A Study of History
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1934-1961
- Form
- History
- Language
- English
- Length
- Epic · 1000 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendA Study of History, Abridgement of Volumes I-VIOxford University Press, 1987D. C. Somervell's abridgement, approved by Toynbee, is the version almost everyone reads; a second volume abridges VII-X.
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A twelve-volume comparative history of some twenty-one civilisations, from the Egyptian and Sumerian to the Western, published over twenty-seven years. Toynbee argues that civilisations, not nations, are the units of history, that they arise through creative responses to challenges, grow through the leadership of creative minorities, and break down when those minorities become merely dominant and the masses secede. The later volumes give the universal churches that emerge from dying civilisations the central role.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns A Study of History are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
