Toynbee on Toynbee

How much of A Study of History would Arnold Toynbee rewrite if he had the chance? How is his world view different at age 84? What does he think of his critics – for example, Trevor-Roper’s implication that he relished the prospect of the Western democracies’ collapse under the impact of Nazism; that he doesn’t care what happens after he’s dead?

All this and more is touched upon in a wide-ranging “conversation” first aired on Radio Free Europe in 1972. G. R. Urban, a historian himself, pulls no punches in his interview. And as usual Arnold Toynbee pulls no punches in his replies. Like his previous writings, this controversial but very illuminating volume (particularly the first half) will be criticized by many historians and political scientists (especially the second half). But no one who has read even part of A Study of History will want to ignore it.