The Downing Street Years by Margaret Thatcher (1993, Hardcover)

I highly recommend "The Downing Street Years". Margaret Thatcher will surely be remembered as one of the greatest political leaders of all time. She will be remembered as a Twentieth Century Joan of Arc. In an era of forty-watt politicians, Margaret Thatcher will be remembered as a 1000-kilowatt leader who rescued Britain from economic ruin and reversed its economic and political decline forever and who inspired the oppressed peoples of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to rise up against their oppressors.

When Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979, Britain was one of Europe's poorer countries and it was widely dismissed as "The Sick Man of Europe". In 1990, when Margaret Thatcher left office, Britain was the fourth richest country in the world. Not only did Margaret Thatcher restore Britain's economic health, but she led handed Britain its first military victory since World War II, in the 1982 Falklands War. After the Falklands War, the rest of the world began to respect Britain once again.

In restoring Britain's prosperity, Margaret Thatcher privatized state-owned industries through the sale of shares and this allowed millions of Britons to become shareholders for the first time. Margaret Thatcher also gave tenants in public housing the right to buy their homes. She also cut taxes, government spending and red tape. Other countries around the world saw how Margaret Thatcher's example transformed Britain and began to apply it themselves. "The Downing Street Years" tells the story and from the standpoint of the one person who made it all happen: Margaret Thatcher.

"The Downing Street Years" is an account of the greatest political revolution to sweep the world, better known as Thatcherism, and it is told from the standpoint of the person who made it all happen. In every chapter of this book, Margaret Thatcher talks in riveting and dramatic tones of fighting to save Britain from economic insolvency, fighting and winning the Falklands War, winning two electoral landslides in 1983 and 1987, doing battle against the all-powerful labor unions and bringing to heel everyone from wayward cabinet ministers to the Soviets to Third-world dictators. In every page of this book, Margaret Thatcher's forceful personality, verve, beliefs, passion for change and steely determination are evident. It is a page-turner of the first order and once you begin reading it, you never want to put this book down.

In addition, reading Margaret Thatcher's memoirs will leave the reader feeling pumped-up and excited about things and infused with the belief that anything is possible.