The seventh edition (2023) was revised and expanded by Owen Hopkins.

[1] The book is known for emphasising the classical tradition's importance for later architecture.

The seventh was revised and expanded in 2023 following Watkin's death in 2018 by Owen Hopkins, another British architectural historian.

In a 2002 article, architectural historians Hilde Heynen and Krista de Jonge noted that the textbook's use along with a few other standard ones promoted a standardization of the taught architectural canon of a small set of buildings that illustrated recognized periods of architectural history.

[3] British art historian Deborah Howard recommended A History of Western Architecture as a survey reference textbook in 2002.