The Path to Power

Margaret Thatcher's Memoirs #2

by Margaret Thatcher

In her international bestseller, The Downing Street Years , Margaret Thatcher provided an acclaimed account of her years as Prime Minister. This second volume reflects on the early years of her life and how they influenced her political career.

Genres: Biography, Politics, History, Nonfiction, Memoir, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

672 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

British politician Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher from 1979 served; measures against inflation, a brief war in the Falkland Islands in 1982, and the passage of a poll tax marked her prime administration to 1990.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts) of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first and to date only woman to hold either post.

She went to read chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford. She was selected as Conservative candidate for Finchley in 1958 and took her seat in the House of Commons in the following year of 1959. Upon the election of Edward Heath in 1970, people appointed Thatcher as secretary of state for education and science. In 1974, she backed Sir Keith Joseph for the Conservative party leader, but he fell short and afterward dropped out the race. Thatcher entered and led the Conservative party in 1975. She defiantly opposed the Soviet Union, and her tough-talking rhetoric gained her the nickname the "iron lady." As the Conservative party maintained leads, Thatcher went in the general election of 1979.

The longest tenure of Thatcher the longest since that of Lord Salisbury and was the longest continuous period in office since the tenure of Lord Liverpool in the early 19th century. This first woman led a major party in the United Kingdom and held any of the four great offices of state. After her resignation, she was ennobled as Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. During her tenure, she needed sleep of just four hours in a night.

Reviews

[Melissa]

I hestitate to publicly reveal that I've read Margaret Thatcher's autobiography, lest anyone accuse me of sympathizing with her political philosophy. The woman has fascinated me for as long as I can remember.

[Nick Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very long, a bit of a slog at times, and sometimes felt indulgent and (understandably) dated, but overall I found plenty to interest and enlighten in this autobiography of Thatcher's childhood, career prior to politics, and subsequent rise to become leader of the Conservative party, then Prime Minister.

Though not sharing all of her political viewpoints, though she is from a completely different generation and era (I was born shortly after she entered Number 10, and was too young at twelve to really understand politics when she left) I give her enormous credit having read this, because she comes over as intelligent, and reasoned and principled. Whether you agree with what she did or not, this approach makes for an insightful read. Yes, at times in the second half of the book I began to feel the tone had become less about principles and economics and more about popularity and politics, and I also suspect the more power she was entrusted with, the more revisionist she was in writing these memoirs.. but there was enough amongst this to keep me interested.

I was particularly impressed in terms of the hard work that those in politics do. This was particularly insightful in terms of all the behind the scenes civil service work that goes on - much more than the simplified view of parliament we get from the news headlines. Thatcher's journey from ordinary middle-class beginnings to become possibly the most powerful woman of the late 20th Century (surely she would have been a huge feminist icon had she not been a Tory!) particularly interesting compared to the backgrounds of those in the mainly upper-class boys club, the glass ceiling of which she broke.

[kiereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

First my I add that YES, I do disagree with some of Thatcher’s political motives. However, my interest in British Pop Culture has helped this book to catch my eye.

This memoir takes you through the early years of Thatcher, up until her first day at Downing Street. I particularly enjoyed reading about her time at Oxford University, and also on her thoughts of Britain entry in the EU. One major dislike during reading, was the countless names of people (mainly politicians who unfortunately have never heard of) throughout the book.

All in all it was a good read, I learnt a lot not only about Thatcher herself, but also about Britain’s turbulent economic times during the 60’s and 70’s.

[Rob Markley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A politician laid bare for her convictions rather than mere expediency and thirst for power! Thatcher was clearly one of the most clear headed and incisive leaders ever. She deserves far more credit than she has been given but future centuries will see better

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not able to finish this book, which is an extremely rare event for me. The dullness of Thatcher's writing style is quite unbearable.

[Janique · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's succinct as she is...
It's intelligent as she is ...
It's candid as she is ...
It's profound as she is...
It's impacting as she is ...
Above all and to my surprise it's deeply inspirational.

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second volume of Thatcher's autobiography, but retelling, in fact, the years before she came to power. It's mostly about, therefore, her childhood, her education, her first jobs prior to entering into politics, her marriage, and, ultimately, her later growth as a politician.

