Thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Sword for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is a wonderful biography of an often-ignored woman. Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII's older sister, was Queen consort of Scotland, and is usually ignored for Henry VIII and his queens, or for her granddaughter, Mary, Queen of Scots. Although she may not have been quite so dramatic as the others, she led an interesting and complicated life that is also worthy of study.

This is well written, and direct to the point. A lot of historians of this period tend to pad their biographies of royal women, ie "they might have done X," "she may have experienced Y," but Clegg does not fall into this trap. There is a feeling of being slightly rushed in the last years of her life, but overall, this goes into the perfect amount of detail. You feel like you have really gotten to know Margaret Tudor and her incredibly fascinating life.

This book provided a rare biographical glimpse into King Henry VIII's sister Margaret. In my reading experience, Margaret is typically portrayed as a supporting character in biographies of more major royal players, so it was nice to have her be featured in her own story. During her journey from England to Scotland, Ms. Clegg uses the opportunity to provide readers with a tour of Tudor England and Scotland. The author could have just stated that she left England on a certain date and arrived in Scotland on a certain date. I appreciated the alternate approach taken. Her relationship with James IV is portrayed as very amiable regardless of her husband's mistresses. During her time as Queen of Scotland, Margaret comes across as a naive ruler due to her lack of interest in politics. The conflicts with her brother and his colleagues are also covered. Overall, I would call this a light comprehensive biography of this monarch.

I give Margaret Tudor by Melanie Clegg 4 stars. I found that this was very well-researched without being boring or feeling like a textbook. I particularly enjoyed the bits of compassion and empathy shown toward Margaret where we have little information recorded from history. I also found the fact that the linear timeline style to be easy to follow.

There were a lot of very interesting details in the books that I, a history buff, was not aware of. The author did a great job bringing an air of authenticity to the story and her descriptions of people, places and events were fantastic. What I found lacking was actual visuals. I happen to adore visual art which does a great thing to help me really see the people I am reading about, I didn’t feel like there were enough portraits included in the biography and for something like that, they are essential. I also didn’t care much for what I consider emotional conjecture, aka saying things like “she must have felt,” too many times. A biography of a historical figure has to stay emotionally neutral, and yes, authors like to include emotions in their writing to make readers relate better to the characters but this is history, it’s not appropriate.

Margaret, the older sister of Henry VIII, was married to James IV, the king of Scotland, was mother to James V and grandmother to Mary Queen of Scots. Born in the early years of the first Tudor reign, her childhood was happy but marred by the early death of her mother.

Married in her middle teens to the dashing King of Scotland, much of her adult life was spent navigating or trying to avoid the treacherous waters of English politics, Scotland's unruliness, and overall European political maneuvers.

This book is excellently written and makes complex issues clear. For those who are interested in the Tudors it presents a different view of the dynasty and its time..

Interesting to read about a not often talked about member of the Tudor clan. I love the Tudor's, which is kind of a weird thing to say when you think about all the violence and cruelty attached to their years on the English throne, but maybe that's why I find them so fascinating. What does that say about me!?

It seemed like more of a glossing over of her life rather than an in-depth fully researched biography so I only gave it an average rating. It was quite readable which was great though.

Loved this book by Melanie Clegg, thanks so much to Pen and Sword and NetGalley for the ARC to read it in exchange for a review.

I knew little of Margaret Tudor I suppose her story has always been overshadowed by her father Henry v11 and brother Henry V111. When her father died she received nothing. Married at only 13 , one more f three marriages and undoubtedly the best one, Widowed at 23, grandmother to Mary Queen of Scots how can she have failed to be better known!

Melanie Clegg has done a brilliant job, Margaret made odd choices, had challenges and sadness’s, reading this gives real insight of her life. A most read for Tudor fans

I tend to read and research a lot about the Tudor family as I find the past of the monarchy interesting, with the Tudors and Queen Victoria being my favourites to learn about, but I have never read much about Margaret Tudor, and knew pretty much nothing about her except that she was the older sister of Henry VIII. She seemed to be a strong-willed woman, and this book really helped me learn a lot about her. The book is separated into different chapters that bunch together certain parts of her life. It goes into her childhood, her life as the wife of James IV of Scotland, and how she was treated after his death, including her other marriages. I learnt from this that she was not treated in the best way by the majority of her family (and husbands), but she remained strong & determined to do what is best for her and her children, but also try to be as happy as possible. Melanie Clegg’s writing was engaging, and although it took me a while to get through this due to not having much time to read, I was always itching to continue reading. Overall, I did really enjoy this book and feel like I have learnt a lot about Margaret Tudor, and I highly recommend this book to Tudor/history enthusiasts.

