Dr Simon Thurley is a leading architectural historian, a regular broadcaster on television and radio, and was until 2015 the Chief Executive of English Heritage, the government’s principal advisor on the historic environment in England. Previous posts have included Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces and Director of the Museum of London.
Simon is the author of a number of books on architectural history, including The Royal Palaces of Tudor England; Whitehall Palace and Hampton Court. In 2013 he published a major history of English architecture for HarperCollins, The Building of England. In 2017 he published Houses of Power, about royal residences up to the end of the Stuarts (Transworld); a companion volume, Palaces of Revolution, came out in 2021.
Simon is married to the historian Anna Keay and lives in London and Norfolk.
Author photo © Graham Turner/Guardian