Helen Castor


Helen Ruth Castor is a British historian of the medieval and Tudor period and a BBC broadcaster. She taught history at Cambridge University and is the author of books including Blood and Roses and She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth . Programmes she has presented include BBC Radio 4's Making History and She-Wolves on BBC Four.

Early life and education

Helen Castor attended The King's High School for Girls, Warwick from 1979-1986, and then completed a BA and a PhD at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. She was elected to a Research Fellowship at Jesus College. She was a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, and is now a Bye-fellow.

Career

Castor was Director of Studies in History at Sidney Sussex College for eight years before focusing on writing and media.

Broadcasting

Castor has worked extensively for the BBC including presenting Radio 4's Making History and She-Wolves on BBC Four. In 2013 she was a member of the winning team on Christmas University Challenge, representing Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge.

Literary review

She has written for the books pages of The Guardian, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The Times Educational Supplement.

Writing

Castor's book Blood and Roses is a biography of the 15th-century Paston family, whose letters are the earliest surviving collection of private correspondence in the English language. Blood and Roses was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in 2005. It was also awarded the Beatrice White Prize for outstanding scholarly work in the field of English literature before 1590, by the English Association in 2006.
She-Wolves was voted one of the books of the year in the Guardian, Times, Sunday Times, Independent, Financial Times and BBC History Magazine. BBC Four televised a three-part series based on the book in 2012, presented by Castor.
Castor wrote the volume on Elizabeth I for the series Penguin Monarchs, Elizabeth I: A Study in Insecurity, published in 2018.
Castor was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017.

Personal life

Castor lives in London with her son. Her sister is the children's author, Harriet Castor Jeffrey.

Books