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Arnold Joseph Toynbee (; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a
philosopher of history Philosophy of history is the philosophical study of history and its discipline. The term was coined by the French philosopher Voltaire. In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between the ''speculative'' philosophy of history and ...
, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
and
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
. From 1918 to 1950, Toynbee was considered a leading specialist on
international affairs International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
; from 1929 to 1956 he was the Director of Studies at
Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...
, in which position he also produced 34 volumes of the ''Survey of International Affairs,'' a "bible" for international specialists in Britain. He is best known for his 12-volume ''
A Study of History A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
'' (1934–1961). With his prodigious output of papers, articles, speeches and presentations, and numerous books translated into many languages, Toynbee was widely read and discussed in the 1940s and 1950s.


Biography


Early life and education

Toynbee was born on 14 April 1889 in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, to Harry Valpy Toynbee (1861–1941), secretary of the
Charity Organization Society The Charity Organisation Societies were founded in England in 1869 following the ' Goschen Minute' that sought to severely restrict outdoor relief distributed by the Poor Law Guardians along the lines of the Elberfeld system. In the early 1870s, ...
, and his wife Sarah Edith Marshall (1859–1939). His mother took the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in English history at Cambridge University, when
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
for women was unusual and before women were allowed to graduate from the university, and his sister
Jocelyn Toynbee Jocelyn Mary Catherine Toynbee, (3 March 1897 – 31 December 1985) was an English archaeologist and art historian. "In the mid-twentieth century she was the leading British scholar in Roman artistic studies and one of the recognized authoriti ...
was an archaeologist and art historian. Arnold Toynbee was a grandson of
Joseph Toynbee Joseph Toynbee FRS (30 December 1815 Another son, Harry Valpy Toynbee (1861–1941), was the father of universal historian Arnold J. Toynbee, and archaeologist and art historian Jocelyn Toynbee. He died on 7 July 1866, at 18, Savile Row, ...
, a nephew of the 19th-century economist Arnold Toynbee (1852–1883), and a descendant of prominent British intellectuals for several generations. Having won a scholarship, he was educated at
Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
, an all-boys
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
in Winchester, Hampshire. From 1907 to 1911, having won a scholarship to Oxford University, he read '' literae humaniores'' (i.e.
classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
) at
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
. Early in Toynbee's degree, his father suffered a nervous collapse and was
institutionalised In sociology, institutionalisation (or institutionalization) is the process of embedding some conception (for example a belief, norm, social role, particular value or mode of behavior) within an organization, social system, or society as a wh ...
, causing financial difficulties for the family. Regardless, Toynbee achieved
first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...
in ''mods'' and in ''greats'' and graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
(BA) degree. From 1911 to 1912, he toured Italy and Greece to study the classical landscape and remains that "he had thitherto known only through books".


Career

In 1912, having returned from his travels, Toynbee was elected a
fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
of his ''alma mater'' Balliol College, Oxford, and appointed a tutor in ancient history. Unusually for a British classical scholar of that time, his interests crossed Greek and Roman civilisation, and ranged from
Bronze Age Greece Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades an ...
to the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. He also combined traditional classical literary scholarship with the emerging discipline of classical archaeology.


First World War

At the start of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Toynbee was found, because of a bout of
dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...
after his return from Greece, to be unfit for military service. In 1915, he began working for the intelligence department of the
British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...
. He worked under
Viscount Bryce A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a Title#Aristocratic titles, title used in certain European countries for a nobility, noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case ...
to investigate the Ottoman atrocities against the Armenians and wrote a number of pro- Allied propaganda leaflets.


Paris Peace Conference

He served as a delegate to the
Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...
in 1919, where he helped shape the
Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres () was a 1920 treaty signed between some of the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire, but not ratified. The treaty would have required the cession of large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, ...
. He was present at the meeting at the Hotel Majestic when
Lionel Curtis Lionel George Curtis (1872–1955) was a British internationalist and author. He was the inspiration for the foundation of Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs) as well as the US Council On Foreign Relations at the P ...
proposed the formation of an Institute of International Affairs, resulting in the formation of
Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...
in London and
The Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with longstanding ties to pol ...
in New York.


Historian and Director of Studies

Following the end of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he returned to the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, specialising in the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
and
Modern Greek studies Hellenic studies (also Greek studies) is an interdisciplinary scholarly field that focuses on the language, literature, history and politics of post-classical Greece. In university, a wide range of courses expose students to viewpoints that help ...
and being appointed to the Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
in 1919. He was forced to resign from the chair in 1924, following his reporting on the Turco-Greek War in Asia Minor for the Manchester Guardian. Having witnessed the atrocities of the War in close proximity, he abandoned his Philhellene political stance. However, the Koraes chair was being funded by the Greek government and Toynbee's chair had been inaugurated with Venizelos in attendance. Toynbee's subsequent political resolution concerning the war in Asia Minor led to his dismissal from the position at King's College. (see subsection on Greece below). In 1921 and 1922 he was the ''
Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' correspondent during the Greco-Turkish War, an experience that resulted in the publication of ''The Western Question in Greece and Turkey''. In 1925 he became Research Professor of International History at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. In 1929 he became Director of Studies at the
Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...
(
Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...
), a post he held until 1956.Chatham House: Its history and Inhabitants C.E. Carrington and Mary Bone, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2004. p115 He was elected a
Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...
(FBA) in 1937. He was elected an International Member of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 1941 and an International Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1949.


