Unlike historians who focus on a single nation or a specific period, Toynbee attempted a comparative analysis of all known civilizations. His magnum opus is not a linear chronicle of events but a "metahistory"—a philosophical inquiry into the mechanism of historical change.
Volumes I–III first appeared together in 1934; a second edition with corrections and additions followed in 1935. Volumes IV–VI came in 1939, and the remaining six volumes appeared over the next two decades, with the final volume ( Reconsiderations ) published in 1961. a study of history 12 volume set pdf