Robert S. Allen earned his doctorate in history at the University of Wales. His previous publications include The British Indian Department and the Frontier in North America (1975), Native Studies in Canada: A Research Guide (1989, 3d ed.), and Loyalist Literature (1982). Allen lives in Ottawa and is deputy chief, Claims and Historical Research Centre, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. The centre's mandate is to facilitate native researchers and others in aspects of native history and land-claims investigations.

"Robert S. Allen's His Majesty's Indian Allies is a readable, thought-provoking, worthwhile summary of British-Indian relations, which effectively complements the existing literature on the British and the Great Lakes Indians."