Personal life

His first marriage was to
Rosalind Murray Rosalind Murray (1890–1967) was a British-born writer and novelist known for ''The Happy Tree'' and ''The Leading Note''. Biography Murray's parents were the classical scholar Gilbert Murray (1866–1957) and Lady Mary Henrietta Howard (186 ...
(1890–1967), daughter of
Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greec ...
, in 1913; they had three sons, of whom
Philip Toynbee Theodore Philip Toynbee (25 June 1916 – 15 June 1981) was a British writer and communist. He wrote experimental novels, and distinctive verse novels, one of which was an epic called ''Pantaloon'', a work in several volumes, only some of whi ...
was the second. Their son Lawrence (born 1922) was a painter and married Jean Constance Asquith, granddaughter of Prime Minister
H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...
. Arnold and Rosalind divorced in 1946; Toynbee then married his research assistant, Veronica M. Boulter (1893-1980), in the same year. He died on 22 October 1975, age 86.


Views on the post-World War I peace settlement and geopolitical situation

In his 1915 book ''Nationality & the War'', Toynbee argued that any eventual postwar peace settlement should be guided by the principle of
nationality Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation, defined as a group of people organized in one country, under one legal jurisdiction, or as a group of people who are united on the basis of culture. In international law, n ...
. In Chapter IV of his 1916
book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
''The New Europe: Essays in Reconstruction'', Toynbee argued against the competing principle of "natural borders." Toynbee encouraged the use of
plebiscites A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advi ...
for the allocation of disputed territories, an idea brought to fruition by the postwar use of plebiscites. In his 1915 book ''Nationality & the War'', Toynbee offered various elaborate proposals and predictions for the future of various countries, both European and non-European. For example, he advocated an autonomous Poland in a federal arrangement with Russia, the retention of Austro-Hungarian dominion over Czech and Slovak lands, Austro-Hungarian relinquishment of Galicia,
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
, and
Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...
, independence for
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
,
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
, and
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
, the division of
Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...
between Russia and Romania and joint use by those two countries of the port of
Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
, Russian acquisition of
Outer Mongolia Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gained ''de facto'' ...
and the
Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...
in central Asia and of
Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...
and the Armenian Vilayets in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, a strong, independent, central government in Persia. and a Russo-British partitioning of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
.


Academic and cultural influence

Michael Lang says that for much of the twentieth century, In his best-known work, ''
A Study of History A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
'', published 1934–1961, Toynbee
examined the rise and fall of 26 civilisations in the course of human history, and he concluded that they rose by responding successfully to challenges under the leadership of creative minorities composed of elite leaders.
''A Study of History'' was both a commercial and an academic success. In the US alone, more than 7,000 sets of the ten-volume edition were sold by 1955. A 1947 one-volume 1947 abridgement by David Churchill Somervell of the first six volumes sold over 300,000 copies in the US. Toynbee appeared on the cover of ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine in 1947, with an article describing his work as "the most provocative work of historical theory written in England since Karl Marx's ''Capital''". He became a regular commentator for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
on the then-current hostility between east and west and on non-western views of the western world. Toynbee's overall theory was taken up by some scholars, such as
Ernst Robert Curtius Ernst Robert Curtius (; 14 April 1886 – 19 April 1956) was a German literary scholar, philologist, and Romance languages literary critic, best known for his 1948 study ''Europäische Literatur und Lateinisches Mittelalter'', translated in E ...
, as a sort of paradigm in the post-war period. In the opening pages of his own study of
medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...
literature, Curtius wrote: :How do cultures, and the historical entities which are their media, arise, grow and decay? Only a comparative morphology with exact procedures can hope to answer these questions. It was Arnold J. Toynbee who undertook the task. After 1960, Toynbee's ideas faded in both academia and in popular culture. His work is seldom cited today. In general, historians pointed to his preference for myths, allegories, and religion over factual data. His critics argued that his conclusions are more those of a Christian moralist than of a historian. In his 2011 article for the ''Journal of History'' titled "Globalization and Global History in Toynbee," historian Michael Lang wrote: :To many world historians today, Arnold J. Toynbee is regarded like an embarrassing uncle at a house party. He gets a requisite introduction by virtue of his place on the family tree, but he is quickly passed over for other friends and relatives. Toynbee's work continues to be referenced by some classical historians because "his training and surest touch is in the world of classical antiquity." His roots in classical literature are also manifested by similarities between his approach and that of classical historians such as
Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
and
Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...
.
Comparative history Comparative history is the comparison of different societies which existed during the same time period or shared similar cultural conditions. The comparative history of societies emerged as an important specialty among intellectuals in the Enlight ...
, in which his work is often categorised, has been in the doldrums. Toynbee is thanked in the acknowledgment section of Mark Lane's ''
Rush to Judgment ''Rush to Judgment: A Critique of the Warren Commission's Inquiry into the Murders of President John F. Kennedy, Officer J.D. Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald'' is a 1966 book by American lawyer Mark Lane. It is about the assassination of United S ...
'' (1966), which critiques the official explanation of the
assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...
, for having been "kind enough to read the manuscript and make suggestions" to the book.


