Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship by Richard Aldous
Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship by Richard Aldous
During the last chapter of the struggle against the Soviet Union, as Anglo-American relations set the tone for the Western powers, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher formed the most compelling head-of-state pairing since Churchill and Roosevelt. Their friendly, sentimental interactions -- often characterized as a "political marriage" -- epitomized the "special relationship" between the United States and Britain, an impression that would persist well after the conflict and has since solidified in the public consciousness.
In this brilliant diplomatic biography, historian Richard Aldous argues that the idea of a "Churchillian" relationship between Reagan and Thatcher is more myth than fact. The two principal players of the Atlantic Alliance carefully cultivated an image of friendliness for the public and the press, while behind the scenes they clashed repeatedly over issues including Poland, the Siberian gas pipeline, the Falklands War, Strategic Defense Initiative missile defense, Grenada, nuclear disarmament, and how to deal with new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Aldous gives life to the period and personalities with great elan and scholarship. Brilliantly reconstructing some of the most dramatic encounters between the two great figures, he draws on recently declassified documents and extensive oral history to dismantle the popular conception of their diplomacy.
His startling conclusion -- that the weakest link in the Atlantic Alliance of the 1980s was often the association between the two principal actors -- will mark an important contribution to our understanding of twentieth-century history.
W.W. Norton, Hardcover, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2012, 342 pages
THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK. THERE IS A BLACK "CLOSEOUT/REMAINDER" MARK ON THE BOTTOM PAGE EDGES.