Philip Mason, CIE, OBE, FRSL (19 March 1906 – 25 January 1999), was a British civil servant in India and writer.
He is best known for his two-volume book on the British Raj, The Men Who Ruled India (written under the pseudonym 'Philip Woodruff', the latter being his mother's maiden name), and his study of the Indian Army, A Matter of Honour (1974).
[8][6] With his farming efforts, even supplemented by the income from his writing, proving insufficiently remunerative for the needs of his growing family, Mason took the part-time position as the first Director of Studies of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, serving in this capacity from 1952 to 1958.
By 1958, his position at Chatham House translated into directorship of the independent Institute of Race Relations; during this time, Mason focused on Latin America, producing Patterns in Dominance (1970), the last book he wrote before retiring in 1969.
[7] In 1935, Mason had married (Eileen) Mary, daughter of Courtenay Hayes, of Charmouth, Dorset, and niece of senior Indian Army officer Major-General Sir William Twiss.