Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

This was a perfectly fine popular history book. But then, perfectly fine isn't all that exciting - and neither was this, unfortunately. There isn't much to criticise, but there wasn't much excitement in it either. It felt like a contextualised biography by the numbers - following Margaret Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII, from childhood to the end of her life, embedding the stages of her life within the greater context of Britain and her family at the time. I just feel like it could have been more. But that's probably just me being the wrong audience for this...

This is another royal woman who I honestly wasn’t familiar with at all. You hear all about Henry. And really that’s the only Tudor widely talked about. But Margaret was an interesting and important Tudor as well. I learned so much from this book. It was well written and kept me interested. I would pick up more books from Ms. Clegg.

Fascinating look at a forgotten member of the Tudor dynasty.
She was Queen Consort of Scotland, and then regent for 3 years.
She is always overlooked, and forgotten about in history.
I love the fact that this book is so well researched, it's a pleasure, and a delight to read.
A fascinating biography for those who are somewhat already familiar with the Tudor dynasty

I love the Tudor family story. I did not really have any knowledge about Margaret Tudor. Her story was fascinating. I enjoyed learning more about her and her Scottish heirs.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. I love everything Tudor and this book did not disappoint. I have always felt bad for Margaret as they leave her out of most history stories and maybe that is because her brother was so awful to her. She deserved more being from the Royal Family.

A fascinating account of Margaret Tudor, a life usually overshadowed by that of her infamous brother King Henry VIII.

I can't help but marvel at the amount of information about the Tudors that is available for historians and writers to dig into, and Melanie Clegg has harnessed these details and turned them into a most interesting biography of the Queen that is filled with such rich detail and drama. In fact, I often could not put my Kindle down!

Definitely worth a read for those who already know a bit of the background of this royal family. The cast of characters can be overwhelming especially since they all seem to be called Margaret, Henry, Elizabeth and so on!

This historical figure of someone who we know very little if is interesting. All I knew was sister of Henry Vll, grand mother and great grandmother to Mary Queen of Scots sand Lord Darnley but knew nothing else til now. Loved this read down to the very end..

This is an excellent look into the life of Margaret Tudor and the role she played in English and Scottish history.

I was really interested to read this history of Margaret Tudor – the eldest daughter of Henry VII, and his wife, Elizabeth of York; wife of James IV of Scotland; mother to James V; grandmother of Mary, Queen of Scots; and great-grandmother to James VI/I – because she is a figure I feel has been unfairly overlooked and obscured in the long shadow of her more infamous brother, Henry VIII. And yet it turns out she had big role to play in the future joint monarchy of England and Scotland; and it would appear the same poor judgement in love and disastrous marriages as both her brother and her future granddaughter!

Unfortunately, it all seems to have started when she was still young: As the eldest daughter of the new Tudor dynasty much was expected of Margaret, and while she was pretty, with long red hair, intelligent and tried so very hard, she had neither the charisma or easy charm of her younger brother, Henry, or the natural grace or striking beauty of her younger sister, Mary. In consequence, she was mainly judged as wanting by the nobles and ambassadors that met her, although she does seem to have been well loved by her family.

So much so, her father, Henry VII arranged for her a splendid marriage to James IV of Scotland, making her a queen and given her the important task of helping bring peace between these two, long-feuding nations. Henry lavished gifts upon the young bride and sent her progressing north to her new home in great state. On arrival in Scotland, she was to find James was a handsome and enlightened prince, and he was to be a kind and generous husband.

Sadly, it was all to be spoilt, as per usual, by Margaret’s brother, Henry when he took the English throne. No writing or pleading from Margaret, or goodwill and patience from James could seem to please the petulant English king and the peace accord ended. And most tragic of all James would be killed in the subsequent fighting, only ten years after their great union, leaving Margaret a young, vulnerable widow and their only-surviving, infant son upon the throne.

