poet, historian, and educator noted for his histories of New Zealand.

Sinclair's education at Auckland University College (until 1957 a college of the University of New Zealand; thereafter University of Auckland) was interrupted by army and navy service during World War II. He taught at his alma mater from 1947 to 1987, receiving a Ph.D. in 1954 and becoming professor of history in 1963. He was knighted in 1985.

His first volume of verse, Songs for a Summer and Other Poems (1952), was followed by Strangers or Beasts: Poems (1954), A Time to Embrace (1963), and The Firewheel Tree (1973). His best-known historical work is The Origins of the Maori Wars (1957). He also wrote A History of New Zealand (1959; rev. and enlarged ed., 1980), The Liberal Government, 1891–1912: First Steps Towards a Welfare State (1967), and A Destiny Apart: New Zealand's Search For National Identity (1986) and participated in many additional book projects. Sinclair's autobiography, Halfway Round the Harbour, was published in 1993, shortly after his death.