In the 1970s, Great Britain appeared to be in terminal decline -- ungovernable, economically decaying, and rapidly headed for global irrelevance. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, it is now the richest and most influential nation in Europe. Journalist Claire Berlinski argues that the transformation of Britain under Thatcher is vitally relevant to Europe, America, and the world. Thatcher was Ronald Reagan's indispensable partner, and she proved that conservative ideas could work not just in the US but around the globe. The preternaturally determined Thatcher rose from nothing, climbed to the top of the greasy pole of British politics, and then took a sledgehammer to the nation's postwar socialist consensus. By proving that socialism could be reversed, she inspired a global free-market revolution. Simultaneously exploiting and defying every aspect of her femininity, Thatcher crushed her enemies with a calculated ruthlessness that stunned the British public. The collateral damage was grave. But Berlinski agrees with Thatcher's most familiar explanation for her actions: there was no alternative. Thatcher's policies were bitter medicine, but they worked brilliantly. Through interviews with the former prime minister's friends and enemies -- who are by turns candid, blind, shrewd, savage, delightful, gossipy, decorous, and outrageous -- Berlinski constructs a portrait so vivid that one half-expects the Iron Lady to march right off the page and begin bossing everyone around. "There Is No Alternative" is both an account of the epic and ongoing conflict between free enterprise and its enemies, and an immensely readable portrait of one of the towering figures of the 20th century. - Jacket flap.