About the Author

Kate Williams (Author) Kate Williams is a historian, author and broadcaster. She is the author of historical biographies, England's Mistress ('wonderful', Washington Post), Becoming Queen ('outstanding', Spectator), Young Elizabeth ('fascinating', Telegraph), Josephine ('a sparkling account,' The Daily Mail) and the novels, The Pleasures of Men ('thrilling...a soaring talent let loose', Independent) and The Storms of War ('the new Cazalet Chronicles,' Lisa Hilton). She wrote The Ring and the Crown on the history of royal weddings with fellow history girls, Alison Weir, Sarah Gristwood and Tracy Borman.She studied her degree and DPhil at Somerville College, Oxford, UK, and is now the Director of Life Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.She appears weekly on television and radio, discussing social history, royal history and general politics and culture. She was the social historian on BBC2's Restoration Home and her BBC 2 documentary 'Young Victoria' is often repeated. She is CNN's in-house historian and analyst. In 2019, Kate chaired the Women's Prize for Fiction.Helen Shoesmith (Illustrator) Helen has a degree in Graphic Arts from Liverpool John Moores University and a Masters in Illustration for Children from the North East Wales School of Art. Helen lives and works in the North West of England with her partner and two young children and when she's not drawing she's planning adventurous family days out and cosy nights in.