Martha Duffy

　　It has now been five years since Margaret Thatcher resigned as Britain’s Prime Minister. In her heyday she strode the international headlines with such bravura that she seemed inevitable, a natural force. The world stage seemed just the right size for her, as she chaffed her conservative soul mate Ronald Reagan or flattered the “new man”, Mikhail Gorbachev.

　　Now the political world has begun to focus on the immensity of her achievement. How on earth did she manage to get there? She was elected to Parliament at 32 in 1958 (five years before the Feminine Mystique was published). She parried her way through the complacent, male-dominated councils of power—no woman had ever roiled those waters. Couldn’t the old boys see her coming? After all, there was nothing subtle about her personality or her approach.

　　As The Path to Power the second volume of her autobiography, makes clear, Thatcher was probably too simple and direct for the Tories, with their heavy baggage of class and compromise. She traveled light, proud of her roots as a grocer’s daughter from the small town of Grantham but never tethered by working-class resentments or delusions of inferiority. Her parents taught her the verities they believed in: Methodism, hard work, thrift and the importance of the individual. She has never wavered from them, and they run through the book.

　　“Nothing in our house was wasted.” Or, “I had less leisure time than other children.” These are boasts of a childhood recalled in tranquility. Late they became a philosophy: “Being conservative is never merely a matter of income, but a whole way of life, a will to take responsibility for oneself.”

　　From the start, she notes almost with bemusement, there was a contrast between her own “executive style” and her colleagues’ “more consultive style.” Thatcher laid down the law. In her 11-year leadership, she broke the crippling power of British unions, made many thousands of her countrymen homeowners, strengthened British ties with the U.S. and the Soviet Union and gave voice to Britain’s reluctance about joining Europe, a reluctance that still plagues her successor, John Major.

　　The Downing Street Years, the first volume of her memoirs, covered her time in power. This one is more interesting and better fun, a formidable leader looking back on her early winning battles. She is known now as the Iron Lady, but as a pretty, naive young pol who cut through cant, prevarication and some very real problems, she must have been exhilarating. Her rise, as she once described the star-is-born press coverage that greeted her maiden speech in commons, was “roses, roses all the way.”

　　In a final section on the ‘90s political scene, she calls for renewed dedication to her principles. The imperiled John Major cannot take comfort in the timing of The Path to Power. Thatcher has relentlessly flogged the book in Britain and the U.S., giving TV interviews that scourge what she sees as the collapse of her country’s leadership. The one thing she doesn’t say is that as this old century draws to a close, there simply aren’t that many leaders. Thatcher was one.

　　一路玫瑰

　　马落·达菲

　　马格丽特·撒切尔从英国首相位置上退下来已经五年了。在她（政治生涯）的鼎盛时期，她以光彩照人的风格而成为国际上的新闻人物，她好像必然如此，她是一股自然的力量。在她跟她的的保守的精神伙伴罗纳德·里根打趣时，或是在奉承新人米哈伊尔·戈尔巴乔夫时，这个世界看来恰好是适合她驰骋的舞台。

　　现在政界开始关注她辉煌的政绩。她到底是如何进入政界的呢？1958年（《女性的奥秘》发表前五年）她三十二岁时被选进议会。她左挡右闪闯进了那些由自满的男人控制的权力机构—过去还不曾有妇人到那里去搅和过。难道那些老家伙们没看见她到来吗？她的性格和手法毕竟没有什么微妙之处。

　　正如她的第二本自传《通往权力的路》清楚指明的那样，对于那阶级意识很强、善于折中的英国保守党员，也许撒切尔过于简单，过于直来直去。她没有负担。她以自己是格兰瑟姆小镇一个杂货商的女儿而感到自豪，但她没有被劳动阶级因为地位低下而产生的怨恨或煽惑所束缚。她的父母教她懂得了他们所信仰的真理：卫斯理派，刻苦，节俭，以及个人的重要性。对于这些信仰，她从未动摇过。这些内容贯穿着全书。

　　“我们家从不浪费任何东西。”或者是，“我的闲暇时间比别的孩子们都少。”这是在生活平静下来以后回忆童年时颇具自豪的语言。后来这些信仰变成了一种哲学：“信仰保守决不仅仅是收入问题，而完全是一种生活方式，一种自己勇于承担责任的意志。”

　　一开始，她几乎是带着一种困惑注意到，她自己的“施政风格”和她的同僚的“更喜欢磋商的风格”形成鲜明的对照。撒切尔一人说了算。在她长达十一年的执政期间，她削弱了英国工会的破坏力，使成千上万的同胞有了自己的住宅，加强了英国与美国和苏联的关系，并且明确表示了英国不加入欧洲，她的这个意见至今仍在烦扰着她的继承人约翰·梅杰。

　　她的第一本自传《唐宁街的岁月》记录了她的执政历程。而这一本更有意思，一个令人敬佩的领导人回顾她早年所打的一个又一个的胜仗。她现在以“铁娘子”著称，可是作为一个漂亮、天真、年轻的政治家，在虚伪和含糊其辞的人们中间以及问题成灾的地方披荆斩棘，她一定令人感到兴奋。新闻界在报道她第一次在下院发表学说时，对其表示了赞许，说她是一颗已经诞生的新星；正像撒切尔在描述这一报道时说，她是沿着一条“铺满玫瑰的路”冉冉升起的。

　　在最后一部分谈及九十年代世界政局时，她号召人们重新献身她的原则。《通往权力的路》在这个时候出版，身陷困境的约翰·梅杰是不会感到舒服的。撒切尔毫不客气地在英国和美国销售此书，同时接受电视台采访，起到了鞭笞在她看来摇摇欲坠的英国领导的作用。有一件事她没有明说，在本世纪即将结束的时候，根本就找不出那么多领导人。而撒切尔是一个。