Mary McGrigor Libri

In the summer of 1503, a young girl, her beautiful auburn hair concealed beneath a snood, set forth to ride to Scotland on a white pony. Princess Margaret, daughter of Henry VII, went as the bride of King James IV of Scotland, to cement a truce between his country and her own. Unknown to her, King James was already secretly married to a lady who had been murdered to preserve the political alliance. This was just one of the traumas which Margaret had to endure before King James died at Flodden, bribed to fight England with French gold. Alone, surrounded by enemies, she remarried to the young Earl of Angus, only to then fall passionately in love with the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, during her son's minority. Passionate and headstrong, but always loyal to her brother, King Henry, acting secretly as his spy, her story is tragic and triumphant.

The Other Tudor Princess brings to life the story of Margaret Douglas, a shadowy and mysterious character in Tudor history - but who now takes centre stage in this tale of the bitter struggle for power during the reign of Henry VIII.

Most people know of the Jacobite rising of 1745, but few are aware of the efforts made by two men, one of them General Campbell, later the 4th Duke of Argyll, and the other, Duncan Forbes of Culloden. Lord president of the Court of Session, to mitigate the suffering of Prince Charles' supporters following the defeat of his army. This book is a comprehensive study of the lives of two men remarkable for their humanity in their day.

The Great Survivor: The Amazing Escapes of James VI of Scotland and I of England was written largely because of the little known story of the Laird of Drumquhassle found in a family history published privately in 1875.Mary McGrigor reveals the story of how a lonely little boy, deprived of all natural affection, became the sagacious genius who steered the countries of his kingdom safely through European conflicts to years of prosperity hitherto unknown. James I and VI, even before his birth, became a prime target for assassins and somehow, miraculously, defied them all to become the 'wisest fool in Christendom', successfully playing off his enemies to achieve his aims. Despite his eccentricity and some of his uncouth ways, he emerges as a man of clear perspective, succeeding against all odds.McGrigor chronicles the life and times of this remarkable, strange yet at times lovable king through a tumultuous era.

The first history of sisters Isabella and Catherine de Valois, who both married English kings amid the brutal Hundred Years War

Dramatic new angle on the bitterly fought Peninsula War.