In the aftermath of the Falklands victory, Margaret Thatcher's stock was rising. This period of almost five years, up to the 1987 election, could be described as her golden years. With a decisive majority and a pre-eminent place on the world stage she could truly begin to make her mark.

Charles Moore was authorised by Margaret Thatcher to write her biography on the condition that it was published after her death. She also encouraged her former staff and colleagues to readily offer their recollections, diaries and memoirs of their time working with and for her.

This abridgement for Radio 4 of his second volume offers a series of windows onto the key events of her second term - a term that was packed with challenges and drama.

Episode 5:
What was she really like?

Music :
The music used to frame this series reflects the title of the book. As the author writes, "I have called this book Everything She Wants - the title of a song of the time by Wham! - because it expresses Mrs Thatcher's appetite for achievement and change and the degree to which she was the commanding personality of the era; but, hard as she fought for everything she wanted, this was not always what she got."
Track: 'Everything She Wants' from the Wham! album Make it Big, 1984

Read by Nicholas Farrell
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4. Show less