Political influence in foreign policy

While the writing of the Study was underway, Toynbee produced numerous smaller works and served as Director of Studies of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, (from 1929 to 1956). He also retained his position at the London School of Economics until his retirement in 1956.


Foreign Office and Paris Peace Conference 1919

Toynbee worked for the Political Intelligence Department of the
British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...
during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and served as a delegate to the
Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...
in 1919.


Chatham House

He was Director of Studies at
Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...
from 1929 to 1956. Toynbee was co-editor with his research assistant, Veronica M. Boulter, of the RIIA's annual ''Survey of International Affairs,'' from 1922 to 1956. It became the "bible" for international specialists in Britain.


Chatham House's World War II Foreign Press and Research Service

At the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the institute was decentralised for security reasons, with many of the staff moving to
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
from Chatham House's main buildings in
St James's Square St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian architecture, Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was ...
. There, the Foreign Press and Research Service of the Institute worked closely with the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
to provide intelligence for and to work closely with the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
dedicating their research to the war effort under the Chairmanship of
Waldorf Astor Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor, Deputy Lieutenant, DL (19 May 1879 – 30 September 1952) was an American-born English politician and newspaper proprietor. He was a member of the Astor family. He was active in minor political roles. He was d ...
. The formal remit of Chatham House for the FPRS at Balliol was:
1. To review the press overseas.
2. To “produce at the request of the Foreign Office, and the Service and other Departments, memoranda giving the historical and political background on any given situation on which information is desired”.
3. “To provide information on special points desired" (in regards to each country). It provided various reports on foreign press, historical and political background of the enemy and various other topics. Many eminent historians served on the FPRS under Arnold J. Toynbee as its Director and with
Lionel Curtis Lionel George Curtis (1872–1955) was a British internationalist and author. He was the inspiration for the foundation of Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs) as well as the US Council On Foreign Relations at the P ...
(represented the Chairman) at Oxford until 1941 when
Ivison Macadam Sir Ivison Stevenson Macadam (18 July 1894 – 22 December 1974) was the first Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and the founding President of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom), Nat ...
took over the role from Curtis. There were four deputy directors. The four Deputy Directors were
Alfred Zimmern Sir Alfred Eckhard Zimmern (26 January 1879 – 24 November 1957) was an English classical scholar, historian, and political scientist writing on international relations. A British policymaker during World War I and a prominent liberal thinker, ...
, George N. Clark, Herbert J. Patton and Charles K. Webster and a number of experts in its nineteen divisions. It was moved to the Foreign Office 1943–46.


Meeting Hitler

While on a visit in Berlin in 1936 to address the Law Society, Toynbee was invited to a private interview with
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
at Hitler's request. During the interview, which was held a day before Toynbee delivered his lecture, Hitler emphasized his limited expansionist aim of building a greater German nation, and his desire for British understanding and co-operation with Nazi Germany. Hitler also suggested Germany could be an ally to Britain in the Asia-Pacific region if Germany's Pacific colonial empire were restored. Toynbee believed that Hitler was sincere and endorsed Hitler's message in a confidential memorandum for the British prime minister and foreign secretary. Toynbee presented his lecture in English, but copies of it were circulated in German by Nazi officials, and it was warmly received by his Berlin audience who appreciated its conciliatory tone.
Tracy Philipps James Erasmus Tracy Philipps (20 November 1888 – 21 July 1959) was a British public servant. Philipps was, in various guises, a soldier, colonial administrator, traveller, journalist, propagandist, conservationist, and secret agent. He served ...
, a British 'diplomat' stationed in Berlin at the time, later informed Toynbee that it 'was an eager topic of discussion everywhere'. Back home, some of Toynbee's colleagues were dismayed by his attempts at managing Anglo-German relations.


Russia

Toynbee was troubled by the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
since he saw Russia as a non-Western society and the revolution as a threat to Western society. In 1952, he argued that the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
had been a victim of Western aggression. He portrayed the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
as a religious competition that pitted a Marxist materialist heresy against the West's spiritual Christian heritage, which had already been foolishly rejected by a secularised West. A heated debate ensued, and an editorial in ''The Times'' promptly attacked Toynbee for treating communism as a "spiritual force".


Greece

Toynbee was a leading analyst of developments in the Middle East. His support for Greece and hostility to the Turks during World War I had gained him an appointment to the Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History at King's College, University of London.


