Politics – 130 pages – my copy (paperback; 2000) borrowed from Plymouth University library during February 2012
#36 of 2011-12 - #157 of All Time
- 2 nods out of 5 -
Despite not assuming political power for more than two decades, Thatcher remains a heated and contradictory word. Modern day politics has, in effect, been defined by her term in office; whilst her journey from grocer’s daughter to become the first – and so far, only – female Prime Minister of Great Britain has been documented on television, and now in Hollywood film. Her name brings about wildly different responses: was she the Iron Lady, or rather the Milk Snatcher; was she determined and ready to lead the country to a better future, or rather what many deem, a woman from hell?
Within the small space of 130 pages, the duo authorship of Seldon and Collings do a good job in giving a history of Thatcher’s rise to power (‘The Road to 1979’) and analysis of her time in 10 Downing Street. The major events are scrutinised: monetarism, the Falklands War, EC budget settlement, the Poll Tax, and the eventual demise of Thatcher and her “wet” cronies. The end of the era, 1989-1990, sees Thatcher’s right-hand men (Howe and Lawson) bail out on her vision of Britain. Challenges from beneath her (famously in the guise of Heseltine) led to seven years of the colourless Major governments.
Seldon and Collings attempt to assess Thatcher’s impact: an overbearing influence on the Conservative party post 1990; as well as constituting a major factor in the rise of Blair and New Labour. It is in within this assessment (from pages 65 to 95) in which the authors earn their pay as they set out to tackle some big questions: did the power of the cabinet erode away in this time?; were divides exasperated?; was Britain’s role effectively stunted by Thatcher in the 1980s?
Such assessment continues with the various summaries of the wide array of histories written on Thatcher: the right-wing perspective, the “wet” critique, the left of centre critique, the historical determinist thesis; and more and more. Even if Thatcher herself has been out of politics for a long time, there is no doubt the ink will soon run dry on analysis of her time in power. Furthermore, the reader is given access to the 1980s directly in the form of a wealth of contemporary documents, including the famous speech: ‘You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.’
More than two decades have passed since Thatcher’s demise; yet her name and the term ‘Thatcherism’ remain loaded words. A reaction to her name will reveal just where a person stands: politically and socially. More and more histories will be published, and many of which will be of more heavyweight proportions than this small, rather modest book. For an introduction with clear analysis, it earns its place on the bookshelf of Thatcher fan and hater alike.
Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Britain-Thatcher-Seminar-Studies-History/dp/0582317142
