Arnold Toynbee's analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations has been acknowledged as one of the great achievements of twentieth-century scholarship. D.C. Somervell's abridgement of this monumental work is a great achievement in its own right. While reducing the work to one sixth of its original size, he has succeeded in preserving its method and character. The first volume of the abridgement presents Toynbee's philosophy of history as it appears in the first six volumes of the original work. This volume includes the Introduction; The Geneses of Civilizations; The Growth of Civilizations; The Breakdowns of Civilizations; and The Disintegrations of Civilizations. The second volume comprises volumes 7-10 of the original, including Universal States; Universal Churches; Heroic Ages; Contacts Between Civilizations in Space; Contacts Between Civilizations in Time; Law and Freedom in History; The Prospects of the Western Civilization; and Conclusion.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest achievements of modern scholarship, Arnold Toynbee's A Study of History is a ten-volume analysis of the rise and fall of human civilizations. Contained in two volumes, D.C. Somervell's abridgement of this magnificent enterprise preserves the method, atmosphere, texture, and, in many instances, the very words of the original. First published in 1947 and 1957, these two volumes are themselves a great historical achievement. Volume 2, which abridges Volumes VII-X of Toynbee's study, includes sections on Universal States, Universal Churches, Heroic Ages, Contacts Between Civilizations in Space, Contacts Between Civilizations in Time, Law and Freedom in HIstory, The Prospects of the Western Civilization, and the Conclusion.
Of Somervell's work, Toynbee wrote, "The reader now has at his command a uniform abridgement of the whole book, made by a clear mind that has not only mastered the contents but has entered into the writer's outlook and purpose.