Middle East

His stance during World War I reflected less sympathy for the Arab cause and took a pro-Zionist outlook. Toynbee investigated
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
in 1915 at the Information Department of the Foreign Office, and in 1917 he published a memorandum with his colleague
Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were '' The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ame ...
which supported exclusive Jewish political rights in Ottoman Palestine. He expressed support for Jewish immigration to
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, which he believed had "begun to recover its ancient prosperity" as a result. Historian Isaiah Friedman felt Toynbee had been influenced by the Palestine Arab delegation which was visiting London in 1922. His subsequent writings reveal his changing outlook on the subject, and by the late 1940s he had moved away from the Zionist concept taking into account the Palestine Arabs' tenure. Toynbee maintained that the Jewish people had neither historic nor legal claims to Palestine, stating that the Arab "population's human rights to their homes and property over-ride all other rights in cases where claims conflict." Toynbee did concede that Jews, "being the only surviving representatives of any of the pre-Arab inhabitants of Palestine, had a further claim to a national home in Palestine," but even so Toynbee felt the
Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...
had guaranteed that such a claim was valid "only in so far as it can be implemented without injury to the rights and to the legitimate interests of the native Arab population of Palestine." Although not the official view of Chatham House which discussed numerous opinions on the then evolving situation, Toynbee came to be known, by his own admission, as "the Western spokesman for the Arab cause." The views Toynbee expressed in the 1950s continued to oppose the formation of a Jewish state, partly out of his concern that it would increase the risk of Middle East conflict with the Jews and Arabs and could lead to a nuclear confrontation.Toynbee in his article "Jewish Rights in Palestine", challenged the views of the editor of the
Jewish Quarterly Review ''The Jewish Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. It is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (University of P ...
, historian and talmudic scholar
Solomon Zeitlin Solomon Zeitlin (28 May 1886 or 31 May 1892 – 28 December 1976) was an American Jewish historian, Talmudic scholar and in his time the world's leading authority on the Second Commonwealth, also known as the Second Temple period. His work ''Th ...
, who published his rebuke, "Jewish Rights in Eretz Israel (Palestine)" in the same issue. However, as a result of Toynbee's debate in January 1961 with
Yaakov Herzog Yaakov Herzog (; 11 December 1921 – 9 March 1972) was an Irish-born Israeli diplomat. Biography Yaakov Herzog was born in Dublin, Ireland. His father was Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, the second Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and his mother Sarah ...
, the Israeli ambassador to Canada, Toynbee softened his view and called on Israel, by then established, to fulfil its special "mission to make contributions to worldwide efforts to prevent the outbreak of nuclear war."


Zionism and antisemitism

Though Toynbee co-authoured papers with and commissioned articles from Jewish scholars, and included Jewish friends among those whom he praised in his book ''Acquaintances'', Toynbee's views on Judaism and Middle East politics prompted allegations of antisemitism.
Abba Eban Abba Solomon Meir Eban (; ; born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban; 2 February 1915 – 17 November 2002) was a History of the Jews in South Africa, South African-born Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages. D ...
's 1955 speech ''The Toynbee Heresy'', for example, bases the accusation of antisemitism on, among other things, the allegedly negative portrayal of Judaism in ''
A Study of History A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
'', Toynbee's frequent use of the adjective ''Judaic'' to describe episodes of "extreme brutality" even where Jews were not involved, as in the
Gothic persecution of Christians There is a record of Gothic persecution of Christians in the third century. According to Basil of Caesarea, some prisoners taken captive in a Gothic raid on Cappadocia around 260 preached the gospel to their captors and were martyred. One of their ...
, Toynbee's reference to the Jewish presence in Palestine at the time of the publication of ''A Study of History'' as merely a "fossil remnant", his portrayal of Judaism as fanatical and provincial and as having advanced the cause of civilization only as a seedbed for Christianity, his view that Zionism offends Jewish piety by attempting to effect a return to the Mideast through secular means rather than entrusting it to a divinely promised Messiah, and certain troubling passages in Toynbee's ''oeuvres'', such as a passage in Vol.8 of ''A Study of History'' in which Toynbee wrote that, "On the Day of Judgement, the gravest crime standing to the German National Socialists' account might be, not that they had exterminated a majority of the Western Jews, but that they had caused the surviving remnant of Jewry to stumble."


Dialogue with Daisaku Ikeda

In 1971 and 1973, Toynbee met and corresponded with
Daisaku Ikeda was a Japanese Buddhist leader, author, educator and nuclear disarmament advocate. He served as the third president and then honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, which is considered among the largest of Japan's new religious movements but ...
, president of the
Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organization founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai. It is run by two vice-presidents, including Hiromasa Ikeda, son of the founder. It c ...
. Their dialogue was later edited and presented in the form of a book, ''Choose Life''. His reputation was growing in Japan long before Ikeda made his approach. Toynbee took Japanese culture and history seriously. He was pessimistic about the fate of western civilization. He was genuinely interested in religions such as Shinto and, particularly, Buddhism ... and the late 1960s was an era of 'New Age' gurus such as Buckminster Fuller and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Toynbee was starting to play such a role for Japan, whether Ikeda had approached him or not, writes historian Louis Turner. In 1984 his granddaughter
Polly Toynbee Mary Louisa "Polly" Toynbee (; born 27 December 1946) is a British journalist and writer. She has been a columnist for ''The Guardian'' newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and was a candidate for the Social Democratic Party in the 19 ...
wrote an article for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' attributing her late grandfather's association with Ikeda as a consequence of his old age, frailty and trusting nature.


