Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Volume 1: Not for Turning

Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography #1

by Charles Moore

Not for Turning is the first volume of Charles Moore's authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher, the longest serving Prime Minister of the twentieth century and one of the most influential political figures of the postwar era.

Charles Moore's biography of Margaret Thatcher, published after her death on 8 April 2013, immediately supercedes all earlier books written about her. At the moment when she becomes a historical figure, this book also makes her into a three dimensional one for the first time. It gives unparalleled insight into her early life and formation, especially through her extensive correspondence with her sister, which Moore is the first author to draw on. It recreates brilliantly the atmosphere of British politics as she was making her way, and takes her up to what was arguably the zenith of her power, victory in the Falklands. (This volume ends with the Falklands Dinner in Downing Street in November 1982.)

Moore is clearly an admirer of his subject, but he does not shy away from criticising her or identifying weaknesses and mistakes where he feels it is justified. Based on unrestricted access to all Lady Thatcher's papers, unpublished interviews with her and all her major colleagues, this is the indispensable, fully rounded portrait of a towering figure of our times.

Genres: Biography, History, Politics, Nonfiction, British Literature, Biography Memoir, European History

784 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Charles Hilary Moore is an English journalist and a former editor of The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator. He still writes for the first and last of these publications.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...

Librarian Note
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Geevee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lady is not for turning. Maybe but Charles Moore has written a page-turning book about one of Britain's most influential, and depending on one's standpoint, revered or detested prime ministers.

This is the first of three volumes that cover Lady Thatcher's life. Moore, given free access to her and her papers with no restrictions on his text, has supplemented this with numerous interviews and other sources that delivers for the reader a interesting, insightful and well-written account of her birth in 1926 to the ending of the Falklands Conflict in 1982. The author is critical, very clear-eyed with no rose-tinted glasses or personal views inhabiting the pages, and fair-minded, building Thatcher into a person of depth and conviction with many failings and faults too.

The details of her life in Grantham where he father was a shop-keeper and servant of the town through his work on the council to her successful time at Oxford, studying science/chemistry, to war work teaching step the first third of the book off well. The start of her political life, romances with a number of men and eventual marriage to Denis Thatcher follow and show a well-liked woman who is determined with an eye for detail. We then move from the early days of her election as a MP to placements in the shadow-cabinet and standing as a leadership candidate to replace Edward (Ted) Heath. The latter part of the book then covers the period from election as party leader to success at the 1979 General Election replacing Jim Callaghan and his Labour Government, to early years in office to the end of 1982.

The Thatcher papers and diaries along with official records, newspapers and other public sources are superbly supplemented by 150 personal letters to her sister, and interviews of domestic politicians, civil servants and advisors who served her, worked with her or sat opposite her (in her own party and on the opposition benches) that all provide colour and depth. Additionally, and with great assistance to the overall story and events within there are numerous insights from and by world leaders, their staff and others. Including for example Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Schmidt, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand, Charles Haughey, Garrett FitzGerald , Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig and Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.

Overall, this is a book well worth reading for those who have a interest in political biography or wish to understand Thatcher better. It may not change your views of her, but the time invested in reading this volume will be worth your while.

My copy was a 2013 first-edition Allen Lane hardback with xxxii plus 896 pages.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moore’s Magnum Opus

Love her or hate her, there is no denying that this is one of most meticulously researched and compelling biographies written of one of the United Kingdom’s strongest but also most polarising prime ministers: Margaret Thatcher. The first volume of Charles Moore’s trilogy Not for Turning covers Thatcher’s life from her birth in 1923 and childhood in Grantham, England up until the Falklands War in 1982, Moore constructs a vivid portrait of Thatcher’s rise to power, shaped by her Methodist upbringing, her fierce ambition, and her deep conviction in individual responsibility and market liberalism.

