Margaret Thatcher the autobiography

"Margaret Thatcher is the towering political figure of late-twentieth-century Great Britain. No other prime minister in modern times sought to change the British nation and its place in the world as radically as she did. Published in a single volume for the first time, Margaret Thatcher is the...

Full description

Main Author: Thatcher, Margaret.
Format: Books Print Book
Language: English
Published: New York : Harper Perennial, c2010.
Edition: 1st ed.
Subjects:
Summary: "Margaret Thatcher is the towering political figure of late-twentieth-century Great Britain. No other prime minister in modern times sought to change the British nation and its place in the world as radically as she did. Published in a single volume for the first time, Margaret Thatcher is the story of her remarkable life told in her own words--the definitive account of an extraordinary woman and consummate politician, bringing together her bestselling memoirs The Downing Street Years and The Path to Power. Writing candidly about her upbringing and early years and the formation of her character and values, she details the experiences that propelled her to the very top in a man's world. She offers a riveting firsthand history of the major events, the crises and triumphs, during her eleven years as prime minister, including the Falklands War, the Brighton hotel bombing, the Westland affair, the final years of the Cold War, and her unprecedented three election victories. Thatcher's judgments of the men and women she encountered during her time in power-from statesmen, premiers, and presidents to Cabinet colleagues-are astonishingly frank, and she recalls her dramatic final days in office with a gripping, hour-by-hour description from inside 10 Downing Street. Powerful, candid, and compelling, Margaret Thatcher stands as a testament to a great leader's significant legacy."--Provided by publisher.
Item Description: Includes index.
Physical Description: ix, 788 p., [32] p. of plates : ill. ; 21 cm.
ISBN: 9780062012340 (pbk.)
0062012347 (pbk.)
Author Notes: Margaret Thatcher born October 13, 1925, died on April 8, 2013.

Margaret Thatcher was known as Britian's "Iron Lady." She was the the first woman ever to serve as Prime Minister of Great Britain; she served from 1979 to 1990 as leader of the Conservative Party, the longest-running prime minister of the 20th Century. During her time as prime minister, she focused on the characteristics of moral absolutism, nationalism, and the rights of the individual versus that of the state --- declaring, "There is no such thing as society" in 1987. Thatcher had a close working relationship with U.S. President Reagan, with whom she shared similar conservative views. Many saw her as the British counterpart to American "Reaganomics."

Thatcher was born Margaret Hilda Roberts Oct. 13, 1925 in Grantham, England. She attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she studied chemistry. In 1953, she practiced law as a tax attorney. In 1959 she was elected to Britain's House of Commons --- she was its youngest female member. In 1970, when the Conservatives took power, she was made Britain's secretary of state for education and science. In 1975, she was chosen to lead the Conservatives, and she became the prime minister in 1979. In 1984, she narrowly escaped being killed when the IRA bombed her hotel during a party conference. The morning after, she convened the conference as scheduled.

Thatcher authored many books in her lifetime; In Her Own Words contains some of her greatest speeches. In Path to Power, she wrote about the influences that shaped her early life, and in The Downing Street Years she wrote about the details of her years as prime minister. In her 2002 book, Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World, Thatcher outlines her thoughts for political power and planning in the age of globalism.

On a personal note, she married Denis Thatcher on December 13, 1951, and their marriage lasted for nearly 52 years until his death in June 2003. In 2002 she suffered a stroke; on the morning of April 8, 2013, she had her final stroke and died in her sleep.

(Bowker Author Biography)