The Path to Power

click here for more details, find new or used items	Margaret Thatcher New from £13.00 Used from £1.02 Pages: 656 (Hardcover) ISBN: 0002550504 Pub: HarperCollins Pub date: 1995-06-12 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 45901

Reader Reviews:

Hard to put down book (1/1 people found this helpful)

This is a great read, a marvelous insight to the Iron Lady. The story of how a grocer's daughter ended up on No. 10 Downing Street. In this memoir Maggie talks about her childhood, time at university, her early days in politics, early days in the government and then leading up to the time in opposition prior to the elections of 1979. A good, long read and my first insight to Britain's first (and only) female Prime Minister.
Recommened!

The Path to Power - Margaret Thatcher (1/1 people found this helpful)

This book provides a suberb and revealing insight into the mechanics of British politics and the strengths and weaknesses of the government, and the parties in opposition, from the middle of the last century.

The book is written in an incredibly clever fashion, and often one has to re-read a paragraph to clarify the real meaning of a statement or perhaps to analyse a seemingly innocuous 'throwaway' comment, which is really actually quite loaded.

After reading about the writer's formative and early career years, and the strength of character and love of her family, in particular her father; it becomes plain to see why she made such an impact on global politics, the economy, and Britain as whole.

On completing this book, and perhaps the previous volume, The Downing Street Years (which strangely preceded this book, yet covers later events), you will likely agree that Great Britain, and the planet as a whole, owes a great debt to Baroness Thatcher.

Worthy but not essential reading (1/1 people found this helpful)

I read this book after The Downing Street Years, and would generally agree with other reviews: it is simply not as compelling as its predecessor.

I was content to skim over the first few chapters (I rarely find the early years of any biography all that interesting) in anticipation to get to what I really wanted to hear about: her account of her time in Ted Heath's government.

That is, for me, the best part of this book. Her time in Heath's government is covered by two whole chapters, and her views of his leadership and, as she saw it, the 'U'-turn in the early 1970s, couldn't be clearer. But to be fair, though, she does hold up her hand and accept - as a full member of the Cabinet - her share of the blame for that government's ultimate failure.

I certainly think the publishers made a major gaffe by releasing this book AFTER The Downing Street Years which, as mentioned above and by some previous reviewers, was much superior. After the fascinating account of her turbulent years at No 10, this sequel was just bound to be a bit of an anti-climax.

A road less travelled... (1/1 people found this helpful)

In this book, the prequel to her more successful (and essentially more interesting) volume entitled 'The Downing Street Years', Margaret Thatcher gives us a glimpse into her life, and the events and people who shaped her, basically, who made her who she is.

You'll learn about her time at university, her early days in politics from a personal standpoint (for instance, she used to do her own ironing to press dresses immediately before going out, as she couldn't afford to have them pressed, and other small details like this abound), early days in the government and then leading up to the time in opposition prior to the elections of 1979.

Thatcher also adds a postscript to this book, completed after the account of her time as Prime Minister, in which she gives her prescriptions for a better Britain and Europe (in some ways, she might agree that her stance on the Eurocurrency is a la Nancy Reagan, i.e., 'Just say No!'). She has a few swipes at John Major, the man she helped into power, perhaps hoping to be able to be an active and effective agent from behind the scenes. Major retaliates a bit in his own autobiography.

In all, unless you're REALLY into British politics or Thatcher personally, this book could be easily missed. Read 'The Downing Street Years', and, as I've seen you can often pick this book up for some bargain-bin price, buy it so as to have the set. And you might peruse a chapter here and there.

It does have a good style of writing, but goes on quite a bit. Historians will appreciate it, but I often wonder if politicians think that most will actually read through all this material, considering they are invariably written when the author is off the centre stage?

A road less travelled... (2/2 people found this helpful)

In this book, the prequel to her more successful (and essentially more interesting) volume entitled 'The Downing Street Years', Margaret Thatcher gives us a glimpse into her life, and the events and people who shaped her, basically, who made her who she is.

One learns about her time at university, her early days in politics from a personal standpoint (for instance, she used to do her own ironing to press dresses immediately before going out, as she couldn't afford to have them pressed, and other small details like this abound), early days in the government and then leading up to the time in opposition prior to the elections of 1979.

Thatcher also adds a postscript to this book, completed after the account of her time as Prime Minister, in which she gives her prescriptions for a better Britain and Europe (in some ways, she might agree that her stance on the Eurocurrency is a la Nancy Reagan, i.e., 'Just say No!'). She has a few swipes at John Major, the man she helped into power, perhaps hoping to be able to be an active and effective agent from behind the scenes. Major retaliates a bit in his own autobiography.

In all, unless one is really into British politics or Thatcher personally, this book could be easily missed. Read 'The Downing Street Years', and, as I've seen once can often pick this book up for some bargain-bin price, buy it so as to have the set. And one might peruse a chapter here and there.

It does have a good style of writing, but goes on quite a bit. Historians will appreciate it, but I often wonder if politicians think that most will actually read through all this material, considering they are invariably written when the author is off the centre stage?

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