Ferrero introduces the life of ibn Khaldun and his Prolegomena to History, relying on William Mac Guckin de Slane's French translation of the work. Ferrero is one of the first Europeans to define ibn Khaldun as a sociologist and an original theorist of the concept of civilization as a sociological category. Ferrero's attention to the Khaldunian notion of the “spirit of the body” helps us understand what drives conflict and social change when nomadic and barbarous tribes come into contact with civilized peoples. Ferrero admired and saw contemporary value in ibn Khaldun's analysis of the mechanism behind the rise and fall of empires. Nations and groups are motivated by the zeal to obtain and protect their luxuries; heavy taxation to maintain the wealthy classes lays the ground for corruption and discontent, making societies vulnerable to invasion and control from an outside group, thus regenerating the cycle of civilizational history again.

中文翻译：

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Guglielmo Ferrero (1896)，Ibn Kaldoun：14 世纪的阿拉伯社会学家

费列罗依靠威廉·麦克·古金·德·斯兰对这部作品的法语翻译，向历史介绍了伊本·赫勒敦的生平和他的序言。费列罗是最早将伊本·赫勒敦定义为社会学家和将文明概念定义为社会学范畴的原创理论家之一。费列罗对“身体精神”的哈勒杜尼派概念的关注有助于我们了解当游牧和野蛮部落与文明民族接触时，是什么推动了冲突和社会变革。费列罗欣赏并看到了伊本·赫勒敦对帝国兴衰机制的分析的当代价值。国家和团体受到获得和保护他们的奢侈品的热情所驱使；维持富裕阶层的重税为腐败和不满奠定了基础，