Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002556057 ISBN 13: 9780002556057

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1996

"What was it like for Denis, how did he do it?" are the most frequently asked questions of Denis Thatcher. He considered his job as an "exercise in love and loyalty", but what was the real story behind the first blind date with 24-year-old Margaret Roberts, the early electioneering and the truama of the Falklands War? What was the truth about the bombing at the Grand Hotel, Brighton, and the inside story of the leadership contest that finally forced the Thatchers from Downing Street? Denis Thatcher was his wife's "eyes and ears to the world", yet he remains a deeply private man. Only his daughter, Carol, who shared these extraordinary years at No.10, can reveal the true picture of this absorbing character and, in telling his story, offer a fascinating perspective on the Thatcher years as seen from the inside.

From the Back Cover:

On the eve of his retirement from a successful business career, Denis Thatcher became Britain's first male prime ministerial consort, mixing daily with some of the most powerful people in the world. 'Below the Parapet' is the story of his extraordinary life, as only his daughter could tell it. It is also a riveting account of more than a decade of political triumph and turmoil, told from a totally unique perspective, offering an honest and highly entertaining insight into the Thatcher years as seen from the inside.

“There are scores of hilarious anecdotes, all crisply related... Carol Thatcher has done more than capture her father, she has by faithfully rendering him, caught all the cadences of a type of Englishman... In capturing their standard bearer from fiction and making him flesh and blood Carol Thatcher has done that generation, and posterity, a service.”
THE TIMES

“Carol Thatcher has skilfully woven some of her mother's adventures into the narrative to illustrate the part her father played at critical moments. In doing so she has in several areas told us more than her mother Margaret Thatcher revealed about herself in two long volumes of autobiography”
W.F. DEEDES, 'Telegraph'

“Unpretentious and enthralling”
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

“An essential addition to the Thatcher bibliography”
FINANCIAL TIMES

“Highly readable”
RICHARD INGRAMS, 'Evening Standard'

“Sensitive and funny”
MAIL ON SUNDAY

About the Author:

Carol Thatcher was a young law student when her mother became Prime Minister. She spent a great deal of time at Number 10 and Chequers over the years that followed.

A freelance journalist, Carol writes regularly for a number of newspapers, including the ‘Daily Mail’ and the ‘Daily Telegraph’. She appears frequently on television, and is a regular contributor to Radio 4’s ‘Loose Ends’.