Does it worth a read? I believe so, because it shows how, as a woman, she was so strong, independent, determined that she didn't fit within the gender box. Think whatever you want of 'Maggie', then, but, as such, this book here is a key to better unlock her, understand her views and ethos, and how such ethos, such driving force, would ultimately shape her politics.

Interestingly, the last few chapters are centred around politics, as she gives her opinions about John Major, Europe, or, again, international politics in the wake of the fall of the Berlin wall.

A good read, although not absolutely necessary (unlike her The Downing Street Years).

[Whitlaw Tanyanyiwa Mugwiji · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for three reasons. First and foremost, I was simply curious, I wanted to to find out what made her one of the most hated woman in Britain during her premiership. Secondly, because I wanted to find out from the source, what drove her and what her convictions were, more so because we are from two schools of economic thought, that are diametrically opposed. Last but not least, I thought the book could afford me an opportunity to peak into the heart of Western thought.

She wrote two memoirs, unfortunately, this particular book does not touch on her years as the British premier. Hence, I could not find out from her own point of view why she was hated. The book adequately covered both my second and third reasons for reading the book. She believed in the liberal market economy with every fiber of her being. Her number one enemy was communism in whatever shape or form. She wanted it crushed by whatever means necessary. That is why she was opposed to imposing sanctions to the apartheid regime. To her the ANC was too closely aligned to the Soviet Union/Russia, therefore in her mind imposing sanctions was tantamount to supporting communism implicitly.

She helps us peak into Western thought, when she advocates market liberalism to be at the heart and center of European Integration. Although she supports economic integration she is opposed to political integration. She prefers the US to take a leading role in providing security to Europe through NATO. She explains plainly how human rights are linked to the liberal market system, which is why they must be at the heart of the West's foreign policy.

A bit too long for my liking but all the same a good read.

[Ashley Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5*

Dense in parts, but highly interesting and thought provoking.

[Andy Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long. So very long.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite an interesting book, I must admit, and it is a very long one.  At more than 600 pages this volume is not one that can be taken lightly, but there are surely many worse ways of spending one's time than to reflect upon the political career of one of the most legendary British Prime Ministers of all time.  Margaret Thatcher was not only interesting from the point of view of her policies, but also from her perspective.  This is a book that demonstrates the immense grasp and interest in detail that the author had.  Some writers are all into grand but empty gestures and show a lack of interest in logistics and the nitty gritty but that is not something that can accurately be said about Margaret Thatcher.  The daughter of a grocer and a woman who had spent some time as a research chemist, there is no doubt that the author is a woman who was very interested in details long before she entered politics.  And as someone who, like the author, has never been anything other than a conservative of one stripe or another, the author certainly has an impressive story to tell in how it was that she acquired the skills and connections to make it as Prime Minister.

This book is divided into two parts and sixteen chapters.  The first part of the book is by far the largest at more than 450 pages, and it discusses the period of Thatcher's life before she became Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1979.  This particular well-illustrated volume is organized in roughly chronological as well as topical order, starting with a look at the author's provincial childhood (1), her time at Oxford where she was active in student politics and majored in Chemistry (2), her period as a wife and mother and her studies of law (3), her time in the outer circle of Tory politics as a backbencher in the early 1960's (4), her period in the shadow government from 1964-1970 (5), her role in the Department of Education during the Heath ministry (6), her lessons from that ministry's foibles and mistakes (7), her seizure of the Tory leadership after their defeat in 1974 (8), her bumpy ride as leader of the opposition from 1975-1977 (9), her foreign policy views (10), her development of the skills of statecraft from 1977 to 1979 (11) and the stress of the 1979 campaign (12) that led to her election as Prime Minister.  The second part of the book contains discussions of the author's life after being Prime Minister, including beginning again, discussing her views of policy towards Europe (13), foreign policy and defense (14), cultural issues (15) like the family and curbing welfare dependency, and her thoughts on promoting free enterprise (16), after which the book ends with an epilogue as well as three appendices that discuss her Hague Speech of 1992, a political chronology from 1955 to 1979, and the various shadow cabinets she was in charge of from 1975 to 1979.

How was Thatcher's path to power?  For one, she was clearly an ambitious politician whose ambition was early noticed.  She acquired her skills young, participated in political debates and developed a grasp of both strategy and tactics through experience, and served plenty of time in shadow cabinets and in lower levels of cabinets as she proved her fitness to rule.  She had to deal with questions of loyalty to leaders and disagreement with those who were not as serious as she was about turning England decisively to the right.  She demonstrates throughout this book a grasp of the politeness that comes from recognizing the qualities of those with whom one greatly disagrees and shows the roots of her own political philosophy and practice and tells how it was that she herself became more decisively conservative through years of refining her thinking and pondering the relationship between culture and economics.  This book really allows you a chance to see what sort of woman the Iron Lady was and that is definitely a good thing if you are disposed to like her as I am.  

[Christine Le · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why I put this book out for so long since high school. Now that I got a chance to finish it, Thatcher has amaze me at great lengths of how capable a woman is in carrying leadership roles in government. Such a wise women for her time she has set an example for younger generations to live by eradiating general stereotypes about women. The 1980s has set a foundation for decades in North America to emulate her sense of thinking, fashion and motivation to be potential leaders of tomorrow.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book which gives an interesting insight into Mrs Thatcher's life before office, and goes some way to explaining the formation of the principles that became Thatcherism. However the book is a little long (but not as bad as 'The Downing Street Years'), and at times she seems to be justifying her actions rather than explaining why she took them and thinking what she would have done differently.

[Paul Waring · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thatcher's pre-political life was, by and large, rather dull, and certainly not worthy of 600 pages. A better writer could have made the occasional gem sparkle (and indeed Charles Moore appears to have managed this) but a boring subject matter discussed at length in an equally tedious writing style results in a long hard slog that isn't worth the effort unless you are a student of political history.

[Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autobiography in the true sense tracing her life before she became Prime Minister. Interesting read for fans of the Iron Lady and/or the British Conservative Party

[Richard Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cynic might say that it took a lot of print to say 'I was right on everything all along' in 2 volumes. Worth reading but ...

[Beth Haynes]

Interesting look at a time in history that I recall - but primarily from the point of view of the US. This book covers Margaret Thatcher's rise to leader of the Conservative Party up to through the election which puts in into the role of Prime Minister. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for over a decade. watching the 4th season of Netflix's The Crown inspired me to finally read it.
The British sysem of Parliment, Prime Minister and royalty has alway sbeen a mystery, and this helped make some of it more clear. I am particully intrigued by the existence of the Shadow Cabinet where Shadow Ministers are assigned various "portfolios" and charge of delevoping alternative policies to the ruling Government, which may be either a specific party, or a coalition of parties. duing the election which put the conservatives in power and Thatcher as Prime Minister, she refused ato debate the curent Prime Minister pointing out that the election was not of a President (i.e. a specific inidividual) but of a Government.
I had no idea just how socialist pre-Thatcher Great Britain was, much of which appears to be the consequence of central economic planning employed during WWII. In the US, big business has leveraged polticial power (corporate cronyism) on its behalf at the expense of small business and individuals. In pre-Thatcher Great Briain, labor unions has excesive power which led to economic disaster - as so many of the Unions represented government employees of (all of transportation except airlines, the vast majority of the energy industry, schools, the postal service, and of course the NHS.)
I have not finished the book, stoping at teh end of PArt 1. Part 2 appears to be her thoughts about the major issues facing Britain and the world - but frmo her post-Prime Minister perspective. Intead, I've ordered her first book the Downing Street Years, to read first.
Of course this is her story told from her point of view. I'd love to read a well done biography to compliment it.Interesting look at a time in history that I recall - but primarily from the point of view of the US. This book covers Margaret Thatcher's rise to leader of the Conservative Party up to through the election which puts in into the role of Prime Minister.
The British system of Parliament, Prime Minister and royalty has always been a mystery, and this helped make some of it clearer. I am particularly intrigued by the existence of the Shadow Cabinet where Shadow Ministers are assigned various "portfolios" and charge of developing alternative policies to the ruling Government, which may be either a specific party, or a coalition of parties. during the election which put the conservatives in power and Thatcher as Prime Minister, she refused to debate the current Prime Minister pointing out that the election was not of a President (i.e., a specific individual) but of a Government.
I had no idea just how socialist pre-Thatcher Great Britain was, much of which appears to be the consequence of central economic planning employed during WWII. In the US, big business has leveraged political power (corporate cronyism) on its behalf at the expense of small business and individuals. In pre-Thatcher Great Britain, labor unions have excessive power which led to economic disaster - as so many of the Unions represented government employees of (all of transportation except airlines, most of the energy industry, schools, the postal service, and of course the NHS.)
I have not finished the book, stopping at the end of Part 1. Part 2 appears to be her thoughts about the major issues facing Britain and the world - but from her post-Prime Minister perspective. Instead, I've ordered her first book the Downing Street Years, to read first.
Of course, this is her story told from her point of view. I'd love to read a well-done biography to compliment it.

