John Roberts is a renowned European historian. Of his many professional achievements, he was Prize Fellow, Magdalen College, Oxford (1951–1953); Commonwealth Fund Fellow, Princeton and Yale (1953–1954); Fellow and Tutor at Merton College, Oxford (1953–1979); acting Warden of Merton College (1969–1970, 1977–1979); Senior Proctor, Oxford University (1967–1968); Vice Chancellor and Professor, University of Southampton (1979–1985); and Warden of Merton College, Oxford (1984–1994). Roberts participated in the Glasgow Centenary Gifford Lectures, lecturing on ‘History as Environment’. These Gifford Lectures, edited by Neil Spurway, were published as Humanity, Environment and God. For seven years Roberts was the editor of The English Historical Review. Besides his articles in scholarly journals, he has written several books, including A Concise History of the World (1993), The French Revolution (1978), The Mythology of the Secret Societies (1972) and Europe, 1880-1945 (1967).