Joseph Hugh Shennan FRHistS (13 March 1933 – 25 May 2015) was a British historian who was Professor of European Studies (1974–98) and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (1993–98) at the University of Lancaster.

In 1957, he continued his studies at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where he received his doctorate in 1960.

[1] From 1965, he was employed at the University of Lancaster and played an important role in the establishment of the History Department.

In 1971, he and like-minded people founded the journal European Studies Review which he served as editor until 1979.

During this time, he founded the Lancaster Pamphlets, edited by the History Department, to which he also contributed three titles, France before the Revolution (1983), Louis XIV (1986) and International Relations in Europe, 1689–1789 (1995).