Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Review
'A breath of fresh air. In a succession of well-argued chapters, Vinen assesses Thatcher's career . . . paints a clear picture'
--Mail on Sunday
--Mail on Sunday
Product Description
Britain's first female prime minister remains a political figure of almost mythical proportions. Margaret Thatcher divided a political nation, became a cultural icon, and was the longest-serving prime minister of the twentieth century. Her period in government coincided with extraordinary changes in British society and in Britain's place in the world. Thatcher's Britain tells the story of Thatcherism for a generation with no personal memories of the 80s, as well as for those who want to revisit the polemics of their youth. It seeks to rescue Thatcher from being seen as John the Baptist for Tony Blair, stresses that Thatcherism was not a timeless phenomenon, but rooted in the 70s and 80s, and focuses our attention away from her legend, to what her government actually did during this tumultuous period in British history.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
How can a history book contain nothing about history (hint: it is called political history...)? This is merely a book that tries to characterise MT's politics, opinions, collaborators (etc) while it assumes that you know everything about the facts.
The book is structured in chapters that cover major policy areas, like Europe, the Fawklands, The Unions, etc. It doesn't follow a strict chronological order. It contains absolutely no information about the facts, what happened and when, and why each was important.
The most striking example is in the Europe chapter and concerns the Bruges speech. Without an explicit overview of the speech, MT's arguments and its impact to other european leaders or countries, the author assumes that you know all about it and covers 25 pages with endless arguments about whether MT changed her opinion on Europe in the 80s or was anti-european altogether. Who cares? How am I supposed to follow these arguments while I have no clue about the actual speech? I was barely born back then.
Another example is the Union chapter. I expected to read about how divided the UK was at the time. I expected to read about incidents that shaped the politics. Yet there was nothing remotely close the the lucidity of Andy Beckett's "When the lights went off" (which I happened to have read just before this book).
In short, only buy the book if you were an adult in the 80s and followed UK politics closely. Or if you have already read another couple of books on MT. If you are looking for an gentle history of "the politics and the social upheaval of the 80s", stay away.
The book is structured in chapters that cover major policy areas, like Europe, the Fawklands, The Unions, etc. It doesn't follow a strict chronological order. It contains absolutely no information about the facts, what happened and when, and why each was important.
The most striking example is in the Europe chapter and concerns the Bruges speech. Without an explicit overview of the speech, MT's arguments and its impact to other european leaders or countries, the author assumes that you know all about it and covers 25 pages with endless arguments about whether MT changed her opinion on Europe in the 80s or was anti-european altogether. Who cares? How am I supposed to follow these arguments while I have no clue about the actual speech? I was barely born back then.
Another example is the Union chapter. I expected to read about how divided the UK was at the time. I expected to read about incidents that shaped the politics. Yet there was nothing remotely close the the lucidity of Andy Beckett's "When the lights went off" (which I happened to have read just before this book).
In short, only buy the book if you were an adult in the 80s and followed UK politics closely. Or if you have already read another couple of books on MT. If you are looking for an gentle history of "the politics and the social upheaval of the 80s", stay away.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Richard Vinen might have regretted the title of his book since this book has little on the social History of the 1980s (for that read the excellent Rejoice! Rejoice! by Alwyn Turner) and little or nothing on the culture of the 80s. However, with that caveat recorded this is a smart and savvy discussion of Thatchers political journey; of the origins of Thatcherism. Vinen sets out to write a political history that avoids the vitriol and high emotions that Thatchers name inevitably generates. He wants to write for a generation with no personal memories of the 1980s. His aim at a dispassionate view of the Thatcher era is perhaps useful since its easy to be overwhelmed by the 'damage' done by the Thatcher era and the scars left (even today) by her policies.
He is particuarly strong on influences (very interesting for example on Enoch Powell and Powellism) and very good
at describing,Thatchers reliance on advisors and political expediency to drive policy. He does give her due credit for managing to become a Tory candidate in the male dominated party and in managing to become leader. The text is very good on providing a balanced discussion of different aspects of her rule including an interesting take on the traditional view that 1979 marked the end of consensus and also, interesting points about her lack of ideology at times. This book needs to be read alongside other books
but will provide a useful counterbalance to any obvious polemics. He provides a good chapter on sources and is brave enough to admit that some judgements could already be out of date. I think it goes alongside Thatcher & Sons by Simon Jenkins ( a book Vinen seems to have little time for) and the previously mentioned book by Alwyn Turner.
This book is purely political- but this isn't a bad thing. However, the title could be misleading. Overall, well worth a read.
He is particuarly strong on influences (very interesting for example on Enoch Powell and Powellism) and very good
at describing,Thatchers reliance on advisors and political expediency to drive policy. He does give her due credit for managing to become a Tory candidate in the male dominated party and in managing to become leader. The text is very good on providing a balanced discussion of different aspects of her rule including an interesting take on the traditional view that 1979 marked the end of consensus and also, interesting points about her lack of ideology at times. This book needs to be read alongside other books
but will provide a useful counterbalance to any obvious polemics. He provides a good chapter on sources and is brave enough to admit that some judgements could already be out of date. I think it goes alongside Thatcher & Sons by Simon Jenkins ( a book Vinen seems to have little time for) and the previously mentioned book by Alwyn Turner.
This book is purely political- but this isn't a bad thing. However, the title could be misleading. Overall, well worth a read.
Richard Vinen's book is an entertaining enough canter through the Thatcher myth. Early on he makes some pertinent revisions to the conventional views of the post-war consensus and reminds us that Thatcherism was a pragmatic as well as an ideological project which did not coalesce until sometime after May 1979.
The early part of the book contains two factual errors over the authorship of the influential "Closing of the American mind" and Peter Walker's schooling which whilst not hugely significant in themselves do not encourage confidence.
More serious is a lack of feel for the times. Given away by such sentences as "There was never a clear division between scabs and strikers" He also at one point suggests Howe and Lawson were wets; he goes on to qualify both of these but it gives the impression that he hasn't quite absorbed the clear polarisations of the eighties. This strange inability to take the register of British politics is evident again when he writes "saying that Tony Blair was more right-wing than James Callaghan is a trickier proposition" However the benefit of this unusual perspective is that he does at times come up with new and arresting points about the lady and her statecraft.
Overall this book is a partial analysis that is annoyingly reluctant to come to any judgement and therefore underestimates both Thatcher's radicalism and her significance. It is however enough of a novel perspective to make it a worthwhile addition to the scholarship if not a major contribution to it.
The early part of the book contains two factual errors over the authorship of the influential "Closing of the American mind" and Peter Walker's schooling which whilst not hugely significant in themselves do not encourage confidence.
More serious is a lack of feel for the times. Given away by such sentences as "There was never a clear division between scabs and strikers" He also at one point suggests Howe and Lawson were wets; he goes on to qualify both of these but it gives the impression that he hasn't quite absorbed the clear polarisations of the eighties. This strange inability to take the register of British politics is evident again when he writes "saying that Tony Blair was more right-wing than James Callaghan is a trickier proposition" However the benefit of this unusual perspective is that he does at times come up with new and arresting points about the lady and her statecraft.
Overall this book is a partial analysis that is annoyingly reluctant to come to any judgement and therefore underestimates both Thatcher's radicalism and her significance. It is however enough of a novel perspective to make it a worthwhile addition to the scholarship if not a major contribution to it.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Political > Political Leaders & Leadership
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Ireland
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Post-war Period, 1946-Present
- Books > History > Political History > Politicians
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Political Science & Ideology > Political Science
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
