Arnold Joseph Toynbee (1889 -1975) was a British historian. Toynbee worked for the Political Intelligence Department of the British Foreign Office during World War I and served as a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Toynbee presents history as the rise and fall of civilizations, rather than the history of nations or of ethnic groups. Turkey: A Past and a Future was written in 1917. This is an excellent reference book for anyone interested in Turkish history.