A Study of History: Abridgement of Volumes I-VI

By Arnold Joseph Toynbee and D. C. Toynbee, Arnold J.; Somervell

Book Overview

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."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195050800
• ISBN13: 9780195050806
• Release Date: December 1987
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Magnificant

The reason why I am giving it five stars is that I cant give it 10! I didnt read the abridgement. Im still reading the actual 10 volumes. I just finished the fourth. I first came across this book while I was reading a book for Ali Shariati. Ali Shariati is usually critical of most things but he mentioned this book extremely favourably so I thought that I had to check it out. Thank God for that. Toynbee says that the greatest book ever written by man was Ibn Khaldoun's Muqadimat. I say that this book is the greatest book ever written, hands down.

Why the world is as it is now!

A key to Toynbee, fascinating in itself. This is marvelous not only for its view of World History, but as an interesting example of writing style and expository method.

Landmark Work

I won't spend time writing all the myriad ways in which I admired this work. It would take too long. If you have an intellectual bent, if you are interested in history, this work is a treasure trove.I particular admire that the author, unlike Spengler, found a space for God at the head of all that he documents; the author was not swayed by the simplistic atheistic zeitgeist of our age.

An absolute must have hardcover to pass down to your kids

Toynbee's comparative analysis of the birth life and decline of civilizations is an enlightening masterwork. The corrolations we can draw from history and apply to our own individual development are mind-blowing. A must have in hardback for any library. Takes awhile to work through, but high value added from the experience.

And you thought Nostrodomus was a prophet!

A Study of History is an excellent, lifetime study of how and why civilization progresses through time. Written in 1939, Toynbee predicts the rise of nationalism, the fall of the USSR, and victory of capitalism, and the enormous growth of Western culture. His central theme is simple yet true: civilizations advance by overcoming outside challenges and internal stagnation. Read this once per lifetime.