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Acquaintances

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"The sketches of acquaintances of mine that are included in this book are, of course, only a selection. I have picked out, for publication, recollections of personalities that seemed to me as if they might be of some general interest." So begins the preface of Arnold Toynbee's ACQUAINTANCES. The 24 personalities include intimate family sketches as well as portraits of world leaders and great personalities such as Jan Smuts, T.E. Lawrence and Nehru. Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) was an English historian best known for his 12-volume A STUDY IN HISTORY, in which he propounded the problems of history in terms of great cultural groups and civilizations rather than of nationalities.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

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About the author

Arnold Joseph Toynbee

480 books523 followers
Not the same as Arnold Toynbee, economist and nephew of Arnold Joseph Toynbee

British educator Arnold Joseph Toynbee noted cyclical patterns in the growth and decline of civilizations for his 12-volume Study of History (1934-1961).

He went to Winchester college and Balliol college, Oxford.

During both world wars, he worked for the foreign office. He additionally published Nationality and the War (1915), The Armenian Atrocities: The Murder of a Nation (1915), The German Terror in France: An Historical Record (1917), and Turkey, a Past and a Future (1917). He attended the peace conference of Paris in 1919 as a delegate.

From 1919 to 1924, Arnold J. Toynbee served as professor of modern Greek and Byzantine at King's college, London. From 1925, Oxford University Press published The Survey of International Affairs under the auspices of the royal institute of international affairs, and Toynbee, professor, oversaw the publication. From 1925, Toynbee served as research professor and director at the royal institute of international affairs. He published The Conduct of British Empire Foreign Relations since the Peace Settlement (1928).

His first marriage to Rosalind Murray produced three sons and ended in divorce in 1946. Toynbee, professor, then married Veronica M. Boulter, his research assistant. He published Civilization on Trial (1948).

Toynbee served as research professor and director at the royal institute of international affairs until 1955.
People published best known lectures of Toynbee, professor, in memory of Adam Gifford as An Historian's Approach to Religion (1956). His massive work examined development and decay. He presented the rise and fall rather than nation-states or ethnic groups. According to his analysis, the welfare depends on ability to deal successfully with challenges.

He also published Democracy in the Atomic Age (1957), Christianity among the Religions of the World (1958), and Between Niger and Nile (1965).

He died in York, North Yorkshire, England.

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October 20, 2014
“Lloyd George, to my delight, had forgotten my presence and had begun to think aloud. ‘Mesopotamia…yes… oil… irrigation… we must have Mesopotamia; Palestine… yes… the Holy Land… Zionism… we must have Palestine; Syria… h’m… what is there in Syria? Let the French have that.’” (Toynbee, Acquaintances, 211-212)
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