Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography by Charles Moore Read Free Book Online Page A

time, Peter Snowdon. Jo Dutton tracked down for me Margaret’s schoolgirl French penfriend (unfortunately deceased before discovered). This band of ‘irregulars’ produced excellent and vital work but, as the only person with security clearance for the government papers, I did the great bulk of the British research unaided. I must also thank my sister-in-law, Lucy Coventry, who brought precision to the whole text, and especially to the complicated task of the endnotes;
    – while I was still editing the
Daily Telegraph
, I had virtually no time, but I did have a wonderful secretary in Frances Banks and the best driver in the world, Keith Lake. Both of them eased my Thatcher burden greatly. Nowadays, I am assisted at the
Daily Telegraph
by Pat Ventre. It is not her job to help with this book, but her constant support is a great comfort.
    The person who has held the project together throughout is Virginia Utley, who was originally my secretary in the 1980s. From maintaining and updating all my contacts, to processing my manuscripts, to keeping order amongst evolving versions of the text, Virginia has proved as invaluable as ever. Her late father, T. E. ‘Peter’ Utley, is one of the dedicatees of this book. Peter Utley helped form me at the
Daily Telegraph
more than thirty years ago and gave me, with his subtle historical sense, my first understanding of the Thatcher phenomenon.
    In all those years, I have always worked for the
Daily Telegraph
or the
Spectator
, or both, and I have covered the story of my subject from that vantage point. Mainly via these two publications, I learnt about the politics, culture and history of the Thatcher era from Bill Deedes, Colin Welch,Alexander Chancellor, George Jones, Sarah Sands, Andrew Gimson and many more. I have had innumerable conversations – both ‘grave and gay’, as people used to say – with Ferdy Mount, Dean Godson, Nicholas Garland, who sees it all with an artist’s eye, and my dear friend Frank Johnson, who died before his time. All that talk informs this book. I must also thank my proprietor for most of my time as an editor, Conrad Black. He appointed me to two of my three main jobs, and kindly allowed me to take on the Thatcher contract despite my editorship of his main paper.
    My thanks are also due to the present owners and management of the
Daily Telegraph
. Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, and Sir David’s son, Aidan, have always been enthusiastic about my study of the woman they all admire. So have the chief executive, Murdoch MacLennan, my editor, Tony Gallagher, and the deputy editor, Ben Brogan. They showed this by serializing the book. I am also grateful to Richard Preston, Chris Deerin and Robert Colville. All have been supportive throughout, even when Thatcherizing has threatened to get in the way of daily work. So has Fraser Nelson, the editor of the
Spectator
.
    As well as formal interviews, conversation about my subject with political practitioners who are also friends has been of immense value. Many of these conversations took place before I knew I would be writing this book, but are no less helpful for that. I think particularly of William Waldegrave, the late Nick Budgen, Robert Salisbury, Frank Field, Norman Tebbit, Peter Carrington, Alistair McAlpine, Richard Ryder and the late Alan Clark. (The last was undoubtedly unreliable, but often brilliantly perceptive.)
    Sir Martin Gilbert and Andrew Roberts, at my request, kindly advised me how to write a political biography.
    I have also talked often and informally to people who knew the private Margaret Thatcher for many years, notably Caroline Ryder, Amanda Ponsonby, Romilly McAlpine, Cynthia Crawford and Carla Powell. Unstructured chat with such friends has helped me understand Mrs Thatcher, the woman.
    Coming from a journalistic background, I knew much less about the civil service than about politics. It has been fascinating to talk to so many public servants of the Thatcher era. Because they are