With this second volume Mr. Somervell completes his Abridgement of Dr. Toynbee's great ten-volume Study, and provides an invaluable conspectus of the whole of the vast field covered by the original work, presenting the main substance of his argument in a readily assimilable form. While it does not aim to serve as a substitute for A Study of History as a whole, the Abridgement whets the appetite and will encourage otherwise hesitant readers to embark upon the complete Study, with its wealth of enticing and illuminating footnote information which the Abridgement has perforce to leave aside.