John Burnett (20 December 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a social historian who was a professor at Brunel University between 1972 and 1990. His research examined the day-to-day lives of ordinary British people in the 19th and 20th centuries. Originally from Nottingham, he studied at High Pavement School, and then read history and law at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, then law at the University of London. He taught at and Borough Polytechnic before reading for a PhD in history at the London School of Economics.