Bettany Hughes

Historian, lecturer, broadcaster and author

Bettany Hughes is a well-known British popular historian, lecturer, broadcaster and author, who has written and presented numerous historical TV and radio documentaries for the BBC, The History Channel and Channel 4. Her first book, Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princes, Whore was published in 2005; her second, on the life of the Greek father of philosophy Socrates, is due in 2010.

She grew up in West London and was educated at Notting Hill & Ealing High School, in Ealing. Hughes then won a scholarship to read Ancient and Modern History at St Hilda's College, University of Oxford, and graduated with a 2:1. After that she continued with post-graduate research, while travelling around the Balkans and Asia Minor.

One of Hughes' documentaries, The Spartans, was cited as a major insipiration by director Zack Snyder for the blockbuster movie 300. As well as producing documentaries and writing, Hughes also lectures at universities around the world - from the United States to Australia, Germany, Turkey and Holland. She currently holds a Visiting Research Fellowship at King's College, London.

Hughes' father is the actor Peter Hughes. Her brother is Simon Hughes, the former professional cricket player, now a journalist for The Independent and The Daily Telegraph and the BBC.