Below the Parapet - Paperback

by Carol Thatcher (Author)

When Denis and Margaret Thatcher met on a blind date in 1949, he never dreamed that he would become the consort to the first woman prime minister. He fulfilled this role with tact, humour and charm but remained a private man. This biography, written by his daughter, tells of his extraordinary life.

Back Jacket

On the eve of his retirement from a successful business career, Denis Thatcher became Britain's first male prime ministerial consort, mixing daily with some of the most powerful people in the world. 'Below the Parapet' is the story of his extraordinary life, as only his daughter could tell it. It is also a riveting account of more than a decade of political triumph and turmoil, told from a totally unique perspective, offering an honest and highly entertaining insight into the Thatcher years as seen from the inside.

"There are scores of hilarious anecdotes, all crisply related... Carol Thatcher has done more than capture her father, she has by faithfully rendering him, caught all the cadences of a type of Englishman... In capturing their standard bearer from fiction and making him flesh and blood Carol Thatcher has done that generation, and posterity, a service."
THE TIMES

"Carol Thatcher has skilfully woven some of her mother's adventures into the narrative to illustrate the part her father played at critical moments. In doing so she has in several areas told us more than her mother Margaret Thatcher revealed about herself in two long volumes of autobiography"
W.F. DEEDES, 'Telegraph'

"Unpretentious and enthralling"
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

"An essential addition to the Thatcher bibliography"
FINANCIAL TIMES

"Highly readable"
RICHARD INGRAMS, 'Evening Standard'

"Sensitive and funny"
MAIL ON SUNDAY

Author Biography

Carol Thatcher was a young law student when her mother became Prime Minister. She spent a great deal of time at Number 10 and Chequers over the years that followed.

A freelance journalist, Carol writes regularly for a number of newspapers, including the 'Daily Mail' and the 'Daily Telegraph'. She appears frequently on television, and is a regular contributor to Radio 4's 'Loose Ends'.