Chapter 2 translator's words

Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, England, in a family of small merchants who run groceries. She was elected as the first female prime minister in British history in 1979.Several biographies have been published about this period from commoner to prime minister, but this book is Mrs Thatcher's self-report and review of this period of life experience, which can be described as authentic.At the same time, this book is also a companion chapter of "Downing Street Years".This book is divided into two parts.The first part narrates her personal experience before becoming prime minister; the second part expounds her views on international relations, world economy and moral concepts from the perspective of philosophy and ideological theory, and the scope of discussion also expands from the UK to the broad international stage.

In the book, the author not only recalls the vicissitudes of his personal life and family, but also combines the vicissitudes of the UK and the world, opens his heart to readers, and talks freely about his views on life, family, society, country and international issues, and introduces conservative Views within the party and across factions within the Labor Party.Therefore, this autobiography has important reference value for understanding and studying this period of British history. Margaret Thatcher has long been known as the "Iron Lady".This book not only shows her self-improvement and self-reliance, but also reveals her delicacy as a housewife and her gentle and even weak side as a woman.

Mrs Thatcher was politically on the right wing of the British Conservative Party.From this standpoint, she naturally has her own views on various issues and is outspoken.The views expressed in the book represent only her own views.She called the ideology and political views of the British Labor Party "socialism", "collectivism" and "totalism".This is not the same as our readers' understanding of the meaning of these words. The British Empire began to decline at the turn of the 19th century and the 20th century, and was severely weakened in the Second World War. Its national power fell behind the rising capitalist countries. When Mrs. Thatcher entered the political arena, " The "British disease" is becoming increasingly serious in Britain.She walked into No. 10 Downing Street with the determination to revitalize Britain.She prescribed the "Thatcherism" for Britain, characterized by the promotion of free competition, less government intervention, control of currency issuance and a return to family virtues.Mrs. Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for 11 years and exerted a certain influence not only in the United Kingdom but also on the world political stage. I believe that the publication of this book will be helpful for understanding the formation and development of "Thatcherism". Help, which is why we translated this book.

In addition, it should be noted that due to well-known reasons, we have made necessary deletions to individual chapters during translation. This book was collectively translated by Tan Ronggen, Dai Shengpu, Xu Xiaoqian, Wang Baoyu, Chen Fen, Tong Yixiu, Shen Beili, Yu Hailing, Ma Hui, Li Xuebing and others.This book involves many specialized fields such as politics, economy, society, culture, diplomacy, national defense, religion, education, etc., which objectively increases the difficulty of translation. Due to the limited level, readers are kindly requested to correct me if there are any inaccuracies.

translator June 1998 in Beijing