What follows, reads like one of the best, historical melodramas, as Margaret is time and time again betrayed and forsaken by her brother; makes two ill-judged marriages to men, who steal her money and cheat on her; and battles several plots to take control of her and her son. All of which is told brilliantly by the author, Melanie Clegg with a clear, detailed and impassioned narrative, which while it is non-fiction, flows really well and swept me away in all the drama.

Now I could continue to wax lyrical about this book forever, so I will stop here before I bore you! Needless to say I thought this history of Margaret Tudor was fascinating: an educational and entertaining account of this overlooked but important woman. I would be interested to read more about Margaret and read more books by Melanie Clegg, too!

I'm a huge Tudor nerd so am always a bit anxious when a new biography is released in case it's a let down but Melanie Clegg's book does not disappoint. Clegg uses primary sources such as letters to make the characters in Margaret Tudor's life come alive. The text is vivid and detailed and reads like a novel in parts and gives readers a great understanding of Margaret's life.

Simply put, this book was amazing! Hard to put down. If you have some knowledge of the Tudors, you will note that the research done by this author was quite thorough. It was nice to read about a different Tudor for a change. I really like how Margaret came to life in this book! Will definitely look for more books by this author!

What a fascinating read and although I am a fan of the Tudor period in history, I don't think that I knew very much about Margaret - thankfully, this book has filled some of those gaps.

The author has very done an awful lot of research (that probably sounds obvious, but I know that I've read quite a few books where research has been lacklustre, to say the least) and you can really tell.

This was a quick and interesting read. I'd previously read about Margaret's daughter in another book before and that briefly covered her life but it was interesting to read something about Margaret herself. The only issue I had with this book was it was a bit dry and it felt a bit slow even though it was about 190 pages. This is a good guide to her life that explored it in a decent amount of detail.

I loved this book! It was well written. I enjoyed finding a new author that did well for her characters!!

Margaret Tudor is the little known older sister of Henry VIII. When she was thirteen, she married James IV of Scotland, who was sixteen years her senior and had sired many illegitimate children. Despite her husband’s flaws, Margaret was determined to make her marriage work. She eventually gave birth to a prince, who would become Scotland's future king.

However, James IV was not satisfied living in the comforts of his castle and began to seek a war with England. Opportunity came when Henry VIII went off to battle in France. James IV waged a war against England but died at the Battle of Flodden. Margaret’s infant son was now the king of Scotland and she was made regent. However, Margaret would realize that her power was fleeting, for she would lose it very quickly. She would spend the rest of her life trying to regain the power she had once wielded.

Margaret Tudor’s life has always fascinated me. Her story parallels with the story of her granddaughter, Mary, Queen of Scots. Both Margaret and Mary would make fatal mistakes that would lead to tragedies. Margaret’s weakness was trusting in manipulative and deceitful men. For her two later marriages, both of her husbands would spend Margaret’s money on their mistresses leaving Margaret bankrupt. Thus, Margaret was intelligent and desired to be a good queen, but she made bad choices that would cause her to lose her power.

Overall, this was a comprehensive biography of Margaret Tudor. It portrayed Margaret as a woman who had the capacity to be a strong ruler. The biography is written in an engaging tone, but it is not as good as Sarah-Beth Watkins’s Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots. This is because Melanie Clegg quickly glosses over Margaret’s time in England and her two later marriages which I believe very important to understanding the queen. Still, this biography is very dramatic and is full of scandals, conspiracies, and political intrigue that will be sure to interest the reader.

It has been a while since I read a history non fiction book. My degree is in History and I love the Tudor period so was thrilled to discover a new insight into the life of Margaret Tudor. She is the sister to Henry VIII who became the Queen of Scotland and whose great grandson was James I who united the two countries.
When I downloaded this book, I didn't actually know if this was fiction or non fiction. The narrative is very familiar and easy to read, unlike some of the history tomes I have read in the past. Melanie Clegg's turn of phrase is humorous at times and really engages the reader in the dramatic events she describes.
Like many books about women in history, there is much supposition in this book as the lives of women were not well recorded, even queens. I have read some books in which this has been hugely frustrating. However, this book has such good readability that it doesn't feel repetitive as the author makes suggestions which seem realistic.
Margaret Tudor is brought back to life with rich descriptions of events and Melanie Clegg does well to suggest the emotional reality that faced the girl who became Queen of Scots aged only 14 and was widowed at 23 years old thanks to war with England and her own family.

