I have read many books about the Tudors but knew very little about Margaret Tudor. Usually she is only briefly mentioned in relation to her brother's concerns, so it was refreshing to find out more about this woman.

I found Melanie Clegg's book fascinating. Detailed and informative, it provides an account of Margaret 's marriage to James IV and the subsequent trials and tribulations she faced. Despite her arrogance, I have sympathy for Margaret. Sent to Scotland to marry at 13, numerous pregnancies and then the death of her husband. She made many bad decisions but had little support or political knowledge to help her navigate such dangerous times.

This is a very enjoyable book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in this period of history.

Out of all the Tudors, Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, is the one I know the least about. This biography provided a glimpse into the life of an often forgotten Tudor figure. Although Margaret was the oldest daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, she was often overshadowed by her charismatic younger brother and beautiful sister.
Margaret Tudor by Melanie Clegg provides readers with an interesting overview of Margaret's life. Margaret rarely had it easy, after the death of her first husband, Margaret had to deal with councilors and suitors with ulterior motives. Although I didn't understand all of Margaret's decisions, Melanie Clegg helps provide a deeper understanding of Margaret's history and the intent of her actions. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to attain a deeper understanding of Tudor history.

A copy of this book was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk and the book's publishers, Pen and Sword History, specifically for granting my wish and allowing me to read this book.

I find the Tudors fascinating, but it's a period in which I had never gotten the chance to study. So I've turned to the likes of historical documentaries, biographies and historical fiction television, which always turns to be inaccurate for the sake of their storytelling. Despite knowing a lot about Henry VIII, his father, his mother, his three children and his six wives, I don't know anything about Henry's siblings, and this is something I feel is brushed over or forgotten about by most historians I have read.
I thought this book was well written and informative, the author goes into great detail about Margaret's life in an accessible way which managed to keep me interested in the book. I felt the author was sympathetic towards Margeret's life and this shows in the way that the author describes the hardships in Margaret's life and how she comes out as a strong individual. As this is the first source I've read about, this will be something I will keep in mind when I get the chance to read other historians' works on Margaret Tudor to compare whether they believe the same about her character. I believe that anyone interested in the Tudors will enjoy this book.

Melanie Clegg (otherwise known as Madame Guillotine) captured my attention when she dedicated her book to Margaret Tudor, because she was seemingly without any female friends. This was a lovely thing to do.



Queen Margaret was certainly in need of friends! She had to cope with a warring husband and brother, the loss of several children, fierce Scottish nobles and thieving and adulterous husbands. She also had to navigate her way through the Auld Alliance (with France) and the difficult relationship between Scotland and England. Like another famous Scottish queen, she was unfortunately a bit silly about men. She was relatively lucky with her first marriage, however. This was an arranged match to the handsome, intelligent and charismatic King James IV. He treated his much younger wife well, although it surprised and saddened Margaret that he wanted to keep his mistresses. As it wasn't unusual for royal husbands, she really couldn't do much about it. The next two husbands were far worse!Trying to keep custody of the heir to the throne also proved a minefield.



This is a sympathetic and engaging biography of King Henry VIII's sister, who certainly led a tragic life. Margaret faced it courageously and her great inner strength enabled her to fight on through her terrible travails. It's good that she had a little bit of peace before she died with her son and daughter-in-law and her grandchildren.



This is a must-read for anyone interested in the Tudors.



I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Tudors are an endlessly fascinating topic for fans of history. Perhaps it is only natural that a dynasty born out of 30 years of civil war would be anything but dull. Most books and screen media are devoted to the limelight hogging Henry VIII or Elizabeth I; their vastly different marital habits in particular. Once you’ve devoured everything about them it can be interesting to pay some attention to the people who were on the periphery, usually women who weren’t given much agency or a voice at the time.

Margaret Tudor cuts an opulently dressed but slightly sad figure in history. Overshadowed by her two longest-lived siblings, unprepared for diplomatic life, bullied by Scottish & English courtiers and exploited by her last two husbands. Also as the author points out, Margaret didn’t seem to have any close friends. If ever there was a Tudor who deserved a big hug it was Margaret.

Melanie Clegg has put together an excellent book about this undervalued but still interesting woman who did her best to cope in a turbulent world of continental wars and dynastic game playing. Unlike some historical bios this book flows nicely and is easy to read, you don’t feel like you are drowning under a pile of dusty dates and weighty names. Her style is understated and engaging, I would gladly read her work again.

Book: Margaret Tudor: The Life of Henry VIII’s Sister
Author: Melanie Clegg
Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Pen and Sword History, for providing me with this ARC.

