Born Aug. 23, 1852, in London; died Mar. 9, 1883, in Wimbledon. English economic historian.

Toynbee graduated from Oxford University, where in 1878 he began teaching political economy and economic history. His studies of the capitalist industrialization of England were published under the title The Industrial Revolution (1884; Russian translation, 1898). Toynbee viewed the age of the industrial revolution as the most calamitous period in English history and believed it led to a marked widening of the gulf between the proletariat and the ruling classes. He held that relations between labor and capital should be moderated by government intervention, and to that end he advocated social legislation and arbitration as a means of preventing class conflicts at industrial enterprises. He also helped organize and direct the first education centers in working-class neighborhoods. Objectively, Toynbee’s activities were instrumental in stemming the growing influence of socialist ideas on English workers.