Nicola Tallis – N S Ford

Review of ‘Young Elizabeth’ by Nicola Tallis

nsford — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 09:00:00 +0000

The Tudors are a fascinating and tumultuous era of British history, but although I’ve read several books about them, I still find the events difficult to understand, perhaps because everyone has the same names (mostly Elizabeth, Thomas, Margaret, Mary, Robert, etc) and are also named after the places they are ‘of’. One of the great things about this book is that Nicola Tallis makes the history easier and focuses on the feelings and reactions of individuals, using carefully chosen quotes from sources. I expect that to history experts it will seem too simplistic.

This book explains the circumstances before Elizabeth’s birth, then follows her life up until she became Queen. There is a particular focus on her personal qualities and how the events in her early life may have affected her. This is the fourth book I’ve read by Nicola Tallis and it was certainly better than Lettice Knollys and more accessible than Margaret Beaufort, but not as good as the one about Lady Jane Gray. The writing style was not particularly elegant and there were certain repeated words that annoyed me, such as ‘youngster’, ‘teenager’ (teenagers didn’t exist back then), ‘costly’ and ‘bargaining chip’. Despite this, I would recommend the book if you’re interested in Tudor history.

Published by Michael O’Mara, 2025.

Review of ‘Elizabeth’s Rival: The Tumultuous Tale of Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester’ by Nicola Tallis

nsford — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 07:00:39 +0000

I’d never heard of Lettice Knollys before. This is the first proper biography of her, from the author of Crown of Blood and Uncrowned Queen, which are about Lady Jane Grey and Margaret Beaufort respectively. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the book about Lettice as much, partly because the material seemed padded out and partly because she didn’t wasn’t so compelling a character. I did like that she was a strong woman who dared to defy Queen Elizabeth by marrying Robert Dudley, the Queen’s favourite. She also lived to the age of 91, which for that era was an extraordinary lifespan. She did indeed have a turbulent life, with various family members getting into trouble, most notably her eldest son, the Earl of Essex, who led a rebellion and was executed for treason, as was her third husband Christopher Blount. So she was widowed three times and outlived all of her children.

The title of the book, Elizabeth’s Rival, refers not to a rival for the throne (Lettice is said to be the illegitimate granddaughter of Henry VIII) but a personal rivalry. If you already know Tudor history, then this book won’t add much to your knowledge, as it goes over much familiar ground. I appreciate all the research that has gone into it, but there wasn’t very much about Lettice herself. There was a lot of guessing, because we simply don’t have any evidence. It wasn’t what I’d expect from a history book. Moreover, I had issues with the writing style, which had many inflated sentences and grammatical errors. I often encountered phrases I would have rewritten.

There is a selection of images, copious footnotes, an index and a description of places you can visit if you wish to trace Lettice’s life.

First published in 2017.

Review of ‘Uncrowned Queen’ by Nicola Tallis

nsford — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 07:00:46 +0000

This is a thorough, straightforward biography of Margaret Beaufort (1443 – 1509), the mother of King Henry VII, by historian Nicola Tallis. I had to read it carefully because it’s densely populated with facts and is not particularly easy to understand. It’s different from my usual non-fiction read because it lacks an engaging narrative voice. It’s a serious history book. I quite enjoyed it, in a studious sort of way. I certainly learned a lot and I understand Tudor history better now. It was interesting to read this after the historical novel Cecily by Annie Garthwaite, as we follow the other side – Lancaster, not York.

The book follows the triumphs and tragedies of Margaret’s life, from her childhood (or lack of – she was a mother and a widow by the age of 13) until her later years, when she took a vow of chastity and founded two Cambridge Colleges. She comes across as strong, yet kind, very pious but also fond of entertainment and jewels. The book is really a defence of her character, whom the author obviously admires. Margaret is not on every page of the book – basically it’s a history of the Wars of the Roses and the founding of the Tudor monarchy but from Margaret’s perspective. Very often, we don’t know what she was doing at any one time. A common phrase in the biography is ‘it is not recorded…’ but the author does her best to piece evidence together using contemporary sources to conjecture how Margaret may have responded to events.

If you are well-versed in this era of history, it may not be worth reading this book, as it’ll tell you what you already know. However, if your grasp of this era is a bit vague and you’re interested to find out more about Margaret Beaufort, it’s worth reading. The book is beautifully produced, with two colour plate sections, plus family trees, dramatis personae, timeline, places to visit, notes, bibliography and index.

First published in 2019 by Michael O’Mara Books.