What really makes this the ultimate Thatcher biography is the level of access and candor afforded to Moore by Thatcher herself and those closest to her. As her authorised biographer, he was given unprecedented access to private papers and interviews, allowing him to paint a more nuanced and sometimes surprising picture of the Iron Lady. He does not shy away from her flaws, for example; her imperious style of her occasional tone-deafness to colleagues (which played into her downfall), but neither does he downplay her steely determination and remarkable political instinct.

The book’s title, Not for Turning, aptly captures the essence of Thatcher’s character: resolute, uncompromising, and unyielding. Moore explores how these qualities endeared her to some and alienated others, laying the foundation for her eventual domination of British politics. The prose is elegant without being dry, and Moore’s own conservative leanings never cloud the narrative with hagiography. He offers context, analysis, and a clear-eyed view of both her accomplishments and the tensions they produced. As he explains, the enemies in politics often come from within, and a conservative may not necessarily be a Thatcherite. She was also well aware of this fact and as she had herself ousted Ted Heath to become party leader, she fully expected a rebellion against her in the future.

Though dense in parts and filled with political minutiae, this volume is vastly rewarding for the dedicated and patient reader. Not for Turning not only gives deep insights into Thatcher’s personal journey but also the broader political and cultural shifts of post-war Britain. The old tropes ‘she took my milk’ are dispelled as an overplayed left wing narrative. The milk was very expensive and often went to waste before the children even drank it anyway and Labour had already removed it from high schoolers. For me this is essential reading for anyone interested in modern British history, political leadership, or the life of one of the most significant figures of not just England but the 20th Century.

[Andy Carrington · Rating 1 out of 5]

She took my milk, the cunt.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

BOTW

Ah but a stab into the 912 pages but objective it is!

[Simon Koefman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was 11 when Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979. She was without doubt the most divisive figures in British postwar politics,and I wanted to find out for myself why she attracted such strong feelings.
The book covers her childhood, student days and political career up to the Falklands.Volume 2, published next year, covers the rest of her life. The book is (mostly) balanced and objective, and Moore takes care to focus on her failings as well as her triumphs. He also uses a lot of previously unpublished material. The book reads well, and gives an excellent perspective on Britain in the sixties and seventies-economic problems, industrial strife , and ideological battle in the conservative party between consensus politics and the new monetarism . Has the book taught me anything new about her ? She was a conviction politician with a total self belief, but she used experts when she wasn't sure -ie allowing the armed forces to run the Falkland campaign with minimal political interference. She believed in meritocracy, not equality. Aspirational working class people were attracted to her strong leadership , patriotism and the sale of council houses also attracted a lot of support. The book skates over the devastation caused by high unemployment.1981 was the closest she came to being overthrown with riots and social unrest. She was helped by her enemies-the "Wets " who lacked a leader to moderate her, the new SDP and an ineffectual, divided Labour Party. There's no doubt that the Falklands marked a turning point in her political fortunes-Her enemies within the Government were vanquished, and she did show great leadership. The book hasn't changed my views about the harshness and divisiveness of Thatcherism; but I have learnt a lot about how Thatcher operated, her personality and her appeal. If you want to get behind the myths -read this book.

[Mike Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lady's not for turning. We must go on and on....

And she did. Way beyond the scope of this book, a mere lightweight in its 758 pages. Years ago, before we went on a trip, my friend Andrew, knowing I was a librarian, asked me for a reading list for the holidays so he wouldn't feel so left out whilst everyone else was buried in A Suitable Boy. He must have meant several holidays because he usual fare, The Motley Fool Guide to Miser-ness and lists of tennis championships, kept him occupied most of the time. 'I want something you can commend personally and that's going to be fun to read - but not some foot-thick book about Thatcher,' were his only instructions. I duly came up with a list mixing moderately literati fiction with frothy gay fun, and at last check in, 20 years on, he's on about number six.

