Although it is quite near to publication (anticipated Spring 2012), Peter Varey’s book on my uncle, P. V. Danckwerts, is still evolving and the subtitle has changed from ‘The Blitz, bomb disposal and beyond’ to ‘brave, shy, brilliant’. I have read an early draft of this book and think it is fascinating. How many people’s lives combine bomb disposal with an academic career as a Cambridge professor? Peter was, I believe, the only Fellow of the Royal Society to be awarded the George Cross.

Tags: P. V. Danckwerts, Chemical engineering, bomb disposal, Varey, george Cross

Beware of the Feast: The History of Robt. Jowitt & Sons is finally out. It has taken me well over 18 months to write and I enjoyed almost every minute of it. It was great to have an excuse to revisit the University of Leeds which I left in 1980 after completing an MA in Bibliography & Textual Criticism. I spent a lot of time in the Special Collections of the Brotherton Library which holds a large collection of Robt. Jowitt & Sons archive material.