Arthur Geoffrey Dickens

Arthur Geoffrey Dickens FBA (6 July 1910 – 31 July 2001) was an English academic and author.

He was born in Hull, Yorkshire, on 6 July 1910. Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, he served during World War II in the Royal Artillery. From May to October 1945 he served with the military government in Lübeck, where he had to supervise and edit the local newspaper.

In 1949, Dickens was appointed professor of history at the University of Hull, later becoming deputy principal and dean of the Faculty of Arts, 1950–53, and pro-vice-chancellor, 1959–62. He took up the post of professor of history at King's College London in 1962, where he remained until becoming director of the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) and professor of history in the University of London, 1967–77. Dickens was also active in other bodies, including being president of the Ecclesiastical History Society, 1966–68; a member of the Advisory Council on Public Records, 1968–76; an advisor to the Council on the Export of Works of Art, 1968–76; secretary, chairman and general secretary of the British National Committee of Historical Sciences, 1967–79; foreign secretary of the British Academy, 1969–79; and vice-president of the British Record Society, 1978–80. Dickens enjoyed "a deep love affair with Germany", was a moving force in the establishment of the German Historical Institute in London and was decorated by the German government. He died in London at the age of 91.

His book on the English Reformation was, for many years the standard text on the subject, relying as it did on detailed examination of parish records.

He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1966.

Papers of Professor Dickens are held by Senate House Library, University of London, and are available to be consulted there.