Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher was the longest-serving Prime Minister of the twentieth century and one of the most influential figures of the postwar era. Volume One of Moore's authorized biography gives unparalleled insight into her early life, especially through her extensive correspondence with her sister, and recreates brilliantly the atmosphere of British politics as she was making her way, taking us up to the zenith of her power: victory in the Falklands. Based on unrestricted access to all Lady Thatcher's papers, unpublished interviews with her and all her major colleagues, this is the indispensable portrait of a towering figure of our times. The No. 1 Sunday Times Bestseller and the critics' most-chosen 'Book of the Year'. 'A joy . . . fresh, unexpected, surprising . . . one of the best political biographies I have ever read.' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times 'It is not just a good book, it is a great one . . . dances along . . . often makes us laugh aloud . . . so outstandingly good.' A. N. Wilson, Evening Standard 'Masterly - propelled by a central character who is at the same time both very bizarre and very conventional - that it comes as close as biography can come to being a work of art . . . Ribald insults, gossip, political secrets, private grievances and funny stories - many of them very, very funny - fly off every page . . . this is one of the greatest political biographies ever written.' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday Magnificent, brilliantly wry and surely unsurpassable . . . he has turned one of the known figures of the twentieth century into somebody we feel, in these pages, that we are discovering for the first time . . . spine-tingling.' Robert Collins, Sunday Times, Books of the Year 'A much more multidimensional portrait of Thatcher than the caricature heroine adored by the right or the devil incarnate loathed by the left . . . laced with dry humour.' Andrew Rawnsley, Observer 'The definitive account . . . gripping . . . a masterly piece of work.' Matthew Parris, The Times