[Dayo Adewoye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Margaret Thatcher's memoir, 'The Path to Power'.

For long I had esteemed her. Not only was she the first lady to lead a major Western democracy, she did so at a very difficult time when the heritage of freedom and democracy was at risk of crumbling. And today when big government and the welfare state still appear attractive to many (especially in the developing world, her experience and philosophy can help us see them for the mirage they are.

Her life journey was remarkable. Rising from a humble background in a small British town to become the British PM was not an easy feat. It was interesting discovering how she grew up and the various which went into making her Margaret Roberts, then Thatcher. Of course, the strongest influence was her father, who would also become Mayor of Grantham. Thus one can see that politics was in her blood from the onset.

I was surprised to read about her estimation of the Christian writer and apologist, C.S. Lewis. You can tell a lot about someone from what she says about others:

"The power of his broadcasts, sermons and essays came from a combination of simple language and theological depth. Who has ever portrayed more wittily and convincingly the way in which Evil works on our weaknesses than he did in 'The Screwtape Letters'? Who has ever made more accessible the profound concepts of Natural Law than he did in 'The Abolition of Man' and in the opening passages of 'Mere Christianity?' "

Much more remarkable still were her convictions about politics and economics. She stood firmly against both communism and socialism at a time when many nations even in the West had somewhat resigned to the onward march of socialist ideas.

She was dubbed 'the Iron Lady', and we can see that her tough stance towards socialist ideas and their proponents stemmed from her deeply rooted convictions about what a free society is and why it mattered. For her, what has been termed 'conservatism' was not just a set of abstract notions; it was a matter of the life, health and well being of both individuals and nations.

In all, it was an interesting journey with one of the great political minds of the modern era.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this prequel autobiography, which divided into two parts, within the first part Margaret Thatcher described her life from her early life as the grocer daughter of Grantham, her parliamentary career from a newcomer, entering Edward Heath’s government both as member of actual and shadow cabinets of Heath, then unprecedentally won the election of Conservative Party, the first woman who lead a political party as its leader. Then, the first part of the book neatly ended at her winning the UK General Election of 1979 as its first female prime minister. In the second part of the book, Thatcher outlines her thoughts on various contemporary political issues, namely, post-Cold War foreign politics, European Union and Nationalism, Domestic Issues such as Law and Order, and of course, what makes her most famously known, free-market economic policies.

In the end, I found myself reading this book in rather relaxed pace. Unlike the first book, which is more into her career as Prime Minister, in this book Thatcher wrote more freely of her personal life, such as her relationship with family, her views of her father, Dennis, Carol and Mark, not forgetting her views of her political colleague. What continues to amaze me is that, despite being a woman, rarity at british parliamentary politics at that time, she chose not to nag about it, thus preventing this book from turning into a feminist dribble. I give book 4 stars only because by the end of reading this book I found myself rather tired of airing her views on freedom.

[Yesica Aguirre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lady Margaret Thatcher, The Iron Lady, la eterna Dama de Hierro.

Su carrera política y logros se hacen imposibles de enumerar incluso en las más de 600 páginas de este libro, convicción, disciplina, fortaleza, clase, valor, se quedan cortos, implacable, integra, amada y odiada, pero sobre todas las cosas una trabajadora fiel a su misión.

