Peter Watson (born 1943) is an intellectual historian and former journalist, now perhaps best known for his work in the history of idea. He educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome.
He has been a senior editor at the London Sunday Times, the New York correspondent of the daily Times, and a columnist for the Observer. He has also written regularly for the New York Times and the Spectator. He is the author of several books of cultural and intellectual history, including Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention and, most recently The German Genius. He is the author of thirteen books and has presented several television programmes about the arts. His work on the art world and art crime includes The Caravaggio Conspiracy, Sotheby’s: the Inside Story, and The Medici Conspiracy.
From 1997 to 2007 he was a research associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.