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From Grantham to the Falklands
Knopf
June 2013
On Sale: May 21, 2013
896 pages ISBN: 0307958949 EAN: 9780307958945 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
With unequaled authority and dramatic detail, the first
volume of Charles Moore’s authorized biography of Margaret
Thatcher reveals as never before the early life, rise to
power, and first years as prime minister of the woman who
transformed Britain and the world in the late twentieth
century. Moore has had unique access to all of Thatcher’s
private and governmental papers, and interviewed her and her
family extensively for this book. Many of her former
colleagues and intimates have also shared previously unseen
papers, diaries, and letters, and spoken frankly to him,
knowing that what they revealed would not be published until
after her death. The book immediately supersedes all other
biographies and sheds much new light on the whole spectrum
of British political life from Thatcher’s entry into
Parliament in 1959 to what was arguably the zenith of her
power—victory in the Falklands in 1982.
Drawing on
an extraordinary cache of letters to her sister Muriel,
Moore illuminates Thatcher’s youth, her relationship with
her parents, and her early romantic attachments, including
her first encounters with Denis Thatcher and their courtship
and marriage. Moore brilliantly depicts her determination
and boldness from the very beginning of her political career
and gives the fullest account of her wresting the Tory
leadership from former prime minister Edward Heath at a
moment when no senior figure in the party dared to challenge
him. His account of Thatcher’s dramatic relationship with
Ronald Reagan is riveting. This book also explores in
compelling detail the obstacles and indignities that
Thatcher encountered as a woman in what was still
overwhelmingly a man’s world.
Moore’s admiration
for Thatcher is evident, yet his portrait is convincingly
clear-eyed, conveying both how remarkable she was and how
infuriating she could be, her extraordinary grasp at
mastering policy and what needed to be done, and her
surprising vulnerabilities. At the moment when Margaret
Thatcher becomes a part of history, Moore’s portrait
enlivens her, compellingly re-creating the circumstances and
experiences that shaped one of the most significant world
leaders of the postwar era.
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