Challenge and response

With the civilisations as units identified, he presented the history of each in terms of challenge-and-response, a process he proposed as a scientific law of history. Civilizations arose in response to some set of extreme challenges, when "creative minorities" devised new solutions that reoriented their entire society. Challenges and responses were physical, as when the
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...
ians exploited the intractable swamps of southern
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
by organising the Neolithic inhabitants into a society capable of carrying out large-scale irrigation projects; or social, as when the Catholic Church resolved the chaos of post-Roman Europe by enrolling the new Germanic kingdoms in a single religious community. When civilisations responded to challenges, they grew; but they disintegrated when their leaders stopped responding creatively, sinking into nationalism, militarism, and the tyranny of a despotic minority. According to an Editor's Note in an edition of Toynbee's ''A Study of History,'' Toynbee believed that societies always die from suicide or murder rather than natural causes; and nearly always the former. He sees the growth and decline of civilizations as a spiritual process, writing that "Man achieves civilization, not as a result of superior biological endowment or geographical environment, but as a response to a challenge in a situation of special difficulty which rouses him to make a hitherto unprecedented effort."


Toynbee Prize Foundation

Named after Arnold J. Toynbee, the oynbee PrizeFoundation was chartered in 1987 'to contribute to the development of the
social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...
, as defined from a broad historical view of human society and of human and social problems.' In addition to awarding the Toynbee Prize, the foundation sponsors scholarly engagement with global history through sponsorship of sessions at the annual meeting of the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...
, of international conferences, of the journal ''New Global Studies'' and of the Global History Forum.
The Toynbee Prize is an honorary award, recognising social scientists for significant
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
and public contributions to humanity. Currently, it is awarded every other year for work that makes a significant contribution to the study of global history. The recipients have been
Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; ; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his ...
, Lord Kenneth Clark, Sir
Ralf Dahrendorf Ralf Gustav Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf, (; 1 May 1929 – 17 June 2009) was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, political scientist and liberal politician. A class conflict theorist, Dahrendorf was a leading expert on explaining an ...
,
Natalie Zemon Davis Natalie Zemon Davis, (November 8, 1928 – October 21, 2023) was an American-Canadian historian of the early modern period. She was the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History at Princeton University. Her work originally focused on France, but ...
,
Albert Hirschman Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...
,
George Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...
,
Bruce Mazlish Bruce Mazlish (September 15, 1923 – November 27, 2016) was an American historian who was a professor in the Department of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work focused on historiography and philosophy of history, history ...
, J. R. McNeill, William McNeill,
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...
,
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. ( ; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a ...
,
Barbara Ward Barbara Mary Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, (23 May 1914 – 31 May 1981) was a British economist and writer interested in the problems of developing countries. She urged Western governments to share their prosperity with the rest of t ...
, Lady Jackson, Sir Brian Urquhart,
Michael Adas Michael Adas (born 1943) is an American historian and author known for his contributions to Global History, the History of technology, and colonial and post-colonial studies. He is Professor Emeritus of History at Rutgers University, where he h ...
,
Christopher Bayly Sir Christopher Alan Bayly, FBA, FRSL (18 May 1945 – 18 April 2015) was a British historian specialising in British Imperial, Indian and global history. From 1992 to 2013, he was Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at ...
, and
Jürgen Osterhammel Jürgen Osterhammel (born 1952 in Wipperfürth, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German historian specialized in Chinese and world history. He is professor emeritus at the University of Konstanz. Academia Osterhammel started his academic career as ...
.


