Evening star., 1948-05-02
Arnold Toynbee
Ponders State
Of the World
CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL
BY Arnold J. Toynbee. (Orford
University Press; $500
Reviewed by
CARTER BROOKE JONES.

University Press; $500
Reviewed by
CARTER BROOKE JONES.
From the long perspective of
historian and with the ana
lytical scope of a philosopher,
Mr.. Toynbee ponders the omi-
nous state of the world today.
He sees the great powers try
ing, perhaps unavoidably, to do
at the same time two things
which mot only are different,
but which initiate against one an
other all the time ." They are,
he points out, trying to launch a
new system Of cooperative world
government without being able to
forecast its chances of success, and
they are safeguarding themselves
against the possibility of its being
a failure by continuing to maneuver
against one another, in the old
fashioned way, in a game of power
politics which, if persisted in, can
only lead to third world war and
q knockout blow"
There are today, this British
scholar comments, only two first
rate military powers, the United
States and Russia, and the obvious
problem is to keep them from each
others throats and the world from
being involved in another and prob
ably annihilating war.
Possible Solutions.
What can be done? The author
OF "A Study of History" the colossal
work whose one-volume abridg-
ment sold amazingly last year, con-
Slders several possible ways OF ward
Ing off the new catastrophe.
A third great power might yield
a balance of strength against ag-
gression but where would you find
that power? Could the British
Commonwealth of Nations furnish
1t? Statistically, perhaps, he
answers, but geographically and po-
litically it would be impossible. Then
could a non-Soviet confederation Of
Europe be formed to strengthen the
uneasy peace? No, he says, not
unless it was Hitler's sort Of state,
which necessarily would be domi-
mated eventually by the Germans,
because of their numbers and their
military and industrial efficiency.
pracoriouS peace
America and Russia might MAIN
tain, for an indefinite period, non
violent incorporation" toward
one another. But this, Mr.. Toynbee
thinks, would be a precarious peace,
with each nations fear Of the others
theology constant danger to peace.
The only hope he sees for permanent
peace, in which Communist propa-
ganda could not work effectively
among millions OF underprivileged
all over the world, Is compromise
between capitalism and socialism.
The American stress on freedom
rather than on social justice he does
not regard as such a danger, be-
cause the standard of living in this
country is immeasurably higher
than anywhere else. But other
countries are more ripe for revo-
luton.
What the world needs above all
now" he concludes, lis to get the
issue Of free enterprises versus
socialism of it's theological pedestal
and to treat it, not as matter of
semireligious faith and fanaticism,
but as commonsense, practical
question Of trial and error, of, more
or less. circumstance and adapta-
ton"
Must History Repeat.
civilization on Trial" is series
Of essays, most of them written in
the last two years, a few dating
back much farther. The more re-
cent papers are current enough to
evaluate the Marshall Plan and the
latest issues before the United Ma
tions-an organization Mr.. Toyn-
bee has not entirely lost faith in.
Throughout the book, he expresses
himself with admirable clarity and
suCCinCtneSS.
In a brilliant chapter, he con-
siders Does History Repeat 1tSelf?"
1t has repeated itself, he says, and
certain conditions tend to produce
certain results. But this need not
be. He does not see man as a crea-
ture caught helplessly in a cycfical
treadmill. We are, he insists, mot
doomed to make history repeat it
self; 1t is open to use, through our
own efforts, to give history, in our
case, some new and unprecedented
turn" He has no sympathy with
historians who look at the rise and
fall of old civilizations and say,
ours, too" -
He adds: What shall we do to
be saved? In politics. establish a
constitutional, cooperative system
OF world government. In economics,
find working compromises -. In
the life of the spirit, put the secular
superstructure back onto religious
foundations"
And he sees in "the higher re-
lgionS," OF which Christianity is the
Crowning achievement, the greatest
hope for mankind.
II y y
THE TRANSIENT HOUR
BY Marcel Ayme. "A. A. Wyn;
$780,
The better French novelists have
always looked at the life about them
with discerning. diSillusioned eyes.
They've recorded what they've seen,
whether or not it reflected credit on