
Peter Watson was educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome, and was awarded scholarships in Italy and the United States. After a stint as Deputy Editor of New Society magazine, he was for four years part of the Sunday Times ‘Insight’ team of investigative journalists. He wrote the daily Diary column of the London Times before becoming that paper’s New York correspondent. He returned to London to write a column about the art world for the Observer and then at The Sunday Times. He has published three exposes in the world of art and antiquities and from 1997 to 2007 was a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He has published twelve books of non-fiction and seven novels, some under the pen name of Mackenzie Ford. He lives in London where his interests include theatre, opera and fishing. Awards, Etc. Psychology Prize Durham University, 1961 Italian Government Music Scholarship Rome University, 1965 United States Government Bursary “for future world leaders” To study the psychiatric profession and its links to the administration of justice Books of the Year Psychology Today Magazine, 1978, for War on the Mind Daily Mail, 1990, for Wisdom and Strength Independent on Sunday, for A Terrible Beauty, 2000 Times Literary Supplement, for Ideas, 2005 Time Magazine, for The Medici Conspiracy, 2006 Queen’s Pardon Copy from Patrick Meehan after I had written a series of articles which brought about his release from prison after he had been wrongly convicted of murder, 1976. Gold Dagger – Crime Writers’ Association of Great Britain For The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1983 Beacon Award – SAFE Award – Saving Antiquities for Everyone For The Medici Conspiracy, 2006 US Library Association The Great Divide. Emmy Nomination ‘The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1984. Best sellers The Caravaggio Conspiracy Crusade Landscape of Lies Sotheby’s: The Inside Story Nureyev Lectures Peter Watson has lectured at the following venues: Universities Cambridge Berkeley London UCLA Birmingham Georgia Georgia Chicago Birmingham Santiago de Chile York Madrid Harvard Tufts Military Bases Fort Bragg Private Institutions in Cleveland Berlin Chicago Belfast Los Angeles New York Washington Boston Palm Beach Other venues Smithsonian Institution National Museum, Copenhagen Royal Society of Arts Rugby School Royal Library, Copenhagen Festivals Edinburgh Oxford Dartington York
Books

The Caravaggio Conspiracy
1983

From Manet to Manhattan
1992

Ideas
A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud
2005

Madeleine's War
A Novel
2015

Crusade
1988

The Medici Conspiracy
The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities-- From Italy's Tomb Raiders to the World's Greatest Museum
2006

Sotheby's
1997

The French Mind
400 Years of Romance, Revolution and Renewal
2022

Fallout
Conspiracy, Cover-Up, and the Deceitful Case for the Atom Bomb
2018

The Great Divide
Nature and Human Nature in the Old World and the New
2012

Convergence
The Idea at the Heart of Science
2016

Nureyev
A Biography
1994

The German Genius
Europe's Third Renaissance, the Second Scientific Revolution, and the Twentieth Century
2010

Capo
1995

Stones of Treason
1737

Landscape of Lies
1989

The Nazi's Wife
1985

The Modern Mind
An Intellectual History of the 20th Century
2000

The Age of Nothing
How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God
2014

War On The Mind
The Military Uses And Abuses Of Psychology
1980

The Age of Atheists
How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God
2014