Sir Robert Charles Kirkwood Ensor (1877–1958) was a British writer, poet, journalist, liberal intellectual and historian. He is famous for his extremely popular volume of the Oxford History of England

Oxford History of England

The Oxford History of England is one of the most prominent and acclaimed modern history series, written by many of the then-leading historians of each period....

, covering the years 1870 to 1914. Originally the final volume, Ensor's book has sold more copies than any other in the original fourteen part series, only A.J.P. Taylor's fifteenth volume has sold more.

Educated at Winchester School and Balliol College where he achieved a first in Greats and also the Chancellor's Latin verse prize. He was President of the Oxford Union

Oxford Union

The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...

 in 1900. He failed at his attempts to become a fellow of Merton, St John's and All Souls (twice) but later became a tutor at Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...

.

He was a journalist after leaving Oxford working for The Manchester Guardian and the Daily News. Returning to Oxford following the closure of the Daily News in 1930, he worked for both the History and Politics Faculties. He was commissioned in 1937 to write a sequel to his volume of the Oxford History of England

Oxford History of England

The Oxford History of England is one of the most prominent and acclaimed modern history series, written by many of the then-leading historians of each period....

 but he resumed his journalism during the second world war and the job fell to A.J.P. Taylor, who wrote a volume covering the years 1914 to 1945.