Helen Castor

Helen Castor
FRSL
Castor in 2015
Born
Helen Ruth Castor

(1968-08-04) 4 August 1968 (age 56)
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Occupation(s)Historian, author and broadcaster
AwardsBeatrice White Prize
Academic background
EducationThe King's High School for Girls
Alma materGonville and Caius College, Cambridge
ThesisThe Duchy of Lancaster in the Lancastrian polity, 1399-1461 (1993)
Doctoral advisorChristine Carpenter
Academic work
InstitutionsJesus College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Notable worksBlood and Roses

Helen Ruth Castor FRSL (born 4 August 1968) is a British historian of the medieval and Tudor period and a BBC broadcaster. She taught history at the University of Cambridge and is the author of books including Blood and Roses (2004) 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. Her most recent book is The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV (2024).

Early life and education

Helen Castor was born in Cambridge and attended The King's High School for Girls, Warwick, from 1979 to 1986,[1] and then completed a BA and a PhD at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Her doctoral thesis was titled "The Duchy of Lancaster in the Lancastrian polity, 1399-1461".[2] She was elected to a Research Fellowship at Jesus College.

She was a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College for eight years,[3] and is now a Bye-fellow.[4][5]

Career

Castor was Director of Studies in History at Sidney Sussex College for eight years before focusing on writing and media.[1][4][5]

Broadcasting

Castor has worked extensively for the BBC including presenting Radio 4's Making History and She-Wolves on BBC Four.[6] 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. She was part of the judging panel for the 2022 Booker Prize.[7]

Writing

Castor's book Blood and Roses (2004) 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10][11] BBC Four televised a three-part series based on the book in 2012, presented by Castor.[12][13]

Castor wrote the volume on Elizabeth I for the series Penguin Monarchs, Elizabeth I: A Study in Insecurity, published in 2018.[14]

Castor was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017.[15][16]

The Booker Prize

In 2022 Castor was chosen alongside four other 'superb readers' to judge the 2022 Booker Prize competition for best novel of the year.[17] The judging panel of Castor, broadcaster Shahidha Bari, novelist and critic M. John Harrison, novelist and poet Alain Mabanckou, and cultural historian, writer, broadcaster and panel chair Neil MacGregor selected The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka.[18] The judges admired the "ambition of its scope, and the hilarious audacity of its narrative techniques".[19]

Personal life

Castor lives in London with her son.[20] Her sister is the children's author, Harriet Castor Jeffrey.[21]

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: One Family's Struggle and Triumph During the Tumultuous Wars of the Roses (2004) Faber and Faber[22]
  • She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (2010) Faber and Faber[22]
  • Joan of Arc: A History (2014) Faber and Faber [22]
  • Elizabeth I (Penguin Monarchs): A Study in Insecurity (2018) Penguin[14]

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[23]
  • 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. ^ a b "Kings High School, Warwick. OGA". Archived from the original on 4 January 2014.
  2. ^ Castor, Helen (1993). "The Duchy of Lancaster in the Lancastrian polity, 1399-1461". E-thesis Online Service. The British Library Board. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Dr Helen Castor". Sidney Sussex College. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Profile at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge". Archived from the original on 23 May 2012.
  5. ^ a b Personal Website. Archived 2018-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "helencastor.com | Nanomaterials, Chemical Products, Bearings Industry, Super material, Water-based Zinc Stearate articles and news". helencastor.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012.
  7. ^ "Booker Prize 2022: Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka wins with supernatural satire". BBC News. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  8. ^ Pauli, Michelle (20 April 2005). "Samuel Johnson longlist celebrates variety". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Beatrice White Prize - Previous Winners". English Association. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Books of the year" Archived 2017-04-06 at the Wayback Machine 25 November 2011 The Guardian
  11. ^ "helencastor.com | Nanomaterials, Chemical Products, Bearings Industry, Super material, Water-based Zinc Stearate articles and news". helencastor.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012.
  12. ^ "BBC Four - She-Wolves: England's Early Queens, Matilda and Eleanor". BBC. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
  13. ^ History Today Archived 2012-06-10 at the Wayback Machine 16 June 2011, "Interview: Helen Castor"
  14. ^ a b Castor, Helen (4 July 2019). Elizabeth I (Penguin Monarchs) – via penguin.co.uk.
  15. ^ Onwuemezi, Natasha. "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows" Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine, The Bookseller, 7 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Current RSL Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  17. ^ "Helen Castor | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  18. ^ "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida". thebookerprizes.com. The Booker Prizes. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  19. ^ "The Booker Prize winner has been announced". The Independent. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Helen Castor | Authors | Faber & Faber". faber.co.uk.
  21. ^ "Helen Castor Interview - Writewords.org.uk". writewords.org.uk.
  22. ^ a b c "Helen Castor". Faber. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011.
  23. ^ "The Real Versailles – BBC Two". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.