‘See one, do one, teach one’ was the basis of David Watkin’s training as a surgeon in the 1960s. By the time he became a consultant, he had ample experience but had received little supervision. He was determined to improve the experience for his juniors. Later, this led to chairmanship of the national committee responsible for training in general surgery. Not from a medical family and with no experience of serious illness or hospital, David had only decided to study medicine when in the sixth form. After training in Bristol, Leicester, Derby and Sheffield he was appointed a consultant in Leicester. He was then invited to be inaugural clinical sub-dean, in charge of setting up clinical teaching in the new Medical School. Comprising ‘guts, glands and arteries’, David relished the broad scope of general surgery, including emergencies. But surgery and the NHS were changing, with technological advances and surgical innovations. When general surgery evolved into specialties, he became a coloproctologist by day, though still a generalist at night. A member of the council of the Association of Surgeons, he was closely involved in these changes. Finally, he was elected president of the Association for 2000-1.

The definitive book on an iconic aircraft. Illustrated throughout with a varied and interesting selection of images, many previously unpublished. An early jet aircraft that collected many notable firsts including the first jet fighter to cross the Atlantic and the first jet to land on an aircraft carrier. Comprehensive appendices covering serial allocations, production, export details and preserved airframes. The de Havilland Vampire was the second of the RAF's first-generation, post-Second World War jet fighters to enter service. It began life as an interceptor but was soon re-tasked in the day fighter/ground attack roles with the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Germany from 1948 to 1954 and with the RAF's Middle and Far East Air Forces. Throughout its forty-six-year career, it collected many notable firsts: it was the first jet fighter to cross the Atlantic; the first jet to land on an aircraft carrier; and the first jet trainer on which student pilots qualified for their 'Wings'. In addition to playing a full part in the RAF's order of battle during the 1940s and 1950s, the Vampire also served with the Fleet Air Arm and became an export success story for the British aircraft industry with hundreds sold to air forces worldwide. For a brief period during the 1950s, the Vampire formed the backbone of the RAF's night-fighter force and between 1952 and 1967 the Vampire trainer was responsible for a steady flow of trained pilots for the RAF, Royal Navy and foreign air forces. This comprehensive history covers the Vampire's development and operational service. It has been written with the full co-operation of the manufacturer, MoD, RAF and other world air forces, mixing narrative and technical detail with vivid personal accounts from those involved with the aircraft. Comprehensive appendices include technical specifications, production details, serials and export details. It is also lavishly illustrated and includes more than one story of encounters with UFOs by RAF Vampire pilots.

Far and away the best narrative of western architecture in existence...it stands out as an intellectual triumph. - Sir John Summerson In this highly acclaimed, classic reference work David Watkin traces the history of western architecture from the earliest times in Mesopotamia and Egypt to the late twentieth century. For this seventh edition, revising author Owen Hopkins provides a new introduction contextualizing Watkin's approach. The final chapter on the twenty-first century has been completely rewritten by Hopkins, who brings the story right up to date with the inclusion of such topics as re-use, digital cities and virtual architecture.

As a versatile and undemanding aircraft, the Jet Provost established itself as the basic trainer for the RAF from the late 1950s until its retirement in September 1993. In Jet Provost Boys, David Watkins explores the history of this magnificent flying machine through the vivid memories of former air crew from the RAF and foreign air forces. Alongside operating as a basic training aircraft, the Jet Provost had relative success within the civilian and military display flying circuit of the 1960s and 1970s. It was also part of the prestige Golden Eagle Flight at RAF Cranwell which taught the then-Prince of Wales how to fly. When the Jet Provost Mk. 5 model became the BAC 167 Strikemaster after some modifications, it became a counter-insurgency and light-attack aircraft. This capability allowed the aircraft to be sold to air forces around the world including Ceylon, Nigeria, New Zealand, Sudan and Venezuela where it played a reliable and effective role in multiple border disputes and internal warfare. It was crucial to the Sultan of Oman Air Force during the Dhofar War as the intervention of Strikemasters assisted in a significant turning point in the conflict. This book includes a foreword by Squadron Leader Terry Lloyd who was the leader of the 1964–1965 Pelicans display team as well as being illustrated throughout with black and white and colour photos. This latest addition to the Boys series is not to be missed and will appeal to all aviation fans.

One of the most visited sites in Italy, the Roman Forum is also one of the best-known wonders of the Roman world. Though a highpoint on the tourist route around Rome, for many visitors the site can be a baffling disappointment. Several of the monuments turn out to be nineteenth- or twentieth-century reconstructions, while the rubble and the holes made by archaeologists have an unclear relationship to the standing remains, and, to all but the most skilled Romanists, the Forum is an unfortunate mess.