Who is not fascinated with the Tudors? I have read many books on Henry VIII and his wives, but never one on his sister, Margaret.

You would think the Queen of Scotland would like a opulent life, but that is not the life that Margaret Tudor lived. Her first husband died in the battle of Flodden and her subsequent husbands were atrocious. She fought to keep her son on the throne, through sadness and strife. She should have lived a glamour life, but most of her life was spent impoverished.

I really enjoyed this book. This was my first book by Melanie Clegg, and I doubt it will be my last!

4.5/5 stars.

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review***

*Many thanks to Melanie Clegg, Pen & Sword and Netgalley for providing me with ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
Not many books have been written about the life of Henry VII' s eldest daughter, Margaret, and she still remains very much in the shadow of her famous brother and grand-daughter. Being interested to learn more about Margaret, I requested this title even though Ms Clegg is an author unknown to me. She did a marvellous job, both regarding the research and her excellent writing style. Margaret Tudor is portrayed as a lady who was intelligent and brave although her life was not all a bed of roses, especially after James IV's death. Politics and her private life were complicated, sometimes due to her errors of judgement, sometimes due to political niceties, yet she remained in character the true queen. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Tudor period.

An excellent bio of Margaret Tudor, the elder sister of Henry VIII. It isn't often that we see books about her, which is a shame because she is a fascinating woman in her own right, and had nearly as tumultuous a time with love and marriage as her infamous brother. Well written, well researched, and a fun read, which isn't something I say about a lot of biographies, many of which are deadly dull. Not this one. It was an excellent read.

I absolutely love this book. I've always been interested in the lives of the Tudors and this brought insight into Henry's sister Margaret who is often overlooked or forgotten in the shadows of her brother Henry and her niece Elizabeth. I really enjoyed reading this book and learning more about Margaret.

Margaret Tudor was born into a world of promise and wealth. As the oldest daughter of the reigning King of England, her prospects were very bright indeed. As she grew, she became a bargaining chip on the marriage market. During her youth, she would have been given some education, but women were not as highly educated as men - which was to come back to haunt her in later years.
After her marriage to King James of Scotland, she envisioned a long life as the reigning queen of Scotland. But after her husband's death on the battlefield at Flodden, she was the regent for her infant son, with a stipulation in his will that should she remarry, she would no longer be the regent. What happened next, were years of strife and insecurity for the young widowed queen. She remarried in secret, to a man who was despised among many in Scotland. After her sons were taken from her, and the discovery of the infidelity of her second husband, she pleaded with her brother continually for help, but it was slow in coming. After divorcing her second husband, and taking a third - the decline in her life continued. None of her husbands were faithful, but the last two were interested only in what they could take from her, and what material benefits were in it for them.
Margaret was born with a lot of promise, but her life was full of sadness and much of it spent in relative poverty.
I enjoyed this book. While much of what we know about medieval women come from the accounts of their husbands, fathers, and brothers, it is possible to get a glimpse into their lives, especially with the insistence of Margaret Beaufort to record and document practices and "regulations" for the royal family. Well worth the read! One of the best historical books I have read in a while.

Margaret Tudor was born on 28 November 1489 as the eldest daughter of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York. Early in her life, her future marriage was already being discussed. On 24 January 1502 Scotland and England concluded the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, which included the marriage between Margaret and James IV of Scotland. The Treaty of Perpetual Peace did not live up to its name. James IV died at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513 fighting the English, leaving Margaret a pregnant widow. Margaret became her son's regent but her choice of a second husband did not receive a warm welcome and she was never truly trusted again.

Melanie Clegg's book Margaret Tudor: The Life of Henry VIII's Sister is the latest to be released about King Henry VIII's enigmatic sister. Other books about her include Margaret Tudor: Queen of Scots by Sarah-Beth Watkins and Sisters to the King by Maria Perry Book Review, both from recent years. I really enjoyed Melanie's book. She is clear, precise and factual without it becoming boring. The situation in Scotland was quite confusing at that time and luckily there is no confusion in the book. I would highly recommend this book if you're interested in the Tudor era.

If I could give this book 6 Stars – I most certainly would. From the first sentence to the last sentence Margaret Tudor: The Life of Henry VIII’s Sister – completely captured both my attention and imagination.

Meticulously researched and rich in detail, the author transports the reader back to sixteenth century England and Scotland – Margaret’s life was not as well documented as her infamous brother Henry VIII but through various sources such as letters and lists of Margaret’s clothing and possessions etc – the author has been able to breathe life and personality into this first Tudor Princess and Scotland’s Queen.

The back story is well explained by the author Melanie Clegg and clearly shows how Margaret became central to Scotland and the politics of England and France during her lifetime.

