Books by Helen Castor
Helen Castor is a historian, writer and broadcaster. Her latest book, She-Wolves, tells the stories of the medieval and Tudor queens who ruled England before Elizabeth I. It was selected as one of the books of the year for 2010 in The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Financial Times and BBC History Magazine. She regularly presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Making History, and is a speaker at Hire Intelligence
“Helen Castor is a very fine archival historian, and she digs into the reality of the figure, although he still is rather Shakespearean in the flawed, narcissistic boy king who she sets against his ruthless Bolingbroke relation. While they were superficially friends, relatives, and allies at a certain earlier part of their lives, one, of course, supplanted the other. So it has great drama.” Read more...
The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize
Roy Foster, Historian
“This is a light little book, perfect for holiday reading. Yet despite its short length, it provides a wonderfully rich evocation of Elizabeth I’s reign, in gorgeously turned phrases. Quite simply, a little gem of a book.” Read more...
The Best History Books to Take on Holiday
Suzannah Lipscomb, Historian
The Empress Matilda
by Helen Castor & Marjorie Chibnall
This is a wonderful piece of authoritative medieval history. It is careful in its judgement and superbly scholarly
Interviews with Helen Castor
The best books on Queens and Power, recommended by Helen Castor
Women’s historical role in politics wasn’t always as limited as we might assume. Medieval historian Helen Castor tells us about powerful women in British history and how they were constrained or conspired against.
Interviews where books by Helen Castor were recommended
The best books on Queens and Power, recommended by Helen Castor
Women’s historical role in politics wasn’t always as limited as we might assume. Medieval historian Helen Castor tells us about powerful women in British history and how they were constrained or conspired against.
The Best History Books to Take on Holiday, recommended by Suzannah Lipscomb
Which history books are ideal to take on holiday, authoritative and yet entertaining? We turned to historian Suzannah Lipscomb—whose most recent book, The Voices of Nîmes, uncovers the lives of ordinary women in Languedoc in early modern France—for her top five.
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1
All His Spies: The Secret World of Robert Cecil
by Stephen Alford -
2
Augustus The Strong: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco
by Tim Blanning -
3
The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV
by Helen Castor -
4
Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King
by Dan Jones -
5
The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon
by Adam Shatz
The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize, recommended by Roy Foster
The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize, recommended by Roy Foster
A good historical biography should help us redefine and rethink what makes a person historically significant, says Roy Foster, chair of the judging panel of the Elizabeth Longford Prize. He talks us through the brilliant books that made the 2025 shortlist, including the lives of various monarchs who left their mark on European history, a portrait of an early modern spymaster, and a biography of Frantz Fanon, the anti-colonial writer.
