Using a historical and comparative approach, this anthology locates Margaret Thatcher in the political and economic crises of the 1970s as well as analyzes identity and regional developments in the 1980s. The chapters look at Thatcherism not only in the United Kingdom but also within Europe, the Commonwealth, and the Atlantic world. The book has three sections with thirteen chapters and an introduction that detail the influences that shaped Thatcherism, the impact Thatcher had on political culture, and the effect of her leadership on class discourse and different regions and identities. The editors' introduction offers a historiography of Thatcherism and examines the development of the term as well as the difficulties in defining it. Jackson and Saunders then move to a biographical overview of Thatcher's life, including her parents' backgrounds and the anomalies that her leadership brought to British politics. In doing so, they highlight how Thatcher recast discourse before offering an overview of the book's chapters.

The essays in the first section explore Thatcher's ideological influences in the context of the 1970s by showing how her rhetoric, strategy, and policy reshaped then pushed new boundaries for Conservatism. Robert Saunders argues that in the 1970s, Thatcherism “was essentially a negative body of ideas” in which recovery rested not with economics, but rather Thatcher's “analysis of British economic history was almost entirely psychological” (40). Building from its psychological outlook, Thatcherism's attraction shifted over time, first with the fear of socialism and then becoming increasingly economistic. Ben Jackson turns to the relationship between neoliberalism and Thatcherism with a look at the impact of think tanks, such as the Institute of Economic Affairs. He shows how funding from major British companies, sympathetic journalists, and courting Prince Philip proved “skilful marketing” for a “dominant position in the marketplace of ideas” (61). Jim Tomlinson's chapter surveys inflation and “Thatcherite thinking” when the Conservatives were in the opposition from 1975 to 1979. He concludes: “1970s inflation was a crucial condition of the rise of monetarism, and this in turn made possible the narrowing of state responsibility and the de-legitimisation of unions that accompanied monetarism's triumphs” (77). Moving away from economics, Matthew Grimley focuses on morality and religion by exploring Thatcher in relation to Mary Whitehouse, a notable religious activist. Pointing out Thatcher's invocations of Christianity and even a letter responding to Whitehouse's questions, the author discusses how religion and morality appeals “fit into Conservative strategy in the late 1970s” (87). Camilla Schofield then contrasts the ideas of Thatcher with Enoch Powell by explaining “[t]here is no doubt that Powellism helped to produce Thatcherism,” but the “coherence between Powell and Thatcherism was contingent and incomplete” (95–96). She argues that the two had different goals because Powell was concerned about securing social order and sovereignty of the British parliamentary system, but Thatcher was fighting a strategic ideological and moral war.

The essays in the second part examine the effect Thatcherism had on gender, class, the “four states” of the United Kingdom, and the Irish question. Laura Beers analyzes why women preferred the Conservative Party during the 1980s even though Thatcher did not have a feminist agenda. The author explains that part of the appeal to many female voters was “Thatcher's image as Britain's most powerful housewife, and her presentation of her fiscal and education policies” (131). Next, Jon Lawrence and Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite highlight the decline of class politics through a look at changes in politics and discourse. They explore how the “Thatcherites wielded the power of office to weaken bastions of class discourse” through promotion of popular individualism (146). From this, David Howell examines the miner's strike of 1984–85 by detailing how the workers in Nottinghamshire were opposed to the strike and engaged in litigation against the National Union of Mineworkers. Richard Finlay compares Thatcherism in Scotland and Wales to explain the different impacts similar socioeconomic effects had on the movements for home rule. In particular, he finds that “Scottish Conservatives failed to convincingly adapt Thatcherism” to accommodate Scottish patriotism and became linked to the idea that “British nationalism was the only legitimate form of patriotism” (179). Then Marc Mulholland describes how “Britain's approach to the actors of Northern Ireland veered wildly over the course of the Troubles” (183). He discusses government strategy before and during Thatcher's leadership, concluding that the Anglo-Irish Agreement was an effort to cooperate with the Republic of Ireland over security after using force to quell Irish republicanism.

In the last section, the authors turn to international relations and foreign policy. Richard Vinen assesses Thatcherism through the prism of the Cold War with an analysis of Thatcher's defense policy, her relationship with America, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. He shows “anti-Europeanism” was an inconsistent feature of Thatcherism because “Thatcher often presented support for Europe and support for the West in the Cold War as interrelated” (209). Whereas, Andrew Gamble writes about images of Europe and the United States with an examination of the issues that shaped changing approaches. He argues that the Thatcher era “interrupted” the trajectory of Britain drifting closer to Europe to modernize the economy and be less dependent on the United States. The last chapter is Stephen Howe's discussion of decolonization and “imperial aftershocks” with attention to Zimbabwe, the Falklands, Hong Kong, the Commonwealth, and apartheid in South Africa. Howe explains that in looking back at a century of developments, “the Thatcher years were just an episode in a continuing, in some respects remarkably unchanging, imperial story” (251).

Making Thatcher's Britain is a solid contribution covering a range of important issues that helped define Margaret Thatcher's leadership and Britain at the end of the Cold War. The book is at its best analyzing Thatcher's domestic support and ideological influences and providing detail about the antecedents and evolution of Thatcherism. Furthermore, the appendices—including a timeline of events, electoral data, unemployment statistics, union membership, and government revenue tables—complement the arguments of change and continuity from 1979 to 1990. Yet the book does not explore race and immigration, which notably shaped the British Nationality Act and aggravated the discontent in urban areas, leading to riots and ethnic conflict. In addition, the anthology does not examine Thatcher's centralization of government control, including the dismantling of the Greater London Council. Nonetheless, the book adds to our understanding of the sometimes contradictory policies and contested legacy of Thatcher's government by focusing on Thatcherism's intellectual roots, attraction, and consequences.