If you love Tudor history you’ll devour this book and even if you are not particularly interested in Tudor history I would still recommend this book as a fascinating insight not only into Royal life but into the expectations and control of women in history and how the women dealt with the restraints cast upon them.

An 11/10 read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Pen and Sword History for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest opinion/review.

This time we begin with the accession of Henry VII, Margaret's father, to the throne of England, before moving onto Margaret's childhood and betrothal aged 7yo to the 23yo James IV of Scotland. In this tome, we are treated to a more indepth study of the Tudor court and household as a whole - and how certain events touched upon Margaret - so there is a lot on her siblings.

What did become evident, was how very similar the events surrounding her own betrothal and marriage mirrored those of her sister-in-law Katherine of Aragon: the haggling over dowry, the delays, the on again / off again political manouevring from both James IV and Henry VII; and later, the pregnancies, miscarriages, and loss of babies, whilst surrounded by her husband's litter of illegitimate offspring.

Once in Scotland, Margaret's troubles did not end - the constant animosity between her husband and her brother, both wanting her loyalty, whilst simultaneously being viewed with suspicion and distrust. Following the death of James at Flodden (1513), Margaret, barely 23yo, finds herself ill-equipped to deal with the pressure and political intricacies required to fend off both internal rivals and her own brother during the regency of her infant son, James V. A disastrous foray into an ill-conceived second marriage did not make for easy bedfellows of the Scottish nobility. And even when able to shake off the shackles of this failed marriage, and seeing her son finally consecrated as King, she embarks on a third marriage, which pretty much ends up like the previous.

What this tome does do is gives us the young Margaret - petulant, fond of getting her own way, desirous of being the centre of attention, and casting her into a role where she is merely a powerless figurehead. Her struggles for recognition as was her due as Dowager Queen show that a woman's lot, no matter what her status, can be a hard one: one bad marriage can result in the loss of status, income, children, where you are left literally begging for support whilst ignored by both your own family and adoptive country, leaving you alone and embittered, casting around for allies that do not always her you interests at heart.

I think that is what the reader will take away most from this - that the grass is not always greener on the other side, and the fairy tale of being princess and queen does in reality, not always have a happy ending.

Little is widely known about Margaret Tudor, unless it was directly tied to her brother, Henry VIII. However, this biography proves that Margaret's life was every bit as fascinating and dramatic as the life of her younger brother.

I must confess that I knew almost nothing about Margaret Tudor prior to reading this book. I often forgot about her existence entirely until her name came up in a book about Henry VIII... only to have her name fade from my mind again days later. My inability to remember her is precisely why I felt so excited about this book. Now that I've read it, I'm certain I won't have a problem remembering her story!

The book begins by detailing how the Tudors came to power after the final victory in the War of the Roses, when Henry Tudor's men killed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Taking the throne as Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York, and had several children, of whom only four survived to adulthood. Margaret was their second child, and oldest daughter. Details of her childhood and family life follow in the next few chapters. Not much is known about these years, but it was very interesting to learn about her childhood as a Tudor Princess.

Margaret was only thirteen when she married James IV of Scotland in 1503 and became Queen. They had six children, of which only one survived to adulthood. In 1513, Margaret was widowed when her husband was killed while fighting the English, and that's where Margaret's story gets even more interesting... and tragic.

I thoroughly enjoyed every moment spent reading this fascinating book. Clegg's writing was engaging throughout, making me reluctant to put the book down. The history was as informative as it was richly detailed, and I learned a great deal about the woman I once so easily forgot.

This biography is a must-read for Tudor enthusiasts!

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Pen and Sword History via Netgalley.

Margaret Tudor was a fascinating woman, at least I think she was, there is not a ton of documents from her perspective (especially in her early life) and a lot of her reactions to things are extrapolated or noted in descriptions, so I often found myself wondering how she felt specifically about various events in her life. And now, thanks to this book, I know a lot more about her life! I admit the Tudor area is not one I have studied as much (I tend to do most my history obsession between the Norman Conquest and the 100 Years War) but do like to dabble in Tudor time period as well, but I knew next to nothing about Margaret. This book is well written and researched and a must read for anyone who wants to get off the usual train of the immediate royal family.

A through biography of Henry viii eldest sister well researched and very informative a must for any Tudor fan

Margaret Tudor is a detailed biography of the oldest daughter of Henry VII. Clegg does a fine job of describing her early years, which I found to be the most fascinating reading. Margaret was married three times and probalvynher first marriage was the best one. She suffered much heartache with the loss of children and strained relations with her brother. Clegg offers an admirable story of Margaret Tudor, without being overshadowed by the other Tudor relatives.