An impeccably researched and beautifully written biography of Lady
Margaret Beaufort, matriarch of the Tudor dynasty (Tracy Borman, author
of The Private Lives of the Tudors and Elizabeth's Women).
In 1485, Henry VII became the first Tudor king of England. His victory
owed much to his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. Over decades and across
countries, Margaret had schemed to install her son on the throne and end
the War of the Roses. Margaret's extraordinarily close relationship with
Henry, coupled with her role in political and ceremonial affairs,
ensured that she was treated -- and behaved -- as a queen in all but
name. Against a lavish backdrop of pageantry and ambition, court
intrigue and war, historian Nicola Tallis illuminates how a dynamic,
brilliant woman orchestrated the rise of the Tudors.