Overview
(1889—1975) historian
(1889–1975),
historian. His great work A Study of History (10 vols, 1934–54) is a survey of the chief civilizations of the world, and an enquiry into cycles of creativity and decay. His view that the fragmentation and waning of Western civilization could already be detected, and that hope lay in a new universal religion which would recapture ‘spiritual initiative’, aroused much controversy. His other works include Civilization on Trial (1948) and The World and the West (1953). His son Philip Toynbee (1916–81) was a critic and novelist.
PRINTED FROM OXFORD REFERENCE (www.oxfordreference.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use (for details seePrivacy Policy andLegal Notice).
date: 18 July 2025
