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There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters Paperback – November 8, 2011

by Claire Berlinski (Author)

67 customer reviews

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Great Britain in the 1970s appeared to be in terminal decline—ungovernable, an economic train wreck, and rapidly headed for global irrelevance. Three decades later, it is the richest and most influential country in Europe, and Margaret Thatcher is the reason. The preternaturally determined Thatcher rose from nothing, seized control of Britain's Conservative party, and took a sledgehammer to the nation's postwar socialist consensus. She proved that socialism could be reversed, inspiring a global free-market revolution. Simultaneously exploiting every politically useful aspect of her femininity and defying every conventional expectation of women in power, Thatcher crushed her enemies with a calculated ruthlessness that stunned the British public and without doubt caused immense collateral damage.

Ultimately, however, Claire Berlinski agrees with Thatcher: There was no alternative. Berlinski explains what Thatcher did, why it matters, and how she got away with it in this vivid and immensely readable portrait of one of the towering figures of the twentieth century.

There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

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Editorial Reviews

Review

General Brent Scowcroft, author of America and the World
“Claire Berlinski's insight into Margaret Thatcher's character makes this book fascinating, and her intellectual seriousness and rigor make it compelling. It is a perfect marriage of author and subject: Berlinski's Thatcher is painfully real and human, yet simultaneously larger-than-life.”

Peter Schweizer, author of Reagan’s War
"Finally the Iron Lady gets her due. Claire Berlinski brilliantly lays out how Margaret Thatcher's strength and conviction changed the world. Without a Prime Minister Thatcher there might not have been a President Ronald Reagan. And Berlinski reminds us how the whole world would benefit from a new Thatcher today."

The Scotsman
“Berlinski shows commitment and energy as an author… 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.”

Washington Times
“Fresh, original and extremely well-written”

National Review
“Brisk, engrossing, insightful, often charming… a splendid book.”

Wall Street Journal
“A pleasure to read… As an interviewer, Ms. Berlinski is subtle and dogged.”

Globe and Mail
"Claire Berlinski has written a much better book about her than one of those door-stop biographies that are now the destiny of almost every public figure.... The book is all the better for being a work of synthesis as well as analysis. Without being hagiography, it is about as powerful a defence of Thatcher's record as is likely ever to be written."

Human Events
“[an] excellent look back at Margaret Thatcher’s significance”

World Affairs
“Berlinski has crawled through the archives and interviewed many of the principals of the Thatcher era, and part of the story she tells is about the crawling and the interviewing. She begins with an intuition that Thatcher was a figure of lasting worldwide importance and, more narrowly, one who clearly saw the challenges of her day. She ends with conclusions to the same effect. She makes her journey from hunch to sober appraisal ours as well, leading us back through a fresh look at the issues and personalities as she asks the pertinent and the impertinent questions and challenges the assumptions of the players and their own conclusions about what happened and why.”

American Conservative
“…[E]ntertaining… Berlinski often expresses herself with verve…Berlinski’s account of the case for free markets is—as a primer for the non-economist—lucid and lively… She’s colorful—thanks in part to some enjoyable inside track from Charles Powell—about Thatcher’s relationships with Gorbachev and Reagan.”

Financial Times
“Idiosyncratic and interesting…Berlinski’s judgments are thoughtful, particularly her central insight that what underlay Lady Thatcher’s hatred of socialism was not only that she found it economically inefficient, or that communist regimes had drenched the world in blood, but that she believed it was morally corrupting.”

Claremont Review of Books
“Berlinski, who has written insightfully about the threat of Islamic fundamentalism…shows now how capable statesmanship can redirect history’s seemingly irreversible tide.”

Power Line
“The lesson of Berlinski's timely book is that capable statesmanship can redirect history's seemingly irreversible tide.”

Newt Gingrich, Washington Times
“I strongly recommend ‘There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters,’ by Claire Berlinski… Mrs. Thatcher clearly understood that the great threat of socialism was moral and not economic. Socialism is bad because it destroys freedom. It destroys self-reliance, destroys individual initiative, and transfers power from the citizen to the politician and the bureaucrat. Every American who wants to know how dangerous it is for the government to have such enormous influence over AIG, Citibank, Chrysler, etc. should read Ms. Berlinski's study of Mrs. Thatcher. The evils of socialism and the virtues of freedom will be the central choice for Americans in 2010 and 2012, and Mrs. Thatcher will be our tutor in that argument.”

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Claire Berlinski received her doctorate in international relations from Oxford University. She has since worked as a journalist and freelance writer throughout Asia and Europe. Her previous books include two novels, Loose Lips and Lion Eyes, and the nonfiction work Menace in Europe. She lives in Istanbul, Turkey.

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Product details

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; 2nd Revised ed. edition (November 8, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465031218
ISBN-13: 978-0465031214
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #530 in Books > History > Europe > Great Britain > England
- #689 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > European
- #776 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Great Britain

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Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars

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4 star		15%
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2 star		1%
1 star		9%

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Top Customer Reviews

The power of conviction

ByF. G. Nobregaon October 19, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I used to view Margareth Thatcher as the feminine version of Ronald Reagan, besides knowing very little about Reagan. The movie (with Meryl Streep) about Thatcher made me understand that she was remarkable and I wanted to know more. The book by Claire Berlinski really puts the great leader in sharp focus. Maggie departed markedly from the regular politician, particularly here in Brazil: the lot is weak in terms of ideas and morals. When they do something reasonable is to guarantee another term and to benefit people who supported them financially. Thatcher had convictions and a personal philosophy besides a real love for her country and people. Some of her speeches are remarkable because you can feel that her thoughts have been pretty much thought over. Of course, she's got her flaws like we all do but they were all based more on convictions and not borne out of negligence. Her practical support of the open society and her courage to tackle labour union violence and intimidation put England back on her feet. Her book is actual because the popular appeal of the idea of a all-giving and all-fixing government is permanent and automatically supported at heart by every government because it gives them more power. In the end, with time, incresed centralized decisions ruin the economy and return to liberty, democracy and the rule of law will require great sacrifice if not lives as our past world history has shown. It is a great book and deserves our attention and gratitude for the author.

