Ages, Contacts Between Civilizations in Space, Contacts Between Civilizations in Time, Law and Freedom in History, The Prospects of the Western Civilization, and the Conclusion. Of Somervell's work, Toynbee wrote, "The reader now has at his command a uniform abridgement of the whole book, made by a clear mind that has not only mastered the contents but has entered into the writer's outlook and purpose."
A book by an historian about an historian is unique in this series. However, the subject of this study is not limited to the category of historian: Toynbee is also a religious thinker, a political and social philosopher, even a poet, a man of ideas, and a prolific writer. His volumes range over a multitude of subjects, including world affairs, travel, and religious and moral problems, and have had a remarkable influence on scholars as well as general readers. At eighty-three Toynbee is still writing, and his opinions on events are eagerly sought by the news media. Yet despite the reams of praise and occasional denunciation that have been written about Toynbee’s classification of civilizations, his conclusions about the role of religion in human destiny, his use of myth and metaphor as tools, no attempt has been made until now to sum up his achievements in a full-length book. Hence, this balanced and objective study is long overdue.
The first abriged one-volume edition.
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Proposes the convincing argument that negative habits can he change and must be if the global problems now confronting us are to he solved.
This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. We have represented this book in the same form as it was first published. Hence any marks seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.
Proposes the convincing argument that negative habits can he change and must be if the global problems now confronting us are to he solved.