Helen Castor

Helen Ruth Castor FRSL (born 4 August 1968 in Cambridge) 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 (2005) and She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (2010). Programmes she has presented include BBC Radio 4's Making History and She-Wolves on BBC Four.

Helen Castor

FRSL
Castor in 2015
BornHelen Ruth Castor
(1968-08-04) 4 August 1968
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
OccupationAuthor
Broadcaster
EducationGonville and Caius College

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.[1][2][3]

Career

Castor was Director of Studies in History at Sidney Sussex College for eight years before focusing on writing and media.[1][2][3]

Broadcasting

Castor has worked extensively for the BBC including presenting Radio 4's Making History and She-Wolves on BBC Four.[4] 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 (2005) 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.[5] 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.[6]

She-Wolves (2010) was voted one of the books of the year in the Guardian, Times, Sunday Times, Independent, Financial Times and BBC History Magazine.[7][8] BBC Four televised a three-part series based on the book in 2012, presented by Castor.[9][10]

Castor wrote the volume on Elizabeth I for the series Penguin Monarchs, Elizabeth I: A Study in Insecurity, published in 2018.[11]

Castor was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017.[12][13]

Personal life

Castor lives in London with her husband and son.[14] Her sister is the children's author, Harriet Castor Jeffrey. [15]

Books
  • The King, the Crown, and the Duchy of Lancaster: Public Authority and Private Power, 1399–1461 (2000) Oxford University Press ISBN 0198206224
  • Blood and Roses (2004) Faber and Faber [16]
  • She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (2010) Faber and Faber [16]
  • Joan of Arc: A History (2014) Faber and Faber [16]
  • Elizabeth I (Penguin Monarchs): A Study in Insecurity (2018) Penguin [11]

Television
  • A Renaissance Education: The Schooling of Thomas More's Daughter (2011) BBC Four
  • She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (2012) BBC Four
  • Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage and Death (2013) BBC Four
  • Joan of Arc: God's Warrior (2015) BBC Two
  • The Real Versailles (2016) BBC Two[17]
  • Women Sex and Society: A Timewatch Guide (2016) BBC Four
  • England's Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey (2018) BBC Four

Radio

References
  1. Profile at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Archived 2012-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Personal Website. Archived 2018-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Kings High School, Warwick. OGA Archived 2014-01-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Radio and TV credits Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Pauli, Michelle (2005-04-20). "Samuel Johnson longlist celebrates variety". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  6. "Beatrice White Prize - Previous Winners". English Association. Archived from the original on 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  7. "Books of the year" Archived 2017-04-06 at the Wayback Machine 25 November 2011 The Guardian
  8. Books info Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  9. BBC Four She Wolves, 2012 Archived 2012-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
  10. History Today Archived 2012-06-10 at the Wayback Machine 16 June 2011, "Interview: Helen Castor"
  11. Penguin Books
  12. Natasha Onwuemezi, "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows" Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine, The Bookseller, 7 June 2017.
  13. "Current RSL Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  14. https://www.faber.co.uk/tutors/helen-castor/
  15. http://www.writewords.org.uk/interviews/helen_castor.asp
  16. Faber profile Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
  17. "The Real Versailles – BBC Two". BBC. Archived from the original on 2016-07-25. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
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