Margaret Thatcher was Britain’s most important peacetime prime minister since the late 19th century. She transformed British politics by overturning the ruling assumptions about the relationship between the state and the market.
She also was a towering figure on the global stage. Her close ideological connection with Ronald Reagan helped give her a role in the world unlikely ever again to be occupied by a British politician.
True believers view her as a Saint Joan of free markets, dedicated to rolling back the state in all its dimensions. In reality, however, she was a pragmatic politician who showed little interest in embarking on politically suicidal attempts to demolish pillars of the welfare state.