Overview

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.

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9780465020270

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Reviews

(Claire) Berlinski shows commitment and energy as an author, beside an ability to wheedle great men into telling her things they might not have vouchsafed to anybody else... 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. Scotland on Sunday often entertaining and sometimes illuminating... Berlinski's assessment of Lady Thatcher's economic record is balanced. She does not take at face value the claim that Lady Thatcher single-handedly reversed Britain's economic and geopolitical decline - and says she is 'not sure that it has been permanently reversed.' This turns out to be a wise caveat in the current climate, which she was unaware of while writing... There will be many books on Lady Thatcher this year, the 30th anniversary of her coming to power. (There is No Alternative) is an idiosyncratic and interesting contribution. The Financial Times

Author Information

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

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