Robert John -- foreign affairs analyst, diplomatic historian, author and psychiatrist -- was born in Nice, France, of British parents. Educated in England, he graduated from University of London King's College, and then studied at the Middle Temple, Inns of Court, in London.
Two close family members served with the British military in World War II. A brother, Malcolm John, volunteered in 1939 and was wounded in service in North Africa, and at Monte Casino in Italy. A cousin, Alain John, died at the age of 18 from wounds suffered when the bomber he was navigating crashed after returning from a raid on Germany.
Robert John was the author, with Sami Hadawi, of an important scholarly work, The Palestine Diary: British, American and United Nations Intervention, 1914-1948. This detailed two-volume work, first published in 1970, includes a laudatory foreword by the eminent British historian Arnold Toynbee.
For many years Robert John lived in New York City, just off Park Avenue in Manhattan. He served as foreign affairs advisor to the Council on American Affairs in Washington from 1976 to 1986. He contributed to a range of serious periodicals, including Chronicles and The Journal of Historical Review.
His book, Behind the Balfour Declaration: The Hidden Origin of Today's Mideast Crisis, was published in 1988 by the Institute for Historical Review. It was based on a paper he presented at the Fifth IHR Conference in 1983.
Robert John died on June 4, 2007, age 86. He is remembered as an accomplished scholar with an abiding concern for justice and humanity, and as a principled fighter for historical truth.