This fully revised and updated third edition of Thatcher and Thatcherismexamines the origins and impact of 'Thatcherism' as a cultural construct and an economic creed from the 1970's to the formation of a coalition government in 2010. Focusing on the career of Margaret Thatcher, Eric J. Evans suggests that both the originality and the ideological coherence and originality of 'Thatcherism' were illusory. He argues that 'Thatcherism' was a bold experiment in ideologically driven government which, despite Thatcher's political dominance, failed to meet its main objectives. He includes discussion of: privatization policies and the challenge to trade union power how Thatcher changed and controlled the Conservative party Britain's slow economic decline and Thatcher's attempt to 'turn Britain around' the legacy of the Falklands conflict and Thatcher's approach to Europe the attack on the professional ethic, including education, the civil service, and crime. the influence of Thatcherism on succeeding governments from Major, through New Labour and down to the Cameron-Clegg coalition. With a full bibliography and explanation of the economic, social and historical context of Britain in the late 1970s and 80s, Thatcher and Thatcherismis an invaluable guide to the complexities and paradoxes of contemporary Britain.