Charles Moore was born in 1956 and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read history. He joined the staff of The Daily Telegraph in 1979, the year Margaret Thatcher came to power, and as a political columnist in the 1980s, he covered several years of Thatcher's first and second governments. From 1984 to 1990 he was editor of The Spectator; from 1992 to 1995, editor of The Sunday Telegraph; and from 1995 to 2003, editor of The Daily Telegraph, for which he is still a regular columnist. He lives in Sussex.
"A masterpiece of clear and intelligent writing...Margaret
Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands is already one of the
great classic political biographies." -John O'Sullivan, The Weekly
Standard "It's an incredible level of access....Margaret Thatcher:
From Grantham to the Falklands is the first of two volumes, and it
presents a remarkable and richly detailed portrait." -Craig
Fehrman, Boston Globe "Thatcher was a remarkable politician and
Moore does justice to her distinctive qualities." -David Runciman,
London Review of Books "Moore presents us with enough new material
to offer a fresh, even vulnerable person behind the
mythology...Moore's writing is often elegant and vivid,
particularly when he escapes the burden of authorized biographer by
turning to commentary on Thatcher's behavior and decisions." -Jane
Merrick, The Independent "Charles Moore gives a unique insight into
his iconic subject...Startling." -Richard Preston, The Telegraph "A
notable landmark...meticulously researched and gracefully
expounded...It is not the only biography to appear so opportunely,
but Moore writes with greater freedom, insight, and
objectivity...Both ideologically and personally, we now have a
better understanding of the remarkable figure who became Britain's
first woman prime minister." -Peter Clark, Financial Times "Highly
readable." -Joe Murphy, London Evening Standard "[Moore] is not
afraid to address the contradictions and tease out the
inconsistencies of his subject. Nor to be critical, sometimes
deeply so. The result is to paint a much more multidimensional
portrait of Thatcher than the caricature heroine adored by the
right or the devil incarnate loathed by the left...The prose is
intricate, elegant and laced with dry humor...immensely adds to our
knowledge and understanding of the longest-reigning prime minister
of the democratic age." -Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer
"Moore has produced a biography so masterly--so packed with
fascinating detail, with such a strong narrative drive, propelled
by a central character who is at the same time both very bizarre
and very conventional--that it comes as close as biography can come
to being a work of art...Friends and foes of Thatcher, and
agnostics and sceptics too, will all find plenty on which to feast.
On virtually every page there is a revelation that, had it been
known at the time, would have blasted all the rest of the news off
the front pages...This book is a triumph of diligence. Moore
interviewed 315 people, and was clearly blessed with the knack of
getting them to open up. Ribald insults, gossip, political secrets,
private grievances and funny stories--many of them very, very
funny--fly off every page. But it is also a triumph of narrative
art and human understanding, at its centre a peculiar force of
nature, never to be repeated...one of the greatest political
biographies ever written." -The Daily Mail
"[Moore] has discharged the first part of his commission superbly.
He has marshalled a huge range of sources, many of them new,
without letting himself be swamped... He has spoken to practically
everyone who ever had anything to do with her, and interweaves
their recollections skilfully to bring out wider themes... If the
second volume, charting her mounting hubris and eventual nemesis,
maintains this quality it will be a tremendous achievement." -John
Campbell, The Independent "The authorized, remarkably evenhanded
biography of the grimly divisive, late Iron Lady of Britain...Well
balanced. We look forward to the planned sequel." "Moore's pace,
his fascination, and his command of detail never slacken. This is a
masterly piece of work." -Matthew Parris, The Times "Charles Moore
is the perfect biographer: thorough, empathetic, enquiring, and
eloquent. This is the portrayal of a life well-lived, explored in a
book well-written." -Sunday Express "A life's work of research and
interviewing." -Independent on Sunday "An immensely readable
account of the greatest political life of the second half of the
20th century." -Patrick O'Flynn, Daily Express "It's hard to
imagine anyone, even the most anti-Thatcherite, finding this
dull...it sparkles with insight, drama, and wit." -Daily Mail
"There are, of course, plenty of good books about Mrs. Thatcher.
But Moore's is comfortably the best: indeed, with its elegant
prose, dry wit, prodigious research and careful judgments, it is
one of the best political biographies I have ever read." -Dominic
Sandbrook, Sunday Times
"Now comes the first volume of an authorized biography that may
well turn out to be one of the great lives of modern times...It is
not often that you can say of a 900-page book that it leaves you
wanting to read more. But in this case it is true." -The
Economist
"Good biographies, and this is an exceptionally good one, tell us
things we did not know about the life of their subject." -New
Statesman "This is not just a good book--it's a great one...What
gives this work the edge is not just Moore's deep knowledge of and
affection for his subject--it is the sheer amount of work he has
done. The number of interviews he has conducted is simply
staggering. Yet although huge, it quite dances along and because of
his very pronounced sense of the absurd, often makes us laugh out
loud." -A.N. Wilson, London Evening Standard
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