John Iliffe (born 1 May 1939) is a British historian, specialising in the history of Africa and especially Tanzania. He was Professor of African History at the University of Cambridge and fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. He was awarded the 1988 Herskovits Prize for The African Poor: A History.

Iliffe was a fellow of the British Academy from 1989 to 2006.

Notable works

• Africans : The History of a Continent
• Cattle Rancher
• The African Poor : A History
• East African Doctors: A History of the Modern Profession
• A Modern History of Tanganyika
• Honour in African history
• Famine in Zimbabwe, 1890-1960
• The Emergence of African Capitalism
• Obasanjo, Nigeria and the World
• The African AIDS Epidemic: A History