Thatcher's Britain: The Politics and Social Upheaval of the Thatcher EraIt will, in May 2009, be thirty years since Margaret Thatcher entered Downing Street. Thatcher was the longest serving prime minister of the twentieth-century and her period in government coincided with extraordinary changes in British society and in Britain's place in the world. Thatcher's image permeates, not just discussion of recent British history, but also films and novels -- there has even been a musical based on her career. Curiously, the emphasis on Thatcher as a kind of cultural icon has often gone with a declining interest in the details of what her government did. This book tells the story of Thatcherism for a generation with no personal memories of the 1980s -- as well as for those who want to revisit the polemics of their youth. It aims to describe Thatcherism in a way that is both detached and engaging. Most of all, it seeks to rescue Margaret Thatcher from being seen as John the Baptist for Tony Blair. It stresses that Thatcherism was not a timeless phenomenon that can be traced back into the nineteenth century or transported forward into the twenty-first. It was rooted in the 1970s and 1980s -- a time when the Soviet empire seemed to be expanding and when the British economy seemed to be on its deathbed. Anyone who wants a flavour of the times should recall that Margaret Thatcher received her first ever letter from Ronald Reagan on the day that Saigon fell to the Viet Cong |
Other editions - View all
Thatcher's Britain: The Politics and Social Upheaval of the Thatcher Era Richard Vinen Limited preview - 2013 |
Thatcher's Britain: The Politics and Social Upheaval of the Thatcher Era Richard Vinen No preview available - 2010 |
Thatcher's Britain: The Politics and Social Upheaval of the Thatcher Era Richard Vinen No preview available - 2014 |
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admired advisers amongst became believed Britain British politics Callaghan campaign career Cecil Parkinson chancellor Clark coal colleagues Conflict of Loyalty consensus Conservative MPs Conservative Party council houses defend diary Douglas Hurd early economic policy Edward Heath election electoral enemies Enoch Powell entry Europe European fact Falklands Falklands War favour free-market Geoffrey government's Hailsham Healey Heath government Heseltine Hoskyns important interest interview issues John Nott journalists Keith Joseph Labour Party leader leadership Liberal Macmillan Margaret Thatcher Marxism Today matter memoirs Michael miners monetarism monetarist nationalized industries never Nicholas Ridley Nigel Lawson Norman Tebbit Northern Ireland opponents parliament parliamentary particularly Peter politicians post-war Powell's prime minister public spending radical resigned Scargill secretary seemed shadow cabinet social sometimes Soviet strike success suggested talked Thatcher government Thatcher speech Thatcherite Tory MPs trade unions Ulster unemployment Unionists voted Wales Westland Whitelaw wrote