Toynbee's works

*''The Armenian Atrocities: The Murder of a Nation, with a speech delivered by
Lord Bryce James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, (10 May 1838 – 22 January 1922), was a British academic, jurist, historian, and Liberal politician. According to Keith Robbins, he was a widely traveled authority on law, government, and history whose expe ...
in the House of Lords'' (Hodder & Stoughton 1915) *''Nationality and the War'' (Dent 1915) *''The New Europe: Some Essays in Reconstruction, with an Introduction by the
Earl of Cromer Earl of Cromer is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, held by members of the British branch of the Anglo-German Baring banking family. It was created in 1901 for Evelyn Baring, 1st Viscount Cromer, long time British Consul-General ...
'' (Dent 1915)
Contributor, Greece
in
''British View of the Ukrainian Question''
(Ukrainian Federation of U.S., New York, 1916) *Editor, ''
The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
, 1915–1916: Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Viscount Bryce, with a Preface by
Viscount Bryce A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a Title#Aristocratic titles, title used in certain European countries for a nobility, noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case ...
'' (Hodder & Stoughton and His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1916) *''The Destruction of Poland: A Study in German Efficiency'' (1916) *''The Belgian Deportations, with a statement by Viscount Bryce'' (T. Fisher Unwin 1917) *''The German Terror in Belgium: An Historical Record'' (Hodder & Stoughton 1917) *''The German Terror in France: An Historical Record'' (Hodder & Stoughton 1917) *''Turkey: A Past and a Future'' (Hodder & Stoughton 1917)
''The Western Question in Greece and Turkey: A Study in the Contact of Civilizations'' (Constable 1922)
*Introduction and translations, ''Greek Civilization and Character: The Self-Revelation of Ancient Greek Society'' (Dent 1924) *Introduction and translations, ''Greek Historical Thought from Homer to the Age of Heraclius, with two pieces newly translated by Gilbert Murray'' (Dent 1924) *Contributor, ''The Non-Arab Territories of the Ottoman Empire since the Armistice of 30 October 1918'', in H. W. V. Temperley (editor), ''A History of the Peace Conference of Paris'', Vol. VI (Oxford University Press under the auspices of the British Institute of International Affairs 1924) *''The World after the Peace Conference, Being an Epilogue to the "History of the Peace Conference of Paris" and a Prologue to the "Survey of International Affairs, 1920–1923"'' (Oxford University Press under the auspices of the British Institute of International Affairs 1925). Published on its own, but Toynbee writes that it was "originally written as an introduction to the Survey of International Affairs in 1920–1923, and was intended for publication as part of the same volume". *With Kenneth P. Kirkwood, ''Turkey'' (Benn 1926, in Modern Nations series edited by
H. A. L. Fisher Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher H.A.L. Fisher: ''A History of Europe, Volume II: From the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century to 1935'', Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1984, p. i. (21 March 1865 – 18 April 1940) was an English historian, educator, a ...
) *''The Conduct of British Empire Foreign Relations since the Peace Settlement'' (Oxford University Press under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs 1928) *''A Journey to China, or Things Which Are Seen'' (Constable 1931) *Editor, ''British Commonwealth Relations, Proceedings of the First Unofficial Conference at Toronto, 11–21 September 1933'', with a foreword by Robert L. Borden (Oxford University Press under the joint auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the Canadian Institute of International Affairs 1934)
''A Study of History''
**Vol I: Introduction; The Geneses of Civilizations **Vol II: The Geneses of Civilizations **Vol III: The Growths of Civilizations ::(Oxford University Press 1934) *Editor, with J. A. K. Thomson, ''Essays in Honour of Gilbert Murray'' (George Allen & Unwin 1936)
''A Study of History''
** Vol IV: The Breakdowns of Civilizations ** Vol V: The Disintegrations of Civilizations **Vol VI: The Disintegrations of Civilizations ::(Oxford University Press 1939) * D. C. Somervell, ''A Study of History: Abridgement of Vols I-VI'', with a preface by Toynbee (Oxford University Press 1946) *''Civilization on Trial'' (Oxford University Press 1948) *''The Prospects of Western Civilization'' (New York, Columbia University Press 1949). Lectures delivered at Columbia University on themes from a then-unpublished part of ''A Study of History''. Published "by arrangement with Oxford University Press in an edition limited to 400 copies and not to be reissued". * Albert Vann Fowler (editor), ''War and Civilization, Selections from A Study of History'', with a preface by Toynbee (New York, Oxford University Press 1950) *Introduction and translations, ''Twelve Men of Action in Greco-Roman History'' (Boston, Beacon Press 1952). Extracts from
Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...
,
Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
,
Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
and
Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...
. *''The World and the West'' (Oxford University Press 1953).
Reith Lecture The Reith Lectures is a series of annual BBC radio lectures given by leading figures of the day. They are commissioned by the BBC and broadcast on Radio 4 and the World Service. The lectures were inaugurated in 1948 to mark the historic contrib ...
s for 1952.
''A Study of History''
**Vol VII: Universal States; Universal Churches **Vol VIII: Heroic Ages; Contacts between Civilizations in Space **Vol IX: Contacts between Civilizations in Time; Law and Freedom in History; The Prospects of the Western Civilization **Vol X: The Inspirations of Historians; A Note on Chronology ::(Oxford University Press 1954) *''An Historian's Approach to Religion'' (Oxford University Press 1956).
Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford at the four ancient universities of Scotland: St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Their purpose is to "pro ...
,
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, 1952–1953. *D. C. Somervell, ''A Study of History: Abridgement of Vols VII-X'', with a preface by Toynbee (Oxford University Press 1957) *''Christianity among the Religions of the World'' (New York, Scribner 1957; London, Oxford University Press 1958). Hewett Lectures, delivered in 1956. *''Democracy in the Atomic Age'' (Melbourne, Oxford University Press under the auspices of the Australian Institute of International Affairs 1957). Dyason Lectures, delivered in 1956. *''East to West: A Journey round the World'' (Oxford University Press 1958) *''Hellenism: The History of a Civilization'' (Oxford University Press 1959, in Home University Library) *With Edward D. Myers
''A Study of History''
**Vol XI: Historical Atlas and Gazetteer ::(Oxford University Press 1959) *D. C. Somervell, ''A Study of History: Abridgement of Vols I-X in one volume'', with a new preface by Toynbee and new tables (Oxford University Press 1960)

