Bio

Kate Vigurs is an historian, author and researcher.  She is currently a visiting academic in the department of Political & International Studies at the University of Warwick.  With a PhD in history from the University of Leeds, her first book Mission France – The True Story of the Women of SOE was published in 2021 to critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Polly Corrigan Book Prize and the Society for Army Historical Research first book prize.   The book was the number one bestseller at the Chalke History Festival in 2022, and third in the festival’s 2023 rankings.

Current research is for Mission Europe, a new book commissioned by Yale University Press, on the women secret agents across Europe and, with funding from the Gerry Holdsworth Special Forces Charitable Trust, she has already conducted considerable research.  She is also planning several exciting research projects for the future within the field of Second World War studies. 

Kate is an experienced and highly respected public speaker and can engage with any audience on her specialist subject of women in WW2 and Special Operations Executive, as well as many other aspects of history.  Kate has recently spoken at the Chalke History Festival, We Have Ways Festival, The Chelsea History Festival, Natural History Museum, Special Forces Club, University of Warwick, In and Out Club, National Army Museum, Royal Armouries, British Embassy in Paris, as well as several military clubs and schools.

Kate has recently become an instructor for Road Scholars and will be instructing on their Floating Campus in 2024, and is creating the new ‘Espionage’ cruise for 2025. 

Podcast appearances have been wide and varied including We Have Ways of Making You Talk, History Hit, BBC History Extra, History Rage, Behind the Spine, Spybrary, Worst Foot Forward, and The French History Podcast.  She frequently appears on WW2TV on YouTube.

Recent TV projects will see Kate on screens in Denmark, Australia and the UK including BBC 2’s A House Through Time in Winter 2024 and another major documentary series to be released in 2024.  Other TV projects have included: The One show, World War Weird, True Evil – The Making of a Nazi, Spymistress – The Life of Vera Atkins, Secrets of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, WWII in Colour: The Road to Victory on Netflix and the BBC’s Time Commanders

Frequent national and local news items on TV and radio have ranged in subject from the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, SOE, women in WWI, the land girls, and Angela Merkel, to local stories including VE Day, D-day, The Battle of Britain and many more.  

Kate is a tour guide for Anglia Tours covering the Western Front battlefields, Berlin and Krakow/Auschwitz.  Kate has done consultancy work for the Army Museums Ogilby Trust and South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum.

History’s Maid is Kate’s live historical interpretation company and she regularly produces scripts, films and live performances for organisations such as English Heritage, Royal Armouries, National Army Museum, RAF Museum, and Imperial War Museums.  History’s Maid covers a wide variety of historical periods on foot or on horseback, and encompasses everything from the Romans to the Cold War, but especially the Medieval period and the world wars.