Charles Moore's authorised, and definitely foot-thick, Thatcher biog probably isn't for Andrew but its very size is one of the things about Thatcher - even in death she just won't go quietly. This must be strange to anyone aged under 35 or so. They won't remember first hand just what it was like having her as prime minister. She was just so omnipresent, always on the telly (only four channels), always sticking it to someone - the miners, the Eurocrats, and mostly the 'wets' as she tagged anyone in her own party who disagreed with her. By contrast today's vapid hacks, who resemble Price Waterhouse consultants and vary only in their glottal stops, are grey, bloodless and uninviting.

Looking back it's all too easy to see her as a kind of irresistible force. Didn't she have to come because Britain in the 70s was so ghastly? Bear in mind even her predecessor, Jim Callaghan, said at the time that if her were a young man he'd emigrate. Well no, and this is where Moore's book is useful - in reminding us that Thatcher's assumption of the Tory leadership was no such thing, still less was her first general election victory in 1979 assured. Despite trade union-induced chaos, declining world status and the general feeling that the country was sinking slowly into the sea, giggling, Callaghan personally stayed points ahead of her in the polls before and during the campaign. Most people in her own party endured or accepted her reluctantly because they had tired of Ted Heath and losing elections. Many laughed at her for what were perceived as her common, lower middle class origins (she married very well) or were exasperated by her pedantry and lack of humour. There are references to her abundant but boring cooking, and a surprisingly vicious swipe from John Hoskyns, later a key policymaker in her kitchen cabinet, that he initially found her 'limited...with no lateral grasp and very little humour.' It was only victory in the Falklands followed by a landslide in the khaki election that followed it that gave her the unassailable status in her own party that lasted almost a decade. And during this time old Britain was almost wiped off the map, replaced by You-Kay plc, a sort of post-modern daydream built on easy credit, the service sector and feelgood factors. It couldn't of course last and it didn't but it did longer than most people thought possible.

History used to be regarded as Whig (Stubbs, Hume) or Tory (Carlyle) depending on who they favoured in the telling. More recently the fashion was for the neutral voice as practised by Thomson or Blake - even though the latter was a practising politician and the giveaway title was The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill. There was the odd maverick like AJP Taylor who defied convention but was seen as a bit off-colour. Moore does a good job for the most part of controlling his natural partisan urges although occasionally the mask slips: he refers to an irony that people who accuse Thatcher of being uncaring ignore that it was selfish union strikers, denying treatment to the sick and burial to the dead, that really helped her to victory in the first place. well maybe, but wouldn't it also be perfectly free market for workers to demand as much as they can legitimately negotiate in return for their labour, including withholding that labour at times?

Moore resists the urge to heroicise Thatcher, although the length of the book is revealing. Like most fanboys he can't quite stop himself from being a completist and the reader is left feeling both over- and underwhelmed. It says much yet concludes little. Did she change Britain for good? Was she inevitable? Or given the circumstances would someone - anyone - have eventually turned up who'd have done much the same or had an equally transformative effect? Moore's not saying - perhaps that is for the second half, for yes, gentle reader, there is Moore to come (sorry). And despite myself, I'm moderately agog....

[Michael G · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my review, I am copying from a message I sent to my Aunt. "Ironically, I've been completing this first of 3 volumes of Margaret Thatcher's official biography while watching the new "The Crown" season involving Mrs Thatcher. I am on Episode 6 of the TV series, but, although the series gets some things right, I think it ultimately doesn't do justice to the incredible accomplishments and humanity of this amazing leader, the first female leader of a major Western nation in Europe (of course, we haven't had a female President yet). I haven't seen the last 4 episodes, and the first volume of the biography only goes until victory in the Falklands War in 1982 - but there is no doubt that, if it wasn't for Mrs Thatcher, the UK wouldn't have risen out of the socialist doldrums of the 1960/1970's to again be a relevant power in the world and help defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War as well. It is one of the beneficial coincidences of history that she and Reagan served during much of the same time and shared a world view fostering democratic capitalism and fighting socialism and communism to win the Cold War. The Crown is a TV show and it's popular nowadays, as so many did in the 1980's, to portray Mrs Thatcher as cold and inhuman, when, in fact, her steadfastness in economic reform literally saved the country. How inhuman is that?"

