The extraordinary account of Margaret Thatcher's life up to her dramatic election as the first woman Prime Minister of England in 1979. Margaret Thatcher was the towering figure of late-twentieth-century British politics. This is the story of her remarkable life in her own words. In this second volume of her memoirs, following `The Downing Street Years', she writes candidly about the experiences that propelled her to the very top in a man's world. Beginning with her upbringing in Grantham, she goes on to describe her Oxford years, marriage to Denis, and entry into Parliament at a time when there were no more than a handful of women MPs. Rising through the ranks to Education Secretary and then Leader of the Opposition, she led the Conservative Party to a historic victory in the 1979 general election, becoming Britain's first female prime minister. Margaret Thatcher's compelling account stands as a powerful testament to her influential legacy.