Arnold Toynbee

Born in London on April 14, 1889, Arnold J. Toynbee became an English historian and philosopher of history whose work reached far beyond academic circles. He studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and later taught and researched international history, including work connected with the London School of Economics, King's College London, and the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

Toynbee is most famous for A Study of History, published in 12 volumes between 1934 and 1961. In that work, he compared civilizations across time and argued that societies grow or break down according to how they respond to major challenges. The scale of the project, and the boldness of its ideas, brought him a large international readership and lasting debate.

He also wrote widely on international affairs and the modern world, especially in the years around the two world wars and the reshaping of global politics that followed. He died in York on October 22, 1975, but his work still stands as an ambitious attempt to see human history as a connected whole.