To add to above, this book is incredibly detailed and would appeal to those patient enough to wade through the labyrinth of Parliamentary and World politics and so many names and foot notes. It's not for everybody, but I loved it. The reward is a thorough grasp of how difficult it is to navigate this political maze and a lasting appreciation of the "Iron Lady's" courage and perseverance in doing so to accomplish the far-reaching goals she set out to achieve. The UK, the US and the World are lucky that there was a Margaret Thatcher, and we could use someone like her again right now.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

You might not agree with her politics (especially in Scotland - she's not too popular here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmmom... ) but this book was incredibly thorough and for me as someone who was 12 years old when she came to power and grew up with her as Prime Minister, pretty fascinating to find out all the background on what happened behind the scenes.
The final chapters on the Falklands were especially interesting as they reveal how close it all came to going horribly wrong.
I read this because our daughter is doing Thatcherism as a module of her Modern History degree this year (you know you're getting old when events of your own lifetime count as "history") and I wanted a refresher. Looking forward to reading the rest in the series including the third and final instalment which is about to be published any day now.

[Dylan Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

"People do have a sense that this Government - more particularly you ... is possessed of a tenacity, which might just work, if only it's sustained. More than a few people think we're quite mad! Yet very few are able ... to proffer ... a coherent alternative solution." Geoffrey Howe to Margaret Thatcher, 31 Dec. 1980

So goes the fate of all serious politicians working with trade-offs in reality, savagely criticized by those working with ideals in fantasy. That's not to say there are many of the former: that's what makes leaders like Thatcher worth returning to in history. Like all political biography, memoir, history, the day-to-day account reveals just how volatile running a country is, not to mention the enactment of a revolutionary economic plan (the madness of Whitehall centralization rather suggests the virtue of denationalization). And don't forget defending against (which implies retaliating against) geopolitical aggression when the rest of the world demands appeasement - and all of the above with upcoming elections forever at the back of everyone's minds. Iron resolve in such circumstances is both necessary and miraculous. Tell me when you see someone who's got it.

[Patricia Fawcett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could hardly wait to read this book. It teems with information; packed with detail. Charles Moore spent several years researching this biography, and it shows. This is part one, which takes us up to 1982. It is not a light read; the reader owes it to the writer to attempt to assimilate the information which has so methodically been set down. I read it a few chapters at a time, interspersing my reading with lighter material, such as Les Dawson's 'Well Fared My Lovely.' Finishing reading Charles Moore's biography felt like an achievement, an almost miniscule one when compared to the achievements of Margaret Thatcher. Whilst she was without doubt an extraordinary woman, there is a sense of her being in the right place at the right time. She devoted herself almost single-mindedly to her political career, some would say to the detriment of raising her family. Denis emerges as a more guiding presence than previously thought. Having attained the office of Prime Minister, it appears that Margaret Thatcher revelled in the Iron Lady soubriquet, attributed to Leonid Brezhnev, and even to believe that she was infallible. Yet at moments of crisis, she occasionally adopted a crab-like attitude of trying to side-step decision making, whilst showing a face of unbroken determination to the outside world. It is said that you either love or hate Margaret Thatcher. I was an admirer, but now see that you have to be as single-minded as she was, almost to the point of total selfishness, in order to to attain your goals. In the end, she became almost regal, referring herself as 'we.' There is no doubt that Margaret Thatcher had to withstand opposition from within her own cabinet at times; one questions whether this was due to gender bias. Yet she comes across at times as a harridan, at times like a loving mother. A contradiction in many ways. I do not know whether I will have the stamina to read part two, whenever it appears.

[Paul Waring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbly researched and referenced volume on the early years of Britain's first female prime minister. By far the best book on the subject, and although the author is clearly an admirer he does bring in critical views where appropriate.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely essential account for getting beyond the Thatcher caricature to reality.

