She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth

The subject of women and power is extraordinarily relevant to our time, yet has been a point of contention for centuries. When England’s Edward VI, the longed—for heir to Henry VIII, died at the age of 15, all the contenders for the crown were female. And yet, in 16th century England, man was considered to be the head of woman, and the monarch was the head of all. How, then, could royal power lie in female hands?

In She—Wolves, Helen Castor recounts the tales of remarkable women who, between the 12th and 15th centuries, were able to attain considerable power in their own right. Although the throne was forbidden to them, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France and Margaret of Anjou all found ways to assert themselves. By exploring the lives of these women and others, Helen Castor shows us just how much — and how little — society has changed since then.

Helen Castor is a historian of medieval England, and a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Her last book, Blood and Roses, a biography of the fifteenth—century Paston family, was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2005 and won the English Association’s Beatrice White Prize in 2006. She lives in London with her husband and son.

“I think readers will love this book, finding it wholly absorbing and rewarding.” — Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall