Cambridge University Press, 8/2/2012EAN 9781107683372, ISBN10: 1107683378Paperback, 368 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 2.3 cmLanguage: EnglishMargaret Thatcher was one of the most controversial figures of modern times. Her governments inspired hatred and veneration in equal measure and her legacy remains fiercely contested. Yet assessments of the Thatcher era are often divorced from any larger historical perspective. This book draws together leading historians to locate Thatcher and Thatcherism within the political, social, cultural and economic history of modern Britain. It explores the social and economic crises of the 1970s; Britain's relationships with Europe, the Commonwealth and the United States; and the different experiences of Thatcherism in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The book assesses the impact of the Thatcher era on class and gender and situates Thatcherism within the Cold War, the end of Empire and the rise of an Anglo-American 'New Right'. Drawing on the latest available sources, it opens a wide-ranging debate about the Thatcher era and its place in modern British history.Introductionvarieties of Thatcherism Ben Jackson and Robert SaundersPart I. Making Thatcherism1. 'Crisis? What crisis?'Thatcherism and the seventies Robert Saunders2. The think-tank archipelagoThatcherism and neo-liberalism Ben Jackson3. Thatcher, monetarism and the politics of inflation Jim Tomlinson4. Thatcherism, morality and religion Matthew Grimley5. 'A nation or no nation?'Enoch Powell and Thatcherism Camilla SchofieldPart II. Thatcher's Britain6. Thatcher and the women's vote Laura Beers7. Margaret Thatcher and the decline of class politics Jon Lawrence and Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite8. Defiant dominoesworking miners and the 1984–5 strike David Howell9. Thatcherism, unionism and nationalisma comparative study of Scotland and Wales Richard Finlay10. 'Just another country?'the Irish question in the Thatcher years Marc MulhollandPart III. Thatcherism and the Wider World11. Thatcherism and the Cold War Richard Vinen12. Europe and America Andrew Gamble13. Decolonisation and imperial aftershocksthe Thatcher years Stephen HoweAppendices Prepared by Peter SlomanFurther reading.
