D.C. Somervell edited down Arnold Toynbee's "A Study of History" to these two rather hefty volumes. The work was faithful to the original, in the main, but does lack a great deal of the illustrations of the original. If you are in a hurry, it is faithful, but seems a good deal less gripping. ( )

theory of rise and fall of civilizations, external pressure vs. internal, role of external and internal proletariats in fall,

An Abridgement of Toynbee's original Volumes I-VI. by D. C. Somervell. The original is over 3,000 pages, while Somervell's abridgment is 565pps. "For readers who wish to refer from this book to the original volumes, the following equations wi be useful:
Pages 1-79=volume ; 80-164=Volume II; 165-243=Volume III; 244-359=Volume IV; 360-494=Volume V; and
Pages 495-565=Volume VI." See the 25 page Argument.