He acquired the nickname "Red Robert", as even his moderate liberal politics caused concern for the conservative members of the college's governing body, the Provost and Fellows.
[1] His predecessor, Claude Aurelius Elliott was appointed provost and as chairman of the governing body, living next door to Birley, he could keep an eye on him.
The series of four radio broadcasts in October and November 1949 were titled Britain in Europe: Reflections on the Development of a European Society.
[14] In the 1970s he regularly visited Atlantic College in Wales, and taught weeklong classes on history, exploring the subject as inherently contested.
A collection of his writings, History and Idealism: Essays, Lectures, Sermons and Letters of Robert Birley, appeared in 1990, edited by his son-in-law, Brian Rees.