Since 1979 Margaret Thatcher has been the dominant force in British politics. In this book academics and journalists examine the effect of Thatcherism on such areas as the arts, the media, the Civil Service, trade unions, local government, the churches, education, and the law.

The Thatcher government's economic policy, Samuel Brittan; Mrs. Thatcher and the city, Margaret Reid; trade unions, B.C.Roberts; the Conservative party, J.Enoch Powell; the changing political opposition, Dennis Kavanagh; cabinet and parliament, Peter Riddell; the Civil Service, Peter Hennessy; local government, Ken Young; the constitution, Vernon Bogdanor; Thatcherism and defence, Lawrence Freedman; Britain and the world, Sir Anthony Parsons; the health service, Charles Webster; the schools, J.R.G.Tomlinson; higher education, Peter Scott; housing and the environment, Alan Murie; the Irish connection, D.George Boyce; values - the crusade that failed, Ivor Crewe; divisions that unite Britain, Richard Rose; the family, David Willetts; the law, Graham Zellick; the mass media, Alistair Hetherington; the arts, Bryan Appleyard; the Thatcher effect in science, Tom Wilkie; the churches - pink bishops and the Iron Lady.