This series delves into the life and political career of one of Britain's most influential Prime Ministers. It offers a deep dive into the formation of her convictions, from her childhood and family values to her formative university years and the beginnings of her political journey. Readers will find detailed accounts of pivotal moments in her tenure, including critical decisions and international crises that shaped her era.
This highly acclaimed volume of Margaret Thatcher's memoirs reflects back on her life before her monumental election in 1979. Here are the impulses, events and influences that led her from Grantham to London, from being a grocer's daughter to a woman of indomitable character who dominated the stage of world affairs for more than a decade. 95 b&w photos.
"The appearance of Margaret Thatcher's memoirs has been one of the most eagerly awaited publishing events in many years. As this book now shows, rarely has such a sense of anticipation been so amply justified." "The Downing Street Years is, first and foremost, a brilliant first-hand portrayal of the events and personalities of her years in power. She gives riveting accounts of the great and critical moments of her premiership - the three election victories, the Falklands War, the Miners' Strike, the Brighton Bomb, the Westland Affair, her battles abroad with foreign federalists and at home with faint-hearted or misguided ministers. Her judgements of the men and women she has encountered, whether world statesmen or Cabinet colleagues, are completely, sometimes brutally, frank. She is lavish with praise where it is due; devastating in her criticism when it is not. The book ends with an account of her last days which is as gripping as anything in thriller fiction." "But The Downing Street Years is as much an argument as it is a record or a series of character portraits. No prime minister of modern times has sought to change Britain and its place in the world as radically as she did. Her government, she says, was about the application of a philosophy, not the implementation of an administrative programme. She sets out here with forcefulness and conviction the reasons for her beliefs and how she sought to turn them into action."
Britain's first female Prime Minister - and the only British Prime Minister of the 20th century to win three consecutive general elections - shares her story as only she can in this engaging memoir.
Margaret Thatcher, arguable the most significant figure of the late-twentieth-century British politics, died on 8 April 2013. Combining and abridging her memoirs 'The Path to Power' and 'The Downing Street Years', this definitive account of Margaret Thatcher's life is published as a one volume commemorative edition.