Who was Margaret Thatcher? Her influence on politics is well documented - not least by Lady Thatcher herself. What no one has attempted before this book by award-winning biographer Brenda Maddox, is to present the personal story of the woman who has been described as 'the most significant Englishwoman since Elizabeth I'.

Brenda Maddox traces the life of the grocer's daughter from Grantham who became the most successful Conservative Prime Minister of the twentieth century. Unprecedented access to people who knew her throughout her life, (some who have never spoken before) enables the author to paint a fully rounded portrait of a woman who - even after her death - is still both vilified and adored.

Through the eyes of her contemporaries we begin to understand this extraordinary woman, whose shadow still falls accross British life.