Rating: 
Summary: A Real Blast
Review: Lady Thatcher had a lot of fun writing this book: it is clear succint, and very funny.She does have a small problem of definition, however. She calls herself a conservative when she's anything but. She repeats time and again her belief in all the core liberal values: the freedom of movement of goods, money, and people. This she overlays with a minimum of state intervention to ensure the systems works with maximum transparency and access. Moreover, she asserts like all liberals, the value of business creation over the preservation of established wealth. Her endlessly reenforced view is that established money deserves no more protection from the state than does the newest market entrant or the biggest labor union. On these points she is refreshingly unambiguous. And relentless. George W. Bush, by contrast, is a conservative. He believes strongly that established wealth must be protected at all costs, even at the expense of the largest budget deficits in history. Extending the Great Society program to the wealthy is the core of his policy. Lady Thatcher would make short work of this!
Rating:
Summary: A Real Blast
Review: Lady Thatcher had a lot of fun writing this book: it is clear succint, and very funny. She does have a small problem of definition, however. She calls herself a conservative when she's anything but. She repeats time and again her belief in all the core liberal values: the freedom of movement of goods, money, and people. This she overlays with a minimum of state intervention to ensure the systems works with maximum transparency and access. Moreover, she asserts like all liberals, the value of business creation over the preservation of established wealth. Her endlessly reenforced view is that established money deserves no more protection from the state than does the newest market entrant or the biggest labor union. On these points she is refreshingly unambiguous. And relentless. George W. Bush, by contrast, is a conservative. He believes strongly that established wealth must be protected at all costs, even at the expense of the largest budget deficits in history. Extending the Great Society program to the wealthy is the core of his policy. Lady Thatcher would make short work of this!
Rating:
Summary: A Breath of Fresh Air
Review: Lady Thatcher may have written her final opus, considering her declining health. If so, she can rest proudly on a heap of laurels. This clear, concise, and articulate volume is a wonderful stand-alone look at the world today. It is a fine analysis of the motivations behind the policies of many nation states. The author mixes her own copious experience on the world political stage with a fine knowledge of history. Although the book is well-referenced and might make a good textbook, it does not attempt the breadth and depth of Kissenger's tome "Diplomacy." This book is accurate and relatively up-to-date, as Lady Thatcher took pains to do a final, post 9/11, re-write. Anyone looking at the cold war or the modern world from a foreign policy perspective will find her writing invaluable. For everyone else, it is merely a great read and highly informative! I worked for the State Department during much of the period covered by Lady Thatcher and can confirm the accuracy of many of her assertions. Foreign Policy wonks may get off on the muddled, minutiae-obsessed, and frequently-wrong articles in "Foreign Policy." Liberals and the gang from PC-ville may blanche at Lady Thatcher's frank assessments of the world, her quasi-hagiography of Ronald Reagan, or her damning comments about many recent world leaders, such as Gorbachev. But don't think she tars all liberals and moderates with her negative brush; she has many good things to say about Tony Blair, for instance. Most readers will delight in her prose and her refreshingly candid worldview! Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: A Breath of Fresh Air
Review: Lady Thatcher may have written her final opus, considering her declining health. If so, she can rest proudly on a heap of laurels. This clear, concise, and articulate volume is a wonderful stand-alone look at the world today. It is a fine analysis of the motivations behind the policies of many nation states. The author mixes her own copious experience on the world political stage with a fine knowledge of history. Although the book is well-referenced and might make a good textbook, it does not attempt the breadth and depth of Kissenger's tome "Diplomacy." This book is accurate and relatively up-to-date, as Lady Thatcher took pains to do a final, post 9/11, re-write. Anyone looking at the cold war or the modern world from a foreign policy perspective will find her writing invaluable. For everyone else, it is merely a great read and highly informative! I worked for the State Department during much of the period covered by Lady Thatcher and can confirm the accuracy of many of her assertions. Foreign Policy wonks may get off on the muddled, minutiae-obsessed, and frequently-wrong articles in "Foreign Policy." Liberals and the gang from PC-ville may blanche at Lady Thatcher's frank assessments of the world, her quasi-hagiography of Ronald Reagan, or her damning comments about many recent world leaders, such as Gorbachev. But don't think she tars all liberals and moderates with her negative brush; she has many good things to say about Tony Blair, for instance. Most readers will delight in her prose and her refreshingly candid worldview! Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Being Correct is NOT Always Popular