[Andrew Dockrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my first introduction to Charles Moore, this was a wonderful surprise. Not only is his style very accessible - given in large part to the fact that he's a journalist - but he is extremely erudite and very neutral in his writing. This book covers Margaret's life from her childhood all the way to the end of the Falkland's war and was a splendid tour where you saw just how difficult it was for her to make her way into a world dominated by men and gain her epithet "The Iron Lady". Not only were you left with a sense of admiration for her pursuit to her career and her single minded determination whether it was in trying to reach her goal of becoming a lawyer or in her reluctance to fall into the trap of being a housewife/ stay at home mother. All of her life she was a career oriented women, who could often be of a prickly or aggressive demeanor which owed itself in large measure to the fact that she had to take this approach in order to stay relevant and to be taken seriously in the company of men such as Ted Heath.

While this book is only the first of three you can certainly see that the memory of Churchill was certainly still resonated in her mind as she saw herself after the man in many respects. By and large I am not wholly convinced as of yet of the statement that Neal Ferguson believed that she was the savior of Britain, this is largely because while she did have some measure of success with the unemployment and with the tax burden that was sitting on the shoulders of the British people, she did not necessarily do anything astounding during her first premiership. She had come off the heels of other ministers who had not have much success in Britain to the point where they were no longer seen as a titan on the global stadium, and while her victory in the Falklands did renew the English credibility in terms of military force, it did very little else in the grand scheme of things. I guess I will have to wait to see what the next to books have in store to come to a find decision.

I would recommend this to all who have even a passing interest in British politics or just want to read about an inspiring women who overcame adversity and used her gender, work-ethic and knowledge as a weapon against those who might wish to supplant her.

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. I second Michael Barone's review that this is one of the best political biographies ever written. The number of people and documents which Moore consulted make the book absolutely fascinating. It is a sympathetic and admiring, but not hagiographic portrayal of Mrs. Thatcher. It is more interesting than a novel (and I generally prefer novels!)

The book sheds light on controversial episodes in Mrs. Thatcher's political career and attempts to present what really happened, rather than how Mrs. Thatcher preferred to present it. These are mainly situations where Mrs. Thatcher felt she had no choice but to compromise her principles, particularly in regard to budget and monetary policy, the IRA hunger strikers, and negotiations over the Falklands.

The book is also interesting because of what it reveals about the true Mrs. Thatcher as opposed to the Mrs. Thatcher of myth. I've noticed that contemporary commenters often assume that Mrs. Thatcher had the personality of a man, but simply happened to wear skirts. Not true! The book mentions many times when her behavior was stereotypically female - nervous, edgy, crying over lost soldiers, etc. Yet somehow she still managed to be the greatest Prime Minister since Churchill.

[Jonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A former Telegraph editor authoring a three volume biography of Margaret Thatcher sounds like a recipe for hagiography, and so I didn’t consider reading this until the third volume came out earlier this year and got universally excellent reviews. Based on the first volume, these are more than justified. Moore’s felling of Thatcher’s life up until she becomes Conservative leader are actually the highlight - he forensically looks at how her time in Grantham, Oxford and as a PPC shapes her life, and quietly deconstructs some myths about how thoroughly she was shaped by admiration for her ‘shopkeeper father’:

The book is at its slowest when charting domestic policy in the early years of her Premiership (which feels like something of a metaphor...) but the final chapters on the Falklands are simply excellent. I’ve never previously read anything about the history of the conflict and so hadn’t engaged with the sheer level of the political risks involved and the challenges of navigating relationships with the US and other European countries. Moore does a really good job of capturing just how fragile Thatcher’s position was at that point and - in a theme of the book - how isolated she was within her Cabinet.

