The book behind the new film starring Meryl Streep: The Iron Lady. John Campbell's award-winning two volume biography of Margaret Thatcher has been edited into one, indispensable book. It is the political biography.  In this abridged edition of John Campbell's two acclaimed volumes on Margaret Thatcher -- used as the basis for the film The Iron Lady -- we trace the life of Britain's only female Prime Minister, from her upbringing in Grantham to her unexpected challenge to Edward Heath for leadership of the Conservative party and her eventual removal from power.  This is an extraordinary account of an extraordinary woman; John Campbell portrays an ambitious and determined woman who may have begun her career in office almost timidly but who became increasingly remote and arrogant after the Falklands, eventually losing the trust of her colleagues.