1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910535671703321

Autore

Berlinski Claire

Titolo

"There is no alternative" : why Margaret Thatcher matters / / Claire Berlinski

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York : , : Basic Books, , [2008]

©2008

ISBN

0-465-03121-8

1-282-94541-6

1-280-59857-3

9786612945410

9786613628404

0-465-03122-6

0-7867-2648-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (399 pages) : illustrations

Disciplina

941.085/8092

Soggetti

Conservatism - Great Britain

Electronic books.

Great Britain Politics and government 1979-1997

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The shrine of mother Margaret -- La pasionaria of middle-class privilege -- "I hate communists" -- Diva, matron, housewife, shrew -- The sledgehammer -- For strategic sheep purposes -- Coal and iron -- Miners is miners -- The triumvirate -- No! No! No! -- Conclusion: why Margaret Thatcher matters.

Sommario/riassunto

Great Britain in the 1970s appeared to be in terminal decline--ungovernable, an economic wreck, and rapidly headed for global irrelevance. Three decades later, it is the richest and most influential country in Europe, and Margaret Thatcher is the reason. The preternaturally determined Thatcher rose from nothing, seized control of Britain's Conservative party, and took a sledgehammer to the nation's postwar socialist consensus. She proved that socialism could be reversed, inspiring a global free-market revolution. Simultaneously



exploiting every politically useful aspect of her femininity and defying every conventional expectation of women in power, Thatcher crushed her enemies with a calculated ruthlessness that stunned the British public and without doubt caused immense collateral damage. Ultimately, however, author Berlinski agrees with Thatcher: There was no alternative. Berlinski explains what Thatcher did, why it matters, and how she got away with it in this vivid portrait of one of the towering figures of the twentieth century.--From publisher description.