**Vol XII: Reconsiderations ::(Oxford University Press 1961) *''Between
Oxus The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...
and Jumna'' (Oxford University Press 1961). Account of a journey made in North-West India, West Pakistan and Afghanistan during the early months of 1960. *''America and the World Revolution'' (Oxford University Press 1962). Public lectures delivered at the University of Pennsylvania, spring 1961. *''The Economy of the Western Hemisphere'' (Oxford University Press 1962). Weatherhead Foundation Lectures delivered at the University of Puerto Rico, February 1962. *''The Present-Day Experiment in Western Civilization'' (Oxford University Press 1962). Beatty Memorial Lectures delivered at McGill University, Montreal, 1961. ::''The three sets of lectures published separately in the UK in 1962 appeared in New York in the same year in one volume under the title America and the World Revolution and Other Lectures, Oxford University Press.'' *''Universal States'' (New York, Oxford University Press 1963). Separate publication of part of Vol VII of A Study of History. *With
Philip Toynbee Theodore Philip Toynbee (25 June 1916 – 15 June 1981) was a British writer and communist. He wrote experimental novels, and distinctive verse novels, one of which was an epic called ''Pantaloon'', a work in several volumes, only some of whi ...
, ''Comparing Notes: A Dialogue across a Generation'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1963). "Conversations between Arnold Toynbee and his son, Philip … as they were recorded on tape." *''Between
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
and
Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
'' (Oxford University Press 1965) *''Hannibal's Legacy: The Hannibalic War's Effects on Roman Life'' **Vol I: Rome and Her Neighbours before Hannibal's Entry **Vol II: Rome and Her Neighbours after Hannibal's Exit ::(Oxford University Press 1965) *''Change and Habit: The Challenge of Our Time'' (Oxford University Press 1966). Partly based on lectures given at
University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...
in the last quarter of 1964, and at
New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public university, public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida, United States. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. New College has the smallest student enrollment in the State U ...
and the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee in the first quarter of 1965. *''Acquaintances'' (Oxford University Press 1967) *''Between Maule and
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
'' (Oxford University Press 1967) *Editor, ''Cities of Destiny'' (Thames & Hudson 1967) *Editor and principal contributor, ''Man's Concern with Death'' (Hodder & Stoughton 1968) *Editor, ''The Crucible of Christianity: Judaism, Hellenism and the Historical Background to the Christian Faith'' (Thames & Hudson 1969) *''Experiences'' (Oxford University Press 1969) *''Some Problems of Greek History'' (Oxford University Press 1969) *''Cities on the Move'' (Oxford University Press 1970). Sponsored by the Institute of Urban Environment of the School of Architecture, Columbia University. *''Surviving the Future'' (Oxford University Press 1971). Rewritten version of a dialogue between Toynbee and Professor Kei Wakaizumi of
Kyoto Sangyo University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. It is one university that belongs to "San-Kin-Ko-Ryu" (産近甲龍), a group of semi-major private universities in the Kansai area. History The university was established in 1965 by Toshima Araki (, ...
: essays preceded by questions by Wakaizumi. *With Jane Caplan, ''A Study of History'', new one-volume abridgement, with new material and revisions and, for the first time, illustrations (Oxford University Press and Thames & Hudson 1972) *''
Constantine Porphyrogenitus Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...
and His World'' (Oxford University Press 1973) *''Editor, Half the World: The History and Culture of China and Japan'' (Thames & Hudson 1973) *''Toynbee on Toynbee: A Conversation between Arnold J. Toynbee and G. R. Urban'' (New York, Oxford University Press 1974) *''Mankind and Mother Earth: A Narrative History of the World'' (Oxford University Press 1976), posthumous * Richard L. Gage (editor), ''The Toynbee-Ikeda Dialogue: Man Himself Must Choose'' (Oxford University Press 1976), posthumous. The record of a conversation lasting several days. * E. W. F. Tomlin (editor), ''Arnold Toynbee: A Selection from His Works'', with an introduction by Tomlin (Oxford University Press 1978), posthumous. Includes advance extracts from ''The Greeks and Their Heritages''. *''The Greeks and Their Heritages'' (Oxford University Press 1981), posthumous * Christian B. Peper (editor), ''An Historian's Conscience: The Correspondence of Arnold J. Toynbee and
Columba Cary-Elwes Dom Columba Cary-Elwes, OSB (born Charles Evelyn George Cary-Elwes; 6 November 1903 – 22 January 1994) was an English Benedictine monk who professed vows at Ampleforth Abbey in York, England. As a missionary he travelled to Uganda, Tanzania ...
, Monk of
Ampleforth Ampleforth is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. The village is situated on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. The parish has a population of 883 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 1, ...
'', with a foreword by Lawrence L. Toynbee (Oxford University Press by arrangement with Beacon Press, Boston 1987), posthumous *''The Survey of International Affairs'' was published by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs between 1925 and 1977 and covered the years 1920–1963. Toynbee wrote, with assistants, the Pre-War Series (covering the years 1920–1938) and the War-Time Series (1938–1946), and contributed introductions to the first two volumes of the Post-War Series (1947–1948 and 1949–1950). His actual contributions varied in extent from year to year. *A complementary series, ''Documents on International Affairs'', covering the years 1928–1963, was published by Oxford University Press between 1929 and 1973. Toynbee supervised the compilation of the first of the 1939–1946 volumes, and wrote a preface for both that and the 1947–1948 volume.


