Helen Castor has 9,351 followers on Substack as of Oct 31, 2026. On the latest board read, Nov 6, 2026, they were #74 on Substack's History Bestsellers board. 51 publications recommend them, 4 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 30.
Last read Oct 31, 2026 (UTC). Followers are not email subscribers. Substack lists only the newest 50 recommendations for each publication, so a recommender count of 50 or more is a floor. History starts Oct 31, 2026; Substack publishes nothing earlier.
- Followers
- 9,351
- read Oct 31
- Last 7 days
- first number on Nov 7
- Last 30 days
- first number on Nov 30
- Subscribers
- 5.1K+
- rounded by Substack
- Paid subscribers
- 100+
- bestseller badge 100+
- Recommended by
- 51
- +4 in 30 days
- Recommends
- 30
- Bestsellers rank
- #74
- History
Followers by day
Tracking since Oct 31, 2026. This is the first reading. Substack doesn't publish past follower counts, so history starts the day I first read a writer and grows by one reading every 3 days (daily if it's on your watchlist). The 7-day change appears on Nov 7, the 30-day change on Nov 30. Recommendation dates below go further back: they're Substack's own.
Show as a table
| Date | Followers | Change | Subscribers | Paid band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2026 | 9,351 | 5.1K+ |
Leaderboard positions
| Board | Rank now | Best on record | Reads on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| History Bestsellers | #74 | #71 | 4 of 4 |
Rank on each read
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History Bestsellers | 71 | 71 | 72 | 74 | ▼3 |
I read every board once a day.
Recommendations
51 publications recommend Helen Castor; 4 started in the last 30 days. Helen Castor recommends 30, and 17 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.
When the recommendations started
Show as a table
| Month | Started |
|---|---|
| 2025-02 | 11 |
| 2025-03 | 2 |
| 2025-04 | 5 |
| 2025-05 | 4 |
| 2025-06 | 1 |
| 2025-07 | 1 |
| 2025-08 | 3 |
| 2025-09 | 1 |
| 2025-10 | 1 |
| 2025-11 | 1 |
| 2026-01 | 1 |
| 2026-02 | 2 |
| 2026-03 | 1 |
| 2026-04 | 1 |
| 2026-06 | 4 |
| 2026-07 | 1 |
| 2026-08 | 1 |
| 2026-09 | 2 |
| 2026-10 | 8 |
Recommended by
Lucy Worsley94k followers · started Feb 2025 · mutual
Dan Jones47k followers · started Feb 2025 · mutual
Holly A Brown16k followers · started Apr 2025
Suzannah Lipscomb 💙10k followers · started Oct 4, 2026 · mutual
John-Paul Sarni518 followers · started Mar 2025- Alice's Substackstarted Oct 31, 2026new
- History that Sparklesstarted Oct 29, 2026new
- Marce Vargasstarted Oct 22, 2026new
- Roghan McKerliestarted Oct 17, 2026new
- Tudor Blogger: The History Notesstarted Oct 6, 2026
- Line of Successionstarted Oct 4, 2026
- Junan Collinsstarted Oct 2, 2026
- Isabel's Substackstarted Sep 7, 2026
- Linda's Substackstarted Sep 7, 2026
- Amber Butchart | Dress Historian's Diarystarted Aug 17, 2026
- Gwen's Substackstarted Jul 10, 2026
- Substack Januszstarted Jun 27, 2026
- Unruly Irelandstarted Jun 12, 2026 · mutual
- Joanne Paulstarted Jun 2, 2026 · mutual
- Kim Trahanstarted Jun 1, 2026
- The Renegade Historian started Apr 13, 2026
- marketontologycmo's Substackstarted Mar 21, 2026
- Pam's Substackstarted Feb 27, 2026
- Ian Ferrisstarted Feb 12, 2026
All 51
- Justine's Substackstarted Jan 22, 2026
- Writing the Gardenstarted Nov 2025 · mutual
- Cleo & Bessstarted Oct 2025
- Lauren’s Substackstarted Sep 2025
- Rob's dreams of Walesstarted Aug 2025
- Histories of Deathstarted Aug 2025 · mutual
- The Lives in the Archivesstarted Aug 2025
- Roundtable by 92NYstarted Jul 2025
- Helen’s Substackstarted Jun 2025
- Travels round the edge of historystarted May 2025
- Poems and Storiesstarted May 2025
- Life Lessons from Historystarted May 2025 · mutual