Algunas de sus mejores frases a mi concepto:

"El socialismo fracasa cuando se les acaba el dinero... de los demás".

“Sin importar cuán bien preparando te encuentres, lo inesperado siempre puede llegar”

Formada en Oxford y como ella lo decretaba en las bases familiares de su hogar y el negocio familiar de su padre. Sirvió como Primer Ministro por 11 años, donde magistralmente derrumbó el mito socialista de la plaga comunista de la llamada Europa Oriental, dio cátedra de economía y demostró estar siempre más que adelantada a su época y teniendo más carácter que cualquiera.

Falleció a los 87 años en Londres, después de varios accidentes cerebrales, pero sin duda dejando uno de los mayores legados políticos del siglo XX siendo estandarte del liderazgo femenino para todos los tiempos.

[Toby Irvine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting insight into the forming of Thatcher’s worldview and politics.

The role of the Second World War and it leading to ‘wartime government thinking in peacetime’ after 1945 seems the big driving thought of her politics. Something to this in that lots of wartime-specific measures became the status quo post-war without much thought or scrutiny.

Was struck by how much effort she gave towards thinking about policy (eg appointing and keeping Keith Joseph, her closest political ally, as head of CPS rather than big shadow cabinet role, as well as saying that she needed 5 years in opposition to create a suitable policy agenda) - seems a bit of a contrast to current politics.

A bit weird that it also included her post-premiership years - though she was weirdly prophetic about Russia, Ukraine and NATO

[Jake Robins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is very interesting in places and helps you to gain an idea of the ideas that formed the foundation of thatcher’s political philosophy. It also provides interesting context of the political environment that shaped her approach. I particularly enjoyed insights into the tensions within factions of the Conservative Party.

One problem with the book is that it throws a lot of names and official appointments at the reader that are quickly forgotten. Such detail sometimes feels unnecessary.

I suspect that one reason the book didn’t engage me too strongly was that it mainly covers a time in which Thatcher exerted less influence. I’m sure my interest will therefore likely be better peaked when I move to the Downing Street Years.

[Natalie Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rarely abandon books, but after getting about half way through this autobiography I finally accepted that the details were just too mundane to keep my interest. Brief snippets about Thatcher's upbringing were the most enjoyable aspects of the book for me. Myriad details about the inner workings of parliament and various issues she was involved with left me bored and waiting for something more interesting to come along in the story. Perhaps someone more familiar with or interested in the intricate details of England's political history would be better able to finish this large volume.

[Henning Hj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any autobiography is biased, this is no exemption. The major part of the book is about the time up until her election victory. That part is for the most quite good and almost all of it interesting. Her description Britain and the challenges the country was facing cannot be brushed aside. That Britain in many ways was better off after her 11 years in Downing Street 10 is, I would think also difficult to argue against. However, when the book jumps to 1990 and her leaving the Prime Minister’s office, l’d say the book’s quality and interest drops significantly.

[Adam Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

A promising start, but ultimately not as interesting as its subject matter would lead you to believe.

The most insightful sections are the ones which focus on her personal life, upbringing and life events (much like a typical autobiography), but too often it descends into detailed ruminations on specific detailings and thoughts of politics and policies, of which Thatcher's views are pretty obviously already well known.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of a highly impactful life, diving in to the details as necessary to give insight into situations, policies, maneuvers, strategies, individual people, groups, nations, and international relations. It was well written, and surprisingly easy to read.

[David Highton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A childhood, and education and a first attempt at Parliament at the age of 24, her rise to. Cabinet, her disagreement with Heath, election as party leader and a victory in 1979 after the winter of discontent.
Naturally a one sided view, as most political biographies are.

[Felicity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually don't add books I've only read half of but this one is so long that half of it is like one book.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting up until part 2 then it became a slog. She should have stopped when she reached number 10.

[Bobby Grogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly sturdy woman. Learned a lot about UK politics in the 70s and 80s, a topic which I was previously entirely unfamiliar with. She is stark and practical, not deeply theoretical.