A very well documented and illustrated book about the Tudors. The author explains well some controversies around this emblematic family.

#MargaretTudor #NetGalley

Henry VIII’s sister Margaret is one of the lesser known Tudors and doesn’t usually get a lot of attention either in fiction or non-fiction, yet she was important historically as both an English princess and a queen of Scotland. This very enjoyable new biography by Melanie Clegg takes us through the whole of Margaret’s life from her birth in 1489 to her death in 1541, throwing some light on her childhood, her time as queen and her unhappy second and third marriages.

As the eldest daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Margaret had the sort of privileged childhood you would expect – perhaps more so than usual because Henry, not yet secure on his recently claimed throne, wanted to do everything he could to increase the rank and status of the new Tudor dynasty. Margaret grew up well aware of her own importance and value to her father in his efforts to arrange marriages for his children and form alliances with other royal families. In 1503, at the age of thirteen, Margaret was married to the thirty-year-old James IV of Scotland and made the long journey north while still in mourning for her mother, who had died earlier that year. It must have been a daunting experience for such a young girl, but James, despite already having several mistresses and illegitimate children, treated her with respect and kindness and helped her to settle into life in her new country.

Margaret was still just in her twenties when James was killed fighting the English at the battle of Flodden in 1513, leaving her to rule as regent for their young son who was crowned James V. She did not remain a widow for long, however, and soon married again, this time to a husband of her own choice, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, a move which angered the rest of the Scottish nobility and resulted in her losing the regency. The remainder of Margaret’s life was marked by political turmoil and personal tragedy – including the death of her younger son, divorce from Angus and an equally unhappy and unsuccessful third marriage to Henry Stewart, Lord Methven.

I thoroughly enjoyed this biography. It is written in a clear and easy to read style and although it may not be academic enough for some readers (sources are just listed at the back of the book, for example, rather than being directly referenced in the text) for the general reader this is a good introduction to Margaret Tudor’s life and to this period of Scottish and English history. Melanie Clegg’s portrayal of Margaret feels quite fair and balanced, so that the reader feels some sympathy for her while also being aware of her flaws. There are parallels with the life of her granddaughter Mary, Queen of Scots (James V’s daughter), who also made some poor decisions when it came to choosing husbands!

Clegg shows how, in Margaret’s first few years in Scotland she has little interest in politics and government, but as time goes by she begins to grow in knowledge and experience. She is often torn between her adopted country and the country of her birth and does everything she can to bring about peace between Scotland and England, not always successfully. It can’t have been easy being the sister of a man like Henry VIII, after all (though maybe slightly preferable to being his wife). She should have been able to rely on him for support, especially after James is killed at Flodden, but instead he tries to make his own plans for Margaret and her children, aimed at uniting the two countries under one crown. Of course, this is what would eventually happen anyway, if not quite in the way Henry had hoped, through the marriage between Margaret’s granddaughter Mary Queen of Scots and grandson, Lord Darnley (son of Margaret’s daughter, Margaret Douglas) which resulted in the birth of the future James VI of Scotland and I of England.

I particularly enjoyed the second half of the book, which deals with the rivalries between the various factions of Scottish noblemen, the conflict between Margaret and the Duke of Albany (the next nearest in line to the throne) and her escape to England. The earlier chapters, although less dramatic, are interesting too and I loved the way James IV was portrayed. This is a fascinating period of history and a great book.

A well researched, informative read. I learnt a lot. Although I am now glad I'm not a princess, well one from the Tudor era anyway!