Civilization on Trial

Toynbee seeks a "middle way" between political and economic extremes, writing during the polarization of the world between USSR and US, two antithetical powers. Looks at history in terms of civilizations rather than states or tribes.

Unlike Gibbon and Frazer, Toynbee does not see Barbarians and Christians as the destroyers of the Greco-Roman Empire in the 2d Century AD. Toynbee places the beginning of the decline in the fifth century BC, by suicide. Anarchy within. And Christianity as a chrysalis from which civilization was able to reappear following the Dark Ages. [231] One of his themes is that the Middle Classes created civilization, and what we call Modernity. [21] And although he clearly sees that we simply and perpetually fight show more the Pelopponesian Wars, he is not a determinist where there is human life and attendant hopes. [30, 38] When most hard-pressed, the Greeks were most brilliant.

Toynbee is an enjoyable writer, and one who appreciates the fact that "culture" is something that carries evil possibilities. [109] We need to be reminded. show less

A brillant series of essays with many accurate predictions about the future, including the prospects of Islamic Culture.

Un interesante libro, no tanto por las opiniones (excesivamente religiosas) como por el momento de composición (1947, tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Rusia no tenía aún la bomba atómica) y las inquietudes del autor. Tras la guerra sólo veía un gobierno mundial como solución a los problemas de las guerras. Por otro lado creía que la "civilización" nos llevó al desastre por lo que deseaba que dicha "civilización" se subordinara a la religión ... cristiana por supuesto. Lo dicho, hay que ponerse en el momento histórico para extraerle un jugo estupendo al libro escrito por otra parte estupendamente (un buen utilizador del lenguaje y la argumentación)

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Toynbee-La-civilisation-a-lepreuve/635188

> « En période de catastrophes, des esprits faibles
peuvent avoir la sensation que la réalité n’est rien
d’autre qu’un chaos. Sur d’autres, la situation a une
action contraire. L’observation du désordre extérieur
et de la précarité de tous les biens extérieurs peut
aiguiser la vision de l’éternel, de l’impérissable et de
l’unité qui a son fondement dans la croyance en un
monde d’esprit éternel. » —Arnold TOYNBEE*
*Cité dans: Jeanne Guesné, Le septième sens : Le corps spirituel, Le Relié (2007), p. 211