In 1990, Pincus received a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University.He is a prominent scholar of Early Modern British history, and his work has focused on the 17th century, in particular the Glorious Revolution and English foreign policy. His book 1688: The First Modern Revolution has been praised as providing "a new understanding of the origins of the modern, liberal state." The Economist named it as one of the best books on history published in 2009.In March 2010 he delivered the Sir John Neale lecture at University College, London. He is in Oxford for the 2010-2011 academic year working on the origins of the British Empire.