Who is Margaret Thatcher? Her influence on politics is well documented - not least by Lady Thatcher herself. What kind of person was she that she could overcome her background, the snobbery of Oxford University and then of the Conservative Party? Brenda Maddox shows how the Iron Lady created herself, with the assistance of both parents and her husband. She traces the life of the grocer's daughter from Grantham who became the most successful Conservative Prime Minister of the twentieth century. Unprecedented access to people who have known Margaret Thatcher throughout her life (some who have never spoken before) enables the author to tell the personal story of a public life.