[Julian Douglass · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good and (VERY) detailed biography that could have saved about 100-150 pages if the author, Charles Moore didn't talk about every detail of Lady Thatcher, down to her clothes and house life. This was an interesting portrait of her, clearly very pro-Thatcher, but that's what you get when it is an authorized biography. Mr. Moore feels free to criticize her and offer his critiques with the wonders of hindsight, but still sticks to a very pro Thatcher line. Other than that, the bio seems to pick up a bit when she does become Prime Minister in 1979 and shows how divisive and uncompromising she was. He introduces a lot of characters in this first edition, and some of them I feel didn't need a footnote biography for them. Other issues that I feel were present in this book was his lack of clarity of British Politics to the Non-British readers, and the fact that he spelled out her daily life as if he was reading her diary and putting it in this book. Hopefully, Volume 2 is better.

[Jesse Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is frustrating: it's laudably detailed and researched (given Moore's access to Thatcher and her papers), but it is a) way too long; b) quite stuffy and written in a very flat, lifeless style; c) oddly myopic, in that it fails to provide any external context to the events in Thatcher's life (virtually no mention of Wilson's resignation, the devaluation crises, the deep social unrest of the 1970s in Britain, etc. -- it's written for an audience that already knows UK history well). If you're looking for a concise read on Thatcher written in a compelling, literary style, look elsewhere. This is hyper-detailed, focused look at Thatcher's life -- hundreds of pages elapse before she even gets elected to Parliament (for god's sake, why why why so much focus on her fashion habits and her dating life?!). Also, Moore is a clearly sympathetic to Thatcher -- don't expect any soul-searching here over the social impacts of Thatcherism. That said, the Falklands war (the last 4th or 5th of the book) is great and maybe worth reading apart from the rest of the book. All in all, a missed opportunity.

[Dennis van Gulik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complete, detailed account of Margaret Thatcher's life and career in politics, from Grantham to No. 10 Downing Street. Everyone knows the one-liners she produced and the public image she cultivated. This book goes beyond the image and reveals the real Thatcher: her doubts and fears, her womanhood, her pragmatism, her occasional pettiness. Moore does so in a nuanced way, careful to judge her in her own times and the challenges of her days and not necessarily through the all too comfortable lens of today. Personally, I found the asterisks and extra notes, which this volume contained aplenty, rather redundant at times. It is truly a definitive account.

Rightfully this first part of the trilogy ends with the Falklands War, because it is here that Thatcher established herself as the true Iron Lady she would become and as we know her. Here Moore's analysis and account are very sharp. She showed herself and the world what she was made of and what truly made her a remarkable leader. A good point to jump into the next volume.

[Pasfendis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography. This is the first volume of a three part bio and is densely packed with detail (it clocks in at about 760 pages of text). This volume takes us from childhood, through the rise of Margaret Thatcher’s political career, to the pinnacle of her Prime Ministership, culminating in the victory of the Falkland Islands war in the early 1980s. It is an official bio, so the author had unprecedented access to primary sources, including Margaret Thatcher, herself. It is sympathetic, but not overly so, and definitely includes the warts. I loved the education this book provided about the workings of the British parliamentary system of government and the detailed treatment of the political issues of the day. More, I loved the character study of Margaret Thatcher- she was defined by an unwavering and sincere devotion to her principles and immense courage. She truly was an Iron Lady. I will definitely be moving on to Vol 2 after a short holiday break.

[Philip Girvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moore is certainly a fan but avoids slipping toward hagiography. He provides a fine introduction to Lady Thatcher: her early years are well covered, as is her time as an undergrad and her embrace of the Conservative ethos.

Book gathers steam as it explores the rot of the Wilson, Heath, and Callaghan governments. The sections on Heath are critical toward understanding Thatcher’s bold and successful challenge in 1975. This leads to the general election triumph in 1979 and the political struggles the Tories faced as they begin implementing Thatcher’s reforms. Volume 1 concludes with the British victory in the Falklands and Thatcher at the height of her own personal popularity and probably politically as well.

It’s really a captivating read. The challenges and barriers Thatcher faced as a woman are poignantly told, and the struggle to raise a family while pursuing her political ambitions are very well conveyed. Look forward to reading Volume 2.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really glad I picked this up.

