ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an insistence that historians looks behind the image of a dominant leader, distorted by the adulation of the admirers and the vituperation of detractors to assess the real significance of Margaret Thatcher's career. It explains the strength of the personality and the length of period of office to exaggerate the part played by Thatcher as the embodiment of 1980s Britain. Thatcher has an understanding of society which differs from the vision of her collectivist opponents, who emphasis the role of government action in ensuring social justice. Thatcher performed an indispensable service for Labour by reforming trade union law and privatising utilities. These were policies which would have split any Labour government which tries to implement them and the party was able to make it clear that it was impractical to reverse them. Thatcher left the memory of an unusually driven leader whose remarkable sense of direction and determination inspires and antagonises the fellow citizens.
