Born Patrick John Nuttgens, he was raised in Piggotts Hill, near High Wycombe, one of 12 children. His father was stained-glass artist Joseph Nuttgens. His mother died when he was 7.
One day, when he was 12 and a student at Ratcliffe College, he walked off the rugby pitch with a terrible pain in his back and, within a day, was paralyzed from the chest down with poliomyelitis. He also suffered from multiple sclerosis, which had left him in a wheelchair since 1985.
He was awarded honorary doctorates by several universities, and was appointed CBE in 1983. His books include The Story of Architecture, The Art of Learning: a Personal Journey, The Home Front: Housing the People (1840-1990), and The Mitchell Beazley Pocket Guide to Architecture.
24577: MOORE, PATRICK - Eyes on the Universe : The Story of the Telescope
20445: MOORE, PATRICK - Stargazing : Astronomy Without a Telescope
33631: NICOLSON, CAPTAIN NIGEL AND FORBES, PATRICK - The Grenadier Guards in the War of 1939-1945 : Two Volumes The Campaigns in North-West Europe and the Mediterranean Campaigns