David Watkin sheds completely new light on the Forum, examining the roles of the ancient remains while revealing what exactly the standing structures embody--including the rarely studied medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque churches, as well as the nearby monuments that have important histories of their own. Watkin asks the reader to look through the veneer of archaeology to rediscover the site as it was famous for centuries. This involves offering a remarkable and engaging new vision of a well-visited, if often misunderstood, wonder. It will be enjoyed by readers at home and serve as a guide in the Forum.

Born in November 1916 to the Marquess and Marchioness of Granby, Lady Ursula was a sprightly and charming lady whose memoirs of her uniquely glamorous life make riveting reading. Describing herself as having been an observant child, she records life at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, as maintained on a feudal scale until September 1939. Her vivid accounts include the numerous servants and their roles from liveried footmen to the pig man. She also describes her close relationship with her father who succeeded as 9th Duke of Rutland in 1925, and whom she helped as a girl in his sensitive restoration of another Manners family seat, the mediaeval Haddon Hall, Derbyshire. We hear of her coming-out Ball at Belvoir Castle in 1934 at the age of seventeen and her role in the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. Dressed by Norman Hartnell, she was one of the Six Maids of Honour who bore the Queen's train in Westminster Abbey. In 1938 she accompanied the new King and Queen on their triumphant first state visit to Paris and Versailles. By contrast, her war work was soon to include being in charge of hundreds of women at a munitions factory in Springfield, Grantham. Her activities here were described in letters which her celebrated aunt, Lady Diana Cooper, wife of Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, sent to their son, John Julius, while a schoolboy. They are quoted here by his kind permission. Lady Ursula recalls her close friendships with men as varied as Rex Whistler, the Maharajah of Jaipur and Paul Getty. The story told is unforgettable, and though it has touches of Brideshead and Downton Abbey, it is utterly novel for, unlike them, it is actually real.

This book covers the complete and long overdue history of the Hunting/BAC Jet Provost and Strikemaster, which for thirty-eight years trained generations of pilots and pioneered the RAF’s all-through flying training programme. Originally designed and built in 1951 as a private venture by Percival Aircraft in Luton, the Jet Provost became the primary jet-powered training aircraft for the RAF following a series of experimental courses at RAF Hullavington in 1955. By 1957, there was a contract for the production order of 100 Jet Provost T Mk. 3s. The Jet Provost even had a display flying team between 1958 and 1976 but was eventually withdrawn from RAF service in July 1993. The development of the BAC 167 Strikemaster in the 1960s saw a light-attack aircraft designed for counter-insurgency operations and predominantly used by overseas air forces. Adopted by thirteen air forces, both types have seen an array of action – from the Dhofar War to operating as close support and counter-insurgency against well-armed, communist-back guerrillas. Despite some 723 Jet Provost and Strikemaster airframes produced between 1954 and 1983, these aircraft have been overlooked in contrast to other jet types in the same period until now. David Watkins has produced an extensive look at these aircraft after years of painstaking research assisted by veterans and historians. Having accessed the archives of the Warton Collection, he has amassed a range of rare photography to accompany the extraordinary history of these jets. From Jet Provost to Strikemaster is a work of narrative and technical detail which will satisfy the most avid aviation fans.

In this highly acclaimed reference work David Watkin traces the history of western architecture from the earliest times in Mesopotamia and Egypt to the eclectic styles of the twenty-first century. The author emphasizes the ongoing vitality of the Classical language of architecture, underlining the continuity between, say, the work of Ictinus in fifth-century BC Athens and that of McKim, Mead and White in twentieth-century New York. Authoritative, comprehensive and highly illustrated, this sixth edition has been expanded to bring the story of western architecture right up to date and includes a separate final chapter on twenty-first century developments, including the role of computers in architecture, sustainability, humanitarian architecture and very tall buildings.

John Simpson is one of the world s leading practitioners of new classicism, a contemporary architecture movement that continues the practice of classical and traditional architecture and embraces the virtues of durability, functionality, and beauty. Simpson s design ethos revolves around the notion that architecture is a public art where each facade forms the character and shape of the public realm the streets, the squares, and the major civic spaces that we use and as such must use a language of building that is recognisable and draws on our collective cultural experience. His architecture is thus understandable in a moment and is functional; it is built to last, to be beautiful, and to ensure the comfort and ease of those who experience it, be it the Queen s Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London or an apartment in a historic building in New York. The work shown covers a wide range, from small-scale residential and apartment design to the country house and the town house to large-scale institutional designs. Featured projects include a new academic quadrangle at Eton College; the new school of architecture at the University of Notre Dame; rooms at Kensington Palace; the Stanhope Hotel renovation in New York; town houses in Belgravia and Chelsea, London; and much more.