The Incidental Feminist : Friend, foe, femme fatale? The truth about Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher has become a cardboard cut-out hate figure or iconic defender of freedom, depending on your politics. Neither hatchet-jobs nor hagiographies really capture the significance of her femininity for British politics, nor the complexities of the woman behind the handbag.

Tina Gaudoin examines how a lower-middle class girl from Grantham triumphed over the rampant misogyny and class prejudice of her times and normalised female power. Drawing on explosive new material from the archives and interviews with her contemporaries, it shows how Thatcher used her feminine mystique, personal style and sexuality to become an unlikely feminist icon.

Focussing on Margaret Thatcher as daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, mentor, adversary, and boss, this fresh and intimate portrait of the Iron Lady will fascinate and provoke, whatever your politics.