See also

*
Fernand Braudel Fernand Paul Achille Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' (1955–79), and the un ...
*
Christopher Dawson Christopher Henry Dawson (12 October 188925 May 1970) was an English Catholic historian, independent scholar, who wrote many books on cultural history and emphasized the necessity for Western culture to be in continuity with Christianity not ...
*
Will Durant William James Durant (; November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American historian and philosopher, best known for his eleven-volume work, '' The Story of Civilization'', which contains and details the history of Eastern and Western civil ...
*
Historic recurrence Historic recurrence is the repetition of similar events in history. The concept of historic recurrence has variously been applied to overall human history (''e.g.'', to the rises and falls of empires), to repetitive patterns in the history of ...
*
Carroll Quigley Carroll Quigley (; November 9, 1910 – January 3, 1977) was an American historian and theorist of the evolution of civilizations. He is remembered for his teaching work as a professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown Univer ...
*
Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German polymath whose areas of interest included history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best know ...
*
Toynbee tiles The Toynbee tiles, also called Toynbee plaques, are messages of unknown origin found embedded in Asphalt concrete, asphalt of streets in about two dozen major cities in the United States and three South American cities. Since the 1980s, several ...
*
Eric Voegelin Eric Voegelin (born Erich Hermann Wilhelm Vögelin, ; January 3, 1901 – January 19, 1985) was a German-American political philosopher. He was born in Cologne, and educated in political science at the University of Vienna, where he became an ass ...
*
World history Human history or world history is the record of humankind from prehistory to the present. Early modern human, Modern humans evolved in Africa around 300,000 years ago and initially lived as hunter-gatherers. They Early expansions of hominin ...


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

*
online from ACLS E-Books


Further reading

* Beacock, Ian.
Humanist among machines – As the dreams of Silicon Valley fill our world, could the dowdy historian Arnold Toynbee help prevent a nightmare?
' (March 2016), ''
Aeon The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...
'' * Ben-Israel, Hedva. "Debates With Toynbee:
Herzog (; feminine ; masculine plural ; feminine plural ) is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to ...
, Talmon, Friedman", ''Israel Studies'', Spring 2006, Vol. 11 Issue 1, pp. 79–90 * Brewin, Christopher. "Arnold Toynbee, Chatham House, and Research in a Global Context", in David Long and Peter Wilson, eds. ''Thinkers of the Twenty Years' Crisis: Inter-War Idealism Reassessed'' (1995) pp. 277–302. * Chrissochoidis, Ilias
"'But I mustn't let myself be a Philhellene': Arnold J. Toynbee's unpublished correspondence in the Hoover Institution archives (January–May 1921)"''The Journal of Modern Hellenism''
36 (2024), pp. 103–172. * Costello, Paul. ''World Historians and Their Goals: Twentieth-Century Answers to Modernism'' (1993). Compares Toynbee with
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
,
Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German polymath whose areas of interest included history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best know ...
,
Pitirim Sorokin Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin (; ; – 10 February 1968) was a Russian American sociologist and political activist, who contributed to the social cycle theory. Sorokin was a professor at Saint Petersburg Imperial University, three times impris ...
,
Christopher Dawson Christopher Henry Dawson (12 October 188925 May 1970) was an English Catholic historian, independent scholar, who wrote many books on cultural history and emphasized the necessity for Western culture to be in continuity with Christianity not ...
,
Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a ...
, and
William H. McNeill William Hardy McNeill (October 31, 1917 – July 8, 2016) was an American historian and author, noted for his argument that contact and exchange among civilizations is what drives human history forward, first postulated in ''The Rise of the Wes ...
* Friedman, Isaiah. "Arnold Toynbee: Pro-Arab or Pro-Zionist?" ''Israel Studies,'' Spring 1999, Vol. 4#1, pp. 73–95 * Hutton, Alexander. "'A belated return for Christ?': the reception of Arnold J. Toynbee's A Study of History in a British context, 1934–1961". ''European Review of History'' 21.3 (2014): 405–424. * Lang, Michael. "Globalization and Global History in Toynbee", ''Journal of World History'' 22#4 Dec 2011 pp. 747–78
in project MUSE
* McIntire, C. T. and Marvin Perry, eds. ''Toynbee: Reappraisals'' (1989) 254pp * McNeill, William H. ''Arnold J. Toynbee: a life'' (Oxford UP, 1989). The standard scholarly biography. * Martel, Gordon. "The Origins of World History: Arnold Toynbee before the First World War", ''Australian Journal of Politics and History'', Sept 2004, Vol. 50 Issue 3, pp. 343–356 * Montagu, Ashley M. F., ed. ''Toynbee and History: Critical Essays and Reviews'' (1956
online edition
* Paquette, Gabriel B. "The Impact of the 1917 Russian Revolutions on Arnold J. Toynbee's Historical Thought, 1917–34", ''Revolutionary Russia'', June 2000, Vol. 13#1, pp. 55–80 * Perry, Marvin. ''Arnold Toynbee and the Western Tradition'' (1996) * Toynbee, Arnold J. ''A Study of History'' abridged edition by D. C. Somervell (2 vol. 1947); 617p
online edition of vol. 1, covering vols 1–6 of the original


External links

* * * *
Toynbee bibliography
* large bibliography of secondary literature
Site analysing passages in Toynbee's work


(1934) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toynbee, Arnold 1889 births 1975 deaths 20th-century English historians Academics of King's College London Academics of the London School of Economics Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Council and directors of Chatham House English Anglicans Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Murray family People educated at Winchester College Theoretical historians Theorists on Western civilization Toynbee family World historians International members of the American Philosophical Society British anti-Zionists