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Thatcher: Does She Matter Now and Will Her Legacy Endure?

ByThomas M. LoarieVINE VOICEon February 28, 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

With "There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters," Author Claire Berlinski has given me one of the most enjoyable reads of the past year. First, I will admit to being an unabashed fan of Margaret Thatcher and what she did, almost singlehandedly, to revive Britain's fortunes and its role on the world stage. Berlinski's biography of Thatcher is not a conventional biography. This is not an insider's memoir but, rather, one painstakingly researched working with archival documents, biographies, and interviews.

Berlinski was inspired to answer several important questions:
1. How do some people become larger than life?
2. Why did Thatcher?
3. Does she matter now and will her legacy endure?

She concludes:

1. Political figures who are larger than life have two rare gifts. First, they are able to perceive the gathering of historical forces in a way their contemporaries are unable to do. And second, when promoted to power, they are able to master these historical forces.
2. Thatcher, one of the most vigorous, determined, and successful enemies of socialism the world has ever known, reversed the terminal decline of Britain, which was considered when she entered office as the sick man of Europe. Thatcher conveyed through words and actions a thesis: Britain's decline was not an inevitable fate, but a punishment for the sins of socialism. The UK had ceased to be great because it had ceased to be virtuous.
3. She also matters because she is a woman. She addressed things that no woman before her had achieved - turning every conventional expectation of women upside down. She refuted several millennia's work of assumptions about women, power, and women in power.
4. She does matter today as her battles are not over. Many predicted prematurely that socialism was buried. Many today have forgotten that the appeal of socialism as a political program is ultimately seductive and enduring. Wherever people are miserable, they will be vulnerable to those who promise utopia. The promises of socialism will never lose their capacity to inspire.

Berlinski predicts Thatcher's ideas and personality will assume a greater significance over time. "She perceived the forces of darkness and overcame them through mastery. These forces are still at work. They must again be mastered....and this why she matters to all of us."

With "There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters," the reader will gain not only insights into Thatcher and her accomplishments (which are told in great detail with great relish) but also will gain important insights on the truth of liberty and the lie of expansive government. This is a must read for all Americans interested in true, classical liberalism.

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Informative and Serious, But Great Fun to Read

ByScott Smithon December 21, 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Combining the forms of a deeply researched academic study and casual journalism - interviews appear in back-and-forth style with bits of first-person color one might see in a magazine - Claire Berlinski has produced a most enjoyable and highly informative book on one of the towering figures of the 20th century. Although the author is clearly an admirer of Thatcher, this book is no valentine as it strives to reach balanced conclusions and presents both the good and the bad about Thatcher and her career quite openly. The extended analysis and discussion of the 1984-5 coal miners' strike, complete with a rousing home-visit interview with one of the affected miners, was particularly excellent.
If you are not familiar with Claire Berlinski's work, visit her website and look around. She is a highly intelligent and inquisitive writer who constantly veers between graciously charming and witheringly funny. Reading her work is thought-provoking and a highly amusing experience. I would not want to take lunch with her in a sophisticated spot as I would no doubt be asked to leave the premises after falling out of my chair laughing the second or third time. You would not want Ms. Berlinski angry with you when she had pen in hand.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Glad I bought this one!

It is excellent; this book met every expectation I had for an unbiased analysis of Margaret Thatcher and her life.

Published 1 month ago by Marie

Four Stars

good

Published 7 months ago by Amazon Customer

Great Book IRON LADY

Wonderful read. Very detailed on some things you would not think of.

Published 1 year ago by Glenda Murray

A template for saving a nation

I learned how and why Thatcher saved the UK from its socialist tendencies. Even more important, I learned that the right person in the right place at the right time can turn...Read more

Published 1 year ago by Ward A. HARRIS

Fast service.. Interesting read.

Fast service. .Interesting read. Thanks

Published 1 year ago by Christine A. Dorsey

Buyer Beware

I am giving this book a one star, not because the book is bad. In fact, I think it's a fantastic account of Thatcher, and would reccomend to anyone.Read more

Published on June 23, 2015 by Bill Van Daalen

Go Margaret Thatcher!

Great subject matter. She was a person of great character. The book was well presented. Socialists and liberals will probably turn their noses up at it as common sense seems to...Read more

Published on January 23, 2015 by C.E.Sawyer

God bless her

A well balanced book about a giant of British political life and a Great British leader who saved Britain from the jaws of decline

Published on December 15, 2014 by Iain Livingston

Five Stars

Outstanding read of a great leader.

Published on November 7, 2014 by KSL

Leadership and courage

Subject is timely as it is about leadership and courage. These are two virtues that seem to be absent among today's politicians who do not wish to take unpopular positions.Read more

Published on August 15, 2014 by Helene Kiecolt

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