Margaret Thatcher was a divisive leader, but that is often the nature of greatness. Had she been mediocre or bland, like so many of her predecessors, she would have elicited little or no response and her impact on Britain and the world would have been negligible. She also wouldn't have bothered to write an autobiography at all. As it is, her tenure in office helped shape the modern world and drove Britain, and particularly London, to unparalleled levels of prosperity and influence, something that even her most strident critics have benefited from. This book charts her life up to the day she left Downing Street and it is written with remarkable candor and even a compassion that was rarely on view in public. Even setting aside her time in office, her insights into the influential role played by her father through his own integrity and core values, provides a glimpse into the foundation of Thatcher's personal convictions. What was often seen as uncaring adherence to market capitalism was, in reality, a faith that, like her own family, others could ‘do’ without reliance or dependance on a welfare state. It was cold medicine for many in the 1980s but delivered by someone who knew what it meant to go without and knew the rewards of personal responsibility. But of course, it is Thatcher's experiences in power that makes this book so interesting. The insights, delivered with simple honesty, into her myriad dealings with foreign leaders and cabinet colleagues gives us a remarkably disarming ‘fly on the wall’ feel. Her contempt for the IRA and its fellow travelers is visceral, especially when one reads of Thatcher's personal loss (her close friend Airey Neave) and her escape from a brutal assassination attempt. Above all, however, it is Thatcher's simple but fluid prose that makes this book so readable. Mundane political or personal events that belong to such a far away time are written about with a freshness and economy that you can easily lose yourself in the book for hours on end. Thatcher was a courageous and determined leader. With this autobiography, she demonstrates that she was also a first class writer.