Review: Lady Thatcher stated her purpose in writing clearly. "I wanted to write one more book - and I wanted it to be about the future. In this age of spin-doctors and sound bites, the ever-present danger is that leaders will follow fashion and not their instincts and beliefs. That was not how the West won the Cold War, nor how we created the basis for today's freedom and prosperity. If we wish to make our achievements secure for our children and grandchildren, the West must stay vigilant and strong. In this book it will be my purpose to show how that can - and must - be done." Lady Margaret Thatcher will never speak in public again. The former Prime Minister had suffered a number of minor strokes in recent months. She will continue to write articles and express views on current issues. "STATECRAFT" is of interest to anyone living and able to think about our world and human relationships as affected by politics. Mz. Thatcher had as much affect as anyone individually ever has today. She worked with those who are "figurehead" leaders like Ronald Reagan of the USA and quite the opposite of herself and of ideologue and ideological leader Mr. Gorbachev in Russia. Thatcher has concerns that events of her tenure in office in the 1980's will not meet the realities of the affects that her intended policies actually made in time and gel with the consequences of her policy and party leadership's intentions. All politicians would have these concerns and produce apologetics. History is never actually "re-written." Policies of parties, nations, and individuals are all subject to revelation, documentation and assessment of the results. It is as simple as Herodotus being the parent of either 'lies' or 'history." The difference between intent of policy, history, truth, falsehood, and blatant lies for xenophobic gain by nations and their leaders is history. Thatcher certainly fits this mold. Get a look at Europe, the Euro-Parliament, and European mentality through her able eyes. Mikhail Gorbachev failed spectacularly in his stated objective of saving communism and the Soviet Union. Gorbachev also declared that there had been any "victor" in the "Cold War" a controversies concerning the "main actors," suits former "B" film actor and 60 Second Sound Byte specialist Reagan, but not Thatcher. The roles of Europeans in the dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union other than Helmut Kohl and Thatcher are all now subject to re-assessment. Thatcher can actually can read, write, and think. Thatcher's concerns are relevant to George Santayana's concerns for history per-se. The recent past is Thatcher's concern. Misinterpreting could result in all concerned: "...learning the wrong lessons, and could result in adopting the wrong responses" for future events and plans. Sophistry, intelligence are evident in Mz. Thatcher's fine writing. Her statecraft lies in defining the state of Europe outside the EU. Look at Europe for what it is through Thatcher's fine-tuned perspective and first-hand experience characterize Britain's relations with Europe and the options now available. Thatcher minces no words. Her last living days mean much to her. Admire her passion for life? Thatcher knows that the attempt to form a united Europe is flawed to certain fatality. Europe does not have or want a common language, culture and values at all. "It is also flawed because the United States was forged in the 18th century and transformed into a truly federal system in the 19th century through events, and above all through necessities and the outcomes of war." Lady Thatcher is correct: "By contrast, Europe is the result of plans. It is, in fact a classical Utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damages is in doubt." Nothing could be more factual and true. European "intellectuals" are worse than improbably oxymoronic castrated chickens having a weenie roast and barbecue with the Internet, technology, and everything positive in modern learning and civilization. I know a European who actually opened a website favoring the mythos of "Babel," like the Italian schools of painters did in the time of Hendrick van Cleve, Louis de Cailley and the minor Flemish painter Abel Grimmer in the 14th and 15th centuries! Imagine quoting Grimmer as saying that language was integral to culture exactly when your continent needed the opposite to survive at all! Even 'love-making' is deemed culturally based on this website. It certainly is anachronistic, Luddite in nature, and 100% contradictory to Lady Thatcher, the success of America, and reality at large. Lady Thatcher created more than a memoir here. It is a book about truth in the forest of bankrupt European culture, and a junk food world of garbage Internet sites wasting bandwidth with Luddite imbeciles barking one-liners or 60 second praises for obscurity as poor Europe sinks, and its: "...inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damages is in doubt."
Rating:
Summary: Oh, To Have More World Leaders Like Margaret Thatcher !
Review: Margaret Thatcher clearly shows why she is so highly regarded worldwide by conservatives and authentic liberals, but vilified by leftists (who have nothing in common with real liberalism except for the hijacking of its name). Her understanding and observations concerning the political, economic, and military problems the world will face in the near future are very insightful. Whether you admire, dislike, or are indifferent toward her, you will be impressed by her integrity and willingness to state these problems and their often politically-incorrect solutions. She writes in the same manner that she lead; that is, by principle and example. She is concerned only with what is right and totally unconcerned with whether or not it is popular. Rest assured that Mrs. Thatcher never took an opinion poll before making an important decision. It is obvious why she was such a great leader and why this book is such an important contribution to the study of international affairs and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A great book which will definitely cause controversy
Review: Margaret Thatcher gives us a book about the difficult political decisions facing leaders of Western nations. I was most impressed with Margaret Thatcher's obvious obsession with always doing what seems morally right and justified, at the risk of becoming rather unpopular in the process. Nowhere is this more evident than in her defense of Chilean General/Senator Pinochet, at a time when it is certainly politically incorrect to openly show any support for this man, despite his undeniable roll in bringing economic and political stability to Chile. Whether one agrees or not with Margaret Thatcher's views, it is clear to me she is a person of integrity, and does not express views aimed at winning any popularity contests. I suspect that at the very least, people will find her book provides some good conversation topics, some challenging ideas, and some reflection on the complex dinamics of the political, ethical, and foreign relations decisions facing us in the immediate years ahead of us.