One can forget (or completely fail to pick up in the first place) how close run a thing the collapse of the UK into Communism was in the late ‘70s. The pieces were all in place, with radical control of the ascendant trade unions taking more and more control of the nation from the feckless ruling class, rampant inflation, falling productivity, a failing pound, abysmal services, and on and on and on. They — and we — are deeply fortunate that as unlikely a leader as Lady Thatcher, a small-town shopkeeper’s daughter, a religious workaholic, a dyed-in-the-wool believer in the rule of law (and individualism) managed to pull the upsets she did to emerge to confront the crisis.

This is a great start to the story of “how.” I’ll need to get books 2 and 3…

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

“She’s trouble. What can we do to keep her busy?”

At long last, I’ve finished this magnificent biography. Dedicated, dense, detailed study of a truly fascinating woman and leader.

“For me, the heart of politics is not political theory, it is people and how they want to live their lives.”

“You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.”

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

237 - 2017

[Vasil Kolev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, but so very long and long-winded.

[Gabriel Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly in-depth and well-researched while correcting some of the mistakes of previous books. Definitely worth a read if you can manage 750 pages of trying to understand Margaret Thatcher the person.

[Tim Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great leader for the times. Good if you are interested in political history. Could be a bit dry at times

[David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Margaret Thatcher was an amazing political leader. In her own lifetime she was both admired and reviled by many. Even on the occasion of her death the responses could be quite loud. Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands is the first volume in a two volume biography of the Iron Lady by author Charles Moore. Moore spent many years working on this project. Lady Thatcher gave him access to her own material and encouraged others to talk to him. The only stipulation was that the book be published after her death. Moore is quite thorough in his work. He covers Thatcher’s life in great detail. He also covers her personality. This is not an attempt to canonize the subject. Thatcher is shown to be stubborn, difficult, and at times even a bit abusive of her colleagues. Moore points out her many weaknesses as well as her strengths. The overall image is not flattering, but it does show a very human Thatcher, something that we do not see very often when she is portrayed.

Thatcher’s father made a great impression on her early life. He was a storekeeper and a lay Methodist minister. Many of her strongest beliefs were instilled by her father at a early age. This included a strong work ethic and a strong desire to help those in need. For all of her critics claim to the contrary her greatest desire was always to look after the working men and women in England. Whenever she looked at a bill she tended to look at it like a housewife examining an item on the family budget. She disliked inflation because she felt that it wiped out the hard earned savings of industrious workers. She fought hard to sell off government owned housing to the people who lived in the housing.

Moore tells us a lot about her early life. Thatcher was always very closed about her personal life, always referring to discuss policy more than her own past. Moore shows that Denis was not the first man that she dated, something that she always claimed. We see that she was often so focused on her own life and career that she at times neglected other members of her family like her sister and her parents. We also see Margaret the snappy dresser. It is sometimes hard to remember that great people that we see in middle age were once teenagers. Thatcher loved to shop for clothes and had a particular passion for hats. From the time she was young she seemed to be destined to break down barrier. In the “old boy” world of education and politics she took second place to no one. Moore recounts the story of a headmaster congratulating the young Margaret on her luck at winning a prize in school. She responded that it wasn’t luck, she had worked hard for the award.

Early on in politics she was added to the Shadow Cabinet in a traditional “woman’s position.” She worked through that and soon showed the boys how to run a government. Neither the Labour leadership nor the Conservative leadership ever knew what to do with this upstart middle class woman who didn’t seem to know her place in the system.

Readers not familiar with the British system of government (where the Prime Minister and the Cabinet are all elected members of Parliament) it will seem amazing that from the beginning Thatcher had to fight not only with the opposing Labour party, but with members of her own cabinet. Many in her cabinet considered her as nothing more than a fluke and wanted to remove her from power so that they would be able to resume the game of politics as normal. That was not to happen. At least not for a long time.

