ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Arnold J. Toynbee

Arnold J. Toynbee was a grown-up who did a lot of thinking and writing about history. He tried to figure out why some countries and cultures became powerful and successful, while others did not.

Toynbee thought that the key to understanding history was to study civilizations. A civilization is a fancy word for a big group of people who have a lot in common, like language, religion, and culture.

Toynbee believed that civilizations have life cycles, just like people do. They are born, they grow, they might have problems, and eventually they might die out.

He also thought that civilizations can learn from each other. For example, people in one civilization might develop new technology or ideas that would be useful to people in another civilization. This sharing of ideas and knowledge can help civilizations grow and thrive.

To sum it up, Arnold J. Toynbee was a grown-up who was really interested in how different civilizations work and why some succeed while others don't. He believed that by studying civilizations and looking at history, we can learn a lot about ourselves and about the world we live in.