Random House Struik will
publish Not for Turning by Robin
Harris, the biography of Margaret Thatcher written by a member of her inner
circle, on May 2, 2013.
For many years Margaret Thatcher’s
speechwriter, trusted adviser and the draftsman of two volumes of her autobiography,
Robin Harris has written the defining book about the former Prime Minister,
whose death was announced recently.
Not
for Turning is a fitting tribute to a woman who
made history. Writing to Harris about the book when the idea was first
conceived, Margaret Thatcher said ‘I can think of no one better placed than you
to tackle the subject… you also know, better than anyone else, what I wanted
our reforms to achieve for the people of Britain.’
Robin Harris tells Margaret Thatcher’s
extraordinary life story, from humble beginnings above her father’s grocer’s
shop in Grantham, to her early days as one of the first women in Westminster
and then as Prime Minister.
The book follows her through the ‘Winter of
Discontent’, the tribulations of the miners’ strike and the Falklands War. And
Harris writes a stunning account of her exit from power, tells of her life
after Number Ten and provides a deep, personal insight into her character.
Robin Harris worked for the Conservative
Party from 1978, and increasingly closely with Margaret Thatcher herself from
1985, writing her speeches and advising on policy. By the close of her premiership, he was
probably the most trusted member of her political team at Downing Street, and
he left Number Ten with her. As a member of her personal staff, he then drafted
the two volumes of her autobiography and a further book on her behalf. After Margaret Thatcher’s retirement from
public life, Robin Harris continued to see her regularly as a friend until her
death.
Not
for Turning retails at R250. ISBN:
978-0-5930-7286-8
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