There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters - Softcover

Berlinski, Claire

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0465020275 ISBN 13: 9780465020270

Publisher: Basic Books, 2010

Synopsis

This is a smart, opinionated appreciation of the woman who rescued Great Britain from Socialism and proved that American-style conservatism could work around the world. Great Britain in the 1970s appeared to be in terminal decline - ungovernable and rapidly headed for global economic irrelevance. Three decades later, it is one of the richest and most influential countries in Europe and, argues Claire Berlinski, Margaret Thatcher should be given all the credit. As Britain's Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, Thatcher championed- and won-a full range of conservative initiatives: she privatised state-owned industries, curbed the power of labour unions, reduced the welfare state and reversed a culture of dependency. As journalist and conservative pundit Claire Berlinski shows, Thatcher's transformation of Britain was no simple task. Her jarring economic reforms often came at a high human cost as inefficient subsidies, welfare programmes, and industries were abandoned entirely. While Thatcher's legacy is mixed, Berlinski argues that we should ultimately be on her side. The struggles of Great Britain in the 1980s remain vitally relevant as Britain, Europe, America and the world cope with increasing calls for welfare spending. Socialism is on the rise and only those countries willing to do what Thatcher did will prevail. "There Is No Alternative" provides a valuable account of Margaret Thatcher's visionary triumphs in the fight between free enterprise and its enemies.

About this title

Review

"American Conservative" .,."[E]ntertaining... Berlinski often expresses herself with verve...Berlinski's account of the case for free markets is--as a primer for the non-economist--lucid and lively... She's colorful--thanks in part to some enjoyable inside track from Charles Powell--about Thatcher's relationships with Gorbachev and Reagan." "World Affairs" "Berlinski has crawled through the archives and interviewed many of the principals of the Thatcher era, and part of the story she tells is about the crawling and the interviewing. She begins with an intuition that Thatcher was a figure of lasting worldwide importance and, more narrowly, one who clearly saw the challenges of her day. She ends with conclusions to the same effect. She makes her journey from hunch to sober appraisal ours as well, leading us back through a fresh look at the issues and personalities as she asks the pertinent and the impertinent questions and challenges the assumptions of the players and their own conclusions about what happened and why." "Washington Times" "Fresh, original and extremely well-written" "National Review" "Brisk, engrossing, insightful, often charming... a splendid book." "Wall Street Journal" "A pleasure to read... As an interviewer, Ms. Berlinski is subtle and dogged." "Globe and Mail" "Claire Berlinski has written a much better book about her than one of those door-stop biographies that are now the destiny of almost every public figure.... The book is all the better for being a work of synthesis as well as analysis. Without being hagiography, it is about as powerful a defence of Thatcher's record as is likely ever to be written." "Human Events" "[an] excellent look back at Margaret Thatcher's significance" "The Scotsman" "Berlinski shows commitment and energy as an author... Her encounters with Neil Kinnock are tactical masterpieces, where she draws the Welsh windbag out and then deflates his woolly thinking with as much cool, perhaps cruel, precision as Thatcher herself did." Peter Schweizer, author of "Reagan's War" "Finally the Iron Lady gets her due. Claire Berlinski brilliantly lays out how Margaret Thatcher's strength and conviction changed the world. Without a Prime Minister Thatcher there might not have been a President Ronald Reagan. And Berlinski reminds us how the whole world would benefit from a new Thatcher today." General Brent Scowcroft, author of "America and the World" "Claire Berlinski's insight into Margaret Thatcher's character makes this book fascinating, and her intellectual seriousness and rigor make it compelling. It is a perfect marriage of author and subject: Berlinski's Thatcher is painfully real and human, yet simultaneously larger-than-life." Scoffery.com "Claire Berlinski has written one of the finest biographies of 2008. Superbly written. "There Is No Alternative" should be read by anyone wanting to understand geo-economics and party politics. A masterpiece."

About the Author

Since receiving her Ph.D. in international relations from Oxford University, Claire Berlinski has lived and worked in Britain, Thailand, Laos, France and Turkey as a journalist and freelance consultant. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Sun, The Oxford International Review, Asia Times, The Weekly Standard, The National Review, Policy Review, Travelers' Tales, and elsewhere. She lives in Paris and Istanbul. www.berlinski.com

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0465020275
• ISBN 13: 9780465020270
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 400