This book is very detailed and has extensive notes and sources. In fact if there is any criticism it would be that it is too detailed. For a person who loves the minutiae of policy making this book would be wonderful. For those looking for a general biography they may find it to be a little cumbersome in the shear amount of detail given. One other observation. Most Americans know very little about the English education system or the English system of government. This book is written by an English author who assumes that everyone understands these topics. Perhaps a glossary or an appendix explaining these systems would have been useful in the American edition.

These slight criticisms aside the book is well written and fascinating. If you want to learn about one of the most important and fascinating political figures of the twentieth century then pick up this book.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stopped reading after 200+ pages. Seriously, how many times do you have to read about a new frock that Margaret purchased or wore for an event? When you've got 1100 pages in volume 1, you may dissuade people from reading more with so much focus on completely irrelevant details. Hopefully I'll find a more suitable biography of the Iron Lady.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading part 1 of this biography a while ago (Margaret Thatcher: The Authorised Biography, Volume 2: At Her Zenith: In London, Washington and Moscow), I was greatly looking forward to backtracking and reading volume 1. As the subtitle states, this volume covers Thatcher's years from birth to victory in the Fauklands in 1982. What explains Thatcher's rise to the head of the Conservative Party, and then to 10 Downing Street? I would say it was the courage of her convictions, and the ability to elucidate them clearly. She wasn't the greatest inner-party politico, nor ground-gamer, but she stated plainly what she believed concerning the free market, the rule of law, the heritage of Britannia, and the need to combat socialism and communism, and voters found that attractive.

It didn't hurt that Britain in the 70s was a mess. I'm still amazed at the amount of top-down control the government had, and how it stifled growth and innovation while encouraging inflation and unrest. And the immense power granted to labor unions in government-controlled industries only doubled the problem. I laugh at the PM's cabinet sitting around discussing what the interest rate should be, but that is what they did. Britain was desperate for a breath of free, fresh air, and Thatcher provided it.

Once she ascended to the premiership, she encountered a steep learning curve. Her party and even her cabinet was a wide panoply of opinion, often against her. She only slowly shuffled her cabinet to the point where it would provided wind in, not against, her sails. The economy took a long time to recover, and Thatcher's party might not have been returned to power in the next elections if Argentina hadn't foolishly decided to invade the Fauklands. This book tends to get bogged down in economic minutia at times, but it really sparkles when it gets to this conflict, which consumes a good 100 pages of text. Many leaders would have blinked in the face of the invasion (or the terrible diplomacy of Alexander Haig), but not Thatcher. She loved her country and did what it took to defend its interests (okay, that's platitudes, but here they happen to be true). Thus the book ends on a high note, looking forward to Thatcher's successes throughout most of the 80s.

[Colin Hoad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very few biographies I've read have been as engaging, accessible and as penetrating as this first volume by Charles Moore, detailing Thatcher's life from the beginning through until her Falklands triumph in 1982. The 900 pages flew by, the experience feeling like a grand voyage rather than the 'yomp' that a biography can sometimes be. All credit to Moore for producing such a thorough account, a work that must have taken him years to assemble. And this is just the first volume; I await the second with much anticipation.

While Moore is clearly sympathetic and generally loyal to his subject, he nevertheless includes details that do not always portray the Iron Lady in the best of lights. During both her formative years and later political career, there are nuggets from letters, private conversations and papers that are included to ensure that the book does not come off as a lionised account. In equal measure, however, he lays waste to some of the more pernicious myths about her (such as her lack of humanity), perhaps in an effort to demonstrate to those readers who may not be so keen on Mrs T that she was a real person and not the symbolic totem of right wing agency she has regrettably become to many who were born since she left office.

Some of the most interesting sections of the book deal with the Heath succession, her relationship with Reagan (and the USA in general), and, naturally, the build-up to and subsequent victory in the Falklands War. Whatever your politics, I think any reader would be hard pressed to come away from this book and not feel at least a little admiration and respect for this truly groundbreaking figure of British political history. Her legacy continues to this day (a subject that Moore intends to address in the second volume) and as such this account of her life and early political years remains indispensable.