Six years later the brother that remained is sent on a mission to annihilate a training camp in Kazakhstan. Sandbrook notes that many changes superficially attributed to the Thatcher years were in fact well underway when Thatcher was first elected in 1979.

Who Dares Wins: Britain, 1979-1982 - Goodreads

One book he does mention is Alwyn Turners Rejoice Rejoice which does the whole decade in one volume and is a lighter bet to read in hardback without spraining your wrist!The last part where the main character takes the bomb away just in time feels more like a scene from a movie. The test is physical and draws on mental and emotional strength that ultimately reveals the deepest and truest character of the recruits. Sandbrook demonstrates clearly that Thatcher's determination to regain the Islands (against considerable opposition from her colleagues, and the Reagan administration in the US) symbolized the resurgence of a revitalized Britain. It is now a cliche that anytime Britain does something loopy for commentators to pop out and intone: 'is this imperial nostalgia?

Who Dares Wins: Books - AbeBooks Sas Who Dares Wins: Books - AbeBooks

The social changes were substantial, driven partly by technological innovation, greater prosperity for the middle classes, and a stronger sense of individualism. Thatcher was fortunate that the Argentine military junta was inept, but, nevertheless, her fortitude and Britain's superior military strength ensured a victory at a time when new policies for national economic progress were beginning to demonstrate that they were right for the times. It opens with an account of the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980, something those of us alive at the time probably won't forget watching, open mouthed, on television.But, as Sandbrook argues, coal, steel and car-making had been in steep decline for years, and the recession would have happened even under Labour. In my own country, Australia, a Labor government successfully implemented rigorous reforms in the 1980s to increase competition, reduce regulation, and remove excess currency controls. My only gripe is that you don't find out what happens to the character of Jamie Spillane after his operation doesn't exactly go as planned. Sandbrook is especially good on sport, not just the headline-grabbers of Ovett-Coe, Botham’s Ashes and the boycotted Moscow Olympics but the quieter revolution of snooker, the first televised sport watched by more women than men. For those looking to learn the lessons of the age, however, I suspect you're probably going to have to wait for subsequent volumes.