Robert Colls author biography, plus links to books by Robert Colls.

Robert Colls

Robert Colls was professor of English History at the University of Leicester before joining the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University, also in Leicester. He has written widely on modern British history, and for The New Statesman and the Literary Review, as well as for other newspapers and journals, and on television and radio including, most recently, The Rest is History podcast. His This Sporting Life (OUP 2020) won the Aberdare Prize for sport history writing. 

His Identity of England (OUP 2002), George Orwell: English Rebel (OUP 2014), and This Sporting Life (OUP 2020) were Books of the Year in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Observer, The New Statesman and the BBC History Magazine.

This biography was last updated on 04/21/2026.

The above represents the biographical information provided by the publisher for the most recent book by this author that BookBrowse has covered. As such, it is likely a brief snapshot in time. If you are looking for a more expansive biography, you may wish to do an internet search for the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.