So, this is the second book about Margaret Tudor that I have read in the past couple of weeks. I was worried about getting burn out because that happens to me whenever I read books back to back on the same subject. It didn’t. I was very surprised about how much I really enjoyed this book. It was written in that narrative-epic style of writing that I have come to enjoy with nonfiction. As many of you know, I will not read nonfiction that tells you about history, but rather shows you. History is a very interesting subject and I really don’t get why a lot of academics insist on making it so dry.

This book provides a very detailed look into Margaret’s life. We get to travel all through her life and see just how hard it was to be a woman in the 1500s. She is Tudor and that does come across the page very nicely. However, because she is a woman and in Scotland, she doesn’t get the treatment as some of the other Tudors. Melanie does a wonderful job of bringing this out of the page and actually making us feel Margaret’s pain. I know a lot of people are going to argue that Margaret was a bit of brat for always wanting to get her way. Is that because she’s a woman? Come on, her brother also threw fits whenever he didn’t get his way and no one complains too much about that.

A lot of people also want to overlook Margaret’s strength. Her husband had been killed by her sister-in-law and, yet, she still tried to hold onto what really is hers. She does anything for her sons and family. She tries to maintain peace between England and Scotland and to rule the country. It may not sound like a big deal now, but in the 1500s, this was pretty much unheard of.

I liked the detailed account of the book. It was super easy to follow. Even if you know nothing about the Scottish court, I think you will be okay. Melanie does a great job of making sure that her readers are still with her. She doesn’t talk down to you, like some historical will, nor does she venture away from the facts.

Once again, a very enjoyable book. It comes out February 19, 2019.

(Review is already on Goodreads and will be posted on Amazon on release day)

As somebody who is obsessed with Tudor history, when i saw this book was available to request i kept my fingers crossed hoping i would be sent a copy to read.
Luckily for me, i didn't have to wait long... i dived straight in and couldn't wait to find out more.
Margaret Tudor isn't someone i knew a deal about, and i throughly enjoyed her story.
It was written in an easy to read manner and i found it interesting and informative, not just when it comes to Margaret but the whole family.
Very enjoyable, and i shall look out for more of the authors work.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read in return for an honest review

I have read a couple of biographies of Margaret Tudor, elder sister of Henry VIII and doubly ancestress of the Stuart dynasty of English kings (through both Mary Queen of Scots and her husband Lord Darnley), in the past and have tended to be very frustrated and confused by them, probably at least partly due to a lack of familiarity with the structure and political machinations of the Scottish court. It was a pleasure to read this latest book, which finally provided me with an engaging and easy-to-follow account of her life.

Born the second child and first daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Margaret was raised with a fine sense of her own importance - possibly exaggerated by her father's insecurity due to the dubious nature of his own claim to the throne, and after the usual back-and-forth with various other royal houses was eventually betrothed to James IV of Scotland. Sent on the long journey north at only 13 years old and still mourning the recent death of her mother, she was still able to settle in relatively easily due to the kindness of her husband, only to have to deal later on with recurrent difficult pregnancies and the deaths of her children until the birth of the future James V. She found her life thrown into turmoil, however, after the death of James IV in the battle of Flodden Field, as she was temperamentally and practically ill equipped to govern the realm. Her disastrous second marriage to Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus and fraught relationship with her brother, as well as with the Duke of Albany, the Stewart cousin who supplanted her as regent after her remarriage, combined to make the rest of her life a difficult one. She did, however, do her best for her son within her limitations and achieved some measure of peace and tranquility before her death at 50.

Margaret is possibly one of the least sympathetic of the Tudors, seemingly having inherited little of the charisma for which most of her family was famous and much of the arrogance, exacerbated by a tendency to make rash and foolish decisions, which, as tends to be the case for women, hurt her far more than, for example, her brother Henry's sometimes equally bad decisions hurt him. Ms. Clegg does an excellent job of making her subject come to life for the reader and even evoking both pity and admiration for her while playing down none of her many flaws. I particularly appreciated the attention given to her years as Queen of Scotland, which are often neglected in favor of the more dramatic events of her later life, as well as the interactions between her and her father's (and later brother's) ambassadors, which show that, despite her lack of interest or experience in politics, she tried and often succeeded to influence relations between her native and adopted countries for the better.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a lover of all things Tudor. Be it the Henrys', the Elizabeths', the various wives or the illegitimate children, I am ALL over it. And while I am familiar with the life of Margaret Tudor, I have not found many books that tell her story. So I was thrilled to find Margaret Tudor by Melanie Clegg, and couldn't wait to dive in to her work. And I was most definitely not disappointed. Melanie Clegg does a brilliant job of telling Margaret's story in a readable and wonderfully inspiring way. I was fascinated from the beginning, and learned so much. I not only feel as though I know Margaret a bit more, but I also want to hug the author breathless. A wonderful work!