Thatcher and Thatcherism (The Making of the Contemporary World)

Drawing extensively on political memoirs, Thatcher and Thatcherism surveys the origins and impact of 'Thatcherism' as a cultural construct and an economic creed. Focusing on the career of Margaret Thatcher, Eric J. Evans proposes that the ideological coherence and originality of 'Thatcherism' was illusory. He argues that 'Thatcherism' was a bold experiment in ideologically driven government which failed to meet its main objectives. He includes discussion of: * privatization and the fate of the trade unions* Britain's slow economic decline versus Thatcher's delusions of British grandeur* the legacy of the Falklands and of Britain's approach to Europe* education, the civil service, and crime.* the contribution of the poll tax fiasco to her fall from power. With full bibliography and explanation of the economic, social and historical context of Britain in the late 1970s and 80s, Thatcher and Thatcherism is an invaluable guide to the complexities and paradoxes of contemporary Britain.