Robert Paul Tombs is a distinguished British-French historian specialising in the history of France and Britain, as well as Franco-British relations. Born in May 1949, he served as a reader in French history at the University of Cambridge before becoming professor of French history in 2007, a position he held until his retirement. He remains a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. The French government has recognised his scholarly contributions with the award of the Ordre des Palmes académiques.

Tombs has established his academic reputation through major works on French history, notably his study of the Paris Commune in The War Against Paris, 1871, published in 1981, and his survey France 1814–1914 from 1996. He co-authored That Sweet Enemy: The French and the British from the Sun King to the Present with Isabelle Tombs in 2006, and turned his attention to English history with The English and Their History in 2014. Beyond his Francophile scholarship, he has become a prominent voice in public debates concerning Brexit, British national identity, and questions of historical memory. He writes commentary for Comment Central.