Rating: 
Summary: In Defense of Liberty
Review: Margaret Thatcher is easily one of the most important figures of the 20th century. Whatever your opinion of her poltics and of her personally, you cannot deny the immense affect she has had on the shape of the world today and Britain in particular. In the United States it is largely unknown that Lady Thatcher preceeded President Reagan in office by almost two years. In that time period she was the vanguard of a movement which eventually would sweep the world and would topple the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe. Lady Thatcher refers to that movement as Conservatism. As is often the case regarding certain words in the English language, Britain and the United States are two countries separated by a common language. In the United States, to be a conservative really means to have a desire to maintain things as is or to freeze the way things are at a particular moment for all time. A better word to use for conservative in the United States is libertarian. Lady Thatcher's latest book, "Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World", is primarily a defense of her philosophy of liberty. She also provides assessments of various situations relating to individual countries, international terrorism, and 'globalization' and offers advice on how best to approach them. However, all of Lady Thatcher's proposals revolve around one basic tenet: that individuals, left to make their own decisions about what is best for themselves, will more often than not choose a path of action which not only benefits themselves but also benefits the whole of society too. A book as densely packed as "Statecraft" is would be too difficult to summarize or critique within the space allotted here. It is well enough to say that advocates of liberty and individualism, such as myself, can find much to learn in this book about why we believe as we do. Being an advocate of liberty is almost an inborn quality of the human spirit. I believe that people who do not trust individualism or liberty to promote the most good have had to have been conditioned against human nature to believe as they do. Reading the works of Lady Thatcher may do a great deal to return one to the belief in that fundamental principle of human existence: government is a necessary evil and that government is best which governs least.
Rating:
Summary: In Defense of Liberty
Review: Margaret Thatcher is easily one of the most important figures of the 20th century. Whatever your opinion of her poltics and of her personally, you cannot deny the immense affect she has had on the shape of the world today and Britain in particular. In the United States it is largely unknown that Lady Thatcher preceeded President Reagan in office by almost two years. In that time period she was the vanguard of a movement which eventually would sweep the world and would topple the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe. Lady Thatcher refers to that movement as Conservatism. As is often the case regarding certain words in the English language, Britain and the United States are two countries separated by a common language. In the United States, to be a conservative really means to have a desire to maintain things as is or to freeze the way things are at a particular moment for all time. A better word to use for conservative in the United States is libertarian. Lady Thatcher's latest book, "Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World", is primarily a defense of her philosophy of liberty. She also provides assessments of various situations relating to individual countries, international terrorism, and 'globalization' and offers advice on how best to approach them. However, all of Lady Thatcher's proposals revolve around one basic tenet: that individuals, left to make their own decisions about what is best for themselves, will more often than not choose a path of action which not only benefits themselves but also benefits the whole of society too. A book as densely packed as "Statecraft" is would be too difficult to summarize or critique within the space allotted here. It is well enough to say that advocates of liberty and individualism, such as myself, can find much to learn in this book about why we believe as we do. Being an advocate of liberty is almost an inborn quality of the human spirit. I believe that people who do not trust individualism or liberty to promote the most good have had to have been conditioned against human nature to believe as they do. Reading the works of Lady Thatcher may do a great deal to return one to the belief in that fundamental principle of human existence: government is a necessary evil and that government is best which governs least.
Rating:
Summary: "Grocer's Daughter" Shares Her Wisdom
Review: Margaret Thatcher is indisputably one of the most distinguished practitioners of statecraft of the last half century. Her third and (probably) last book offers a view to the principles and logic behind the policies and actions that led to the revival of the British nation and in partnership with Ronald Reagan the triumph over communism. I deduce that the people who have had the most influence on Margaret Thatcher were Adam Smith, Winston Churchill and Friedrich von Hayek. Accordingly she is motivated primarily by three things: love of freedom, love of Britain, and an unshakable belief in capitalism. These themes resonate throughout the book. She also admits to special kindred for America and also the English-speaking people, disdain for the modern day socialists (a.k.a. left-wing liberals) and a strong, reasoned aversion for the European super-state project. At this point in her political life, Lady Thatcher sees no need to be politically correct. In fact, she seems to find it her duty to speak with candor about many thorny issues that serving politicians of like minds simply can't. For example, she spoke of Americans having a easily troubled conscience, and with due respect to the drafters of the Declaration of Independence, that of all men (and women) are NOT created equal, and that women are better wielding handbags than bayonets, etc., etc. These statements, although self-evident even freestanding, are quoted without context here. When you read the book, you will find many similarly candid assessments as she sorted through issues ranging from the pound sterling to global warming. This book is memoir in nature; as such, not much of it is entirely original. However, in this one volume, she covers with depth practically every key issue of the current political horizon in all key regions of the world, with both accurate historical context and her own insightful analysis and conclusions. This is genuine stuff from a genuinely great statesman. It is a rare opportunity to study how this "grocer's daughter" analyzed complex national and international issues and made high-stake decisions that made history, and shares her wisdom with a new generation of world leaders. It is a very enjoyable read. You would not want to miss it.
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