Ĭastor was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017. Ĭastor wrote the volume on Elizabeth I for the series Penguin Monarchs, Elizabeth I: A Study in Insecurity, published in 2018. BBC Four televised a three-part series based on the book in 2012, presented by Castor. 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. 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. Blood and Roses was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in 2005. Writing Ĭastor'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. She was part of the judging panel for the 2022 Booker Prize. She has written for the books pages of The Guardian, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The Times Educational Supplement. In 2013 she was a member of the winning team on Christmas University Challenge, representing Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge.

Broadcasting Ĭastor has worked extensively for the BBC including presenting Radio 4's Making History and She-Wolves on BBC Four.

Career Ĭastor was Director of Studies in History at Sidney Sussex College for eight years before focusing on writing and media. She was a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College for eight years, and is now a Bye-fellow. She was elected to a Research Fellowship at Jesus College. Her doctoral thesis was titled 'The Duchy of Lancaster in the Lancastrian polity, 1399-1461'. Helen Castor attended The King's High School for Girls, Warwick from 1979 to 1986, and then completed a BA and a PhD at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Programmes she has presented include BBC Radio 4's Making History and She-Wolves on BBC Four. She taught history at the University of Cambridge and is the author of books including Blood and Roses (2005) and She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (2010). Helen Ruth Castor FRSL (born 4 August 1968 in Cambridge) is a British historian of the medieval and Tudor period and a BBC broadcaster.

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