- Simon’s Substackstarted May 2025
- Tudor Notes with Sylvia Barbara Sobertonstarted Apr 2025 · mutual
- Sharon Argylestarted Apr 2025
- Krissy’s Substackstarted Apr 2025
- By Daisy Goodwinstarted Apr 2025 · mutual
- Kate’s Substackstarted Mar 2025
- HistoricLeigh Speaking started Feb 2025 · mutual
- In History by Helen Carrstarted Feb 2025 · mutual
- Cambridge Ladies' Dining Societystarted Feb 2025 · mutual
- Small Revolutions, Every Daystarted Feb 2025 · mutual
- Jonathan Crainstarted Feb 2025
- Hiraeth - Longing for the Paststarted Feb 2025 · mutual
- Andreastarted Feb 2025
- The Broken Compassstarted Feb 2025 · mutual
- Not Being Funny Butstarted Feb 2025 · mutual
Recommends
- Lucy Worsley94k followers · started Feb 2025 · mutual
Anton Howes87k followers · started Nov 7, 2025- Dan Jones47k followers · started Feb 2025 · mutual
Katie Clapham27k followers · started Aug 2025- Suzannah Lipscomb 💙10k followers · started Oct 12, 2026 · mutualnew
Armand D'Angour4.3k followers · started Nov 30, 2025- Martin crossstarted Oct 27, 2026new
- Joanne Paulstarted Jun 8, 2026 · mutual
- The Bluestockingstarted Jun 8, 2026
- The Works in Progress Newsletterstarted Jun 8, 2026
- Tudor Notes with Sylvia Barbara Sobertonstarted Jun 8, 2026 · mutual
- Unruly Irelandstarted Jun 3, 2026 · mutual
- Histories of Deathstarted Apr 16, 2026 · mutual
- Louise Whittakerstarted Apr 16, 2026
- Sardines. By Ken Babstockstarted Feb 27, 2026
- Horace & friendsstarted Nov 7, 2025
- Galley Beggar - Pressing issuesstarted Nov 7, 2025
- Writing the Gardenstarted Aug 2025 · mutual
- By Daisy Goodwinstarted Jun 2025 · mutual
- Life Lessons from Historystarted Jun 2025 · mutual
- HistoricLeigh Speaking started Jun 2025 · mutual
- Not Being Funny Butstarted Apr 2025 · mutual
- Cambridge Ladies' Dining Societystarted Apr 2025 · mutual
- Small Revolutions, Every Daystarted Feb 2025 · mutual
All 30
- Womack's Wanderingsstarted Feb 2025
- Cultural Capitalstarted Feb 2025
- The Common Readerstarted Feb 2025
- The Broken Compassstarted Feb 2025 · mutual
- In History by Helen Carrstarted Feb 2025 · mutual
- Hiraeth - Longing for the Paststarted Feb 2025 · mutual
Substack lists the 50 newest recommenders of each publication. I add every recommendation found in the full lists of the 6,392 publications I read, so writers with many recommenders may still be missing a few small ones. "Started" is Substack's date.
Recommended by the same publications
Writers who share the most recommenders with Helen Castor. Useful for finding peers, and for sponsors looking for similar audiences.
- 6 shared
Dan JonesHistory, Etc
47k followers - 4 shared
Lucy WorsleyMy Life in the Past
94k followers - 4 shared
Dr Lacey Bonar HullThe Historian's Desk
11k followers - 2 shared
LondonistLondonist: Time Machine
109k followers - 2 shared
Annette LaingNon-Boring History
29k followers - 2 shared
Dawn O'PorterThe O'Portal
19k followers - 2 shared
Katja HoyerZEITGEIST
16k followers - 2 shared
Etymon@etymonpuzzle
1k followers
Who recommends writers like this one
Publications that recommend at least two other History writers with 5,000 to 10,000 followers (38 writers in that group), but not Helen Castor.
- recommends 5 of themThe Intellectual Investor
- recommends 4 of them
TheMedievalist@historymedieval - recommends 3 of themStories Behind the Records
- recommends 2 of them
The Timeless Traveler@timelesstrvlr - recommends 2 of them
Cool Stories About History@coolstoriesabouthistory - recommends 2 of themHistory that You can Read and why it Matters
- recommends 2 of themArchaeolog
- recommends 2 of themExchangism and World Government
- recommends 2 of themAlthea’s Substack
- recommends 2 of themThe Conclusion with Abu Khaldun
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