Arnold J. Toynbee

Also known as Arnold Joseph Toynbee, Toynbee, Arnold Joseph, Arnold Toynbee, Toynbee

British historian (1889–1975)

AI overview

Arnold J. Toynbee was a British historian (1889–1975) who studied the rise and fall of civilizations across human history. His work matters because he developed influential theories about how civilizations develop and decline, shaping how many people understand the patterns of history.

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Arnold
Gender: male
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Place of birth: London
Place of death: York
Sibling: Jocelyn Toynbee
Occupation: philosopher
Educated at: Balliol College
Employer: King's College London
Languages spoken: English language
Religion: Anglicanism
Notable work: A Study of History
Field of work: philosophy of history
Image: Arnold J. Toynbee Anefo.jpg

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date of birth: 1889-04-14
date of death: 1975-01-01
Commons category: Arnold J. Toynbee
member of: American Philosophical Society
nominated for: Nobel Prize in Literature
writing language: English language
relative: Arnold Toynbee
P8168: list of populated places in the Northern Mariana Islands

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Encyclopedic overview

Arnold Joseph Toynbee (/ˈtɔɪnbi/; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's College London. From 1918 to 1950, Toynbee was considered a leading specialist on international affairs; from 1929 to 1956 he was the Director of Studies at Chatham House, 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 (1934–1961). With his large output of papers, articles, speeches, presentations, and numerous books translated into many languages, Toynbee was widely read and discussed in the 1940s and 1950s.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Arnold J. Toynbee” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.