Letter: In brief

Sir: The British historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee distinguished 21 civilisations. Surely the lesson of history is that there have been different civilisations in the past, and that new civilisations are therefore likely to arise in the future ("The end of history? Well, certainly the end of humans", 16 June). For a historian to suggest that history is over is rather like a marketing manager suggesting that there will never be any new products to sell.

ALEXANDER CHABLO

Manchester