Margaret Thatcher's premiership from 1979 to 1990 had a profound impact on Scotland. David Stewart analyses the impact of this period of Conservative government on Scotland, while examining the extent to which Conservative policy under Thatcher represented a break from the 'post-war consensus' in British politics. Focusing on the origins and impact of the poll tax, the campaign to save Ravenscraig steelworks, the sharpening of the North/South divide, the 1984/85 miners' strike, and the balance of power within Scottish civil society, he makes substantial contributions to the debates surrounding the decline of Scottish Unionism, the roots of Scottish devolution, the legacy of Thatcherism, and the changing British constitution._x000D_ _x000D_ 'As a Scottish historian, with a particular interest in Scotland's twentieth-century history, I strongly welcome this book. It has the virtue of considering crucial, yet underrated issues in Scotland's recent pre-devolution history, such as the impact of deindustrialisation, the trade union legacy, important non-parliamentary political influences, the distinctiveness of local government, the role of the welfare state and the ever-increasing powers of the Scottish Office. Scotland has tended to be a footnote in histories of the Thatcher years. Yet, Stewart shows explicitly how Conservative policies north of the Border were able to rally cross-party opinion, together with a range of Scottish institutions (e.g. the church, trade unions, local government) into countering what was perceived as a divisive Westminster-imposed Unionist agenda.'_x000D_ _x000D_ Irene Maver, Senior Lecturer and Head of Scottish Area, Department of Scottish History, University of Glasgow_x000D_.