As a discipline, history has primarily addressed the past. It is described as a chronology—describing events in a time sequence, related to particular societies. But some historians engaged themselves in examining the course of civilizations and offering theories of change. Rather than focusing on origins, these historians talked about the growth of cultures and civilizations and used non-evolutionary frameworks. In this regard, two names stand out: Oswald Spengler, a German, and Arnold Toynbee, a Briton. Spengler’s book, The Decline of the West, drew worldwide attention and attracted both criticism and adulation. Toynbee was drawn to this type of enquiry after being exposed to Spengler.
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