What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Please tell me if you find it unseemly to promote these interviews on Ricochet. I don't want to be annoying. They're so interesting to me that I can't help but think they'd be interesting to any red-blooded conservative, but if you're getting sick of hearing me tell you about all ways you can put money in my pocket, I'll understand and I'll stop and I won't be sore.
You can now download my completely unedited interview with Charles Powell, Margaret Thatcher’s key foreign advisor, for your Kindle.
And here's a free extract: a bonus to patient Ricochet members for putting up with my self-promotion:
CB: How significant do you think she was in bringing about the fall of Communism?
Charles Powell: I think she was certainly significant, of course the United States had by far the bigger role, but she thought as one with Ronald Reagan, there was no distance between them, they both discussed this when they came to power, and they knew what they wanted, and they worked on it together, and I think, she had a role, first of all in the Iron Lady role, the tough rhetoric and the opposition to Communism, but also in her cultivation of Gorbachev, and she really was the first one to spot him, to develop him as it were, and to build a dialogue with him, and then pass him on to President Reagan, saying here’s a guy you can really deal with …
CB: Do you remember anything she said after the first meeting with him, apart from that famous line about “I can do business with him?”
Charles Powell: Yeah, Bernard and I both claim authorship of that line. No, it was just a recognition that here was a Communist leader entirely different from all the ones we’d dealt with before, I mean, we’d had this succession of, uh, geriatrics, Chernenko, and before him, Andropov and Brezhnev, who could barely stand up, and just sort of read from bits of paper, here was a man who talked and argued like a Western politician, didn’t need briefs and notes and advisors, and sat there and slugged it out with her, and she knew, this was somebody you could really engage with. She thought he was fundamentally misguided in his belief that you could reform Communism, and turn it into a successful system. And she kept telling him you couldn’t, that this was a complete waste of time –
CB: Did she use those words?
Charles Powell: Oh, yes. She was absolutely outspoken with him. We had this famous meeting in the Kremlin in 85 or 6, which, with one break when she had a lunch engagement, it went on for 13 hours, and I was the only other person present—
CB: Thirteen hours?
Charles Powell: Yes. A day of meetings which lasted a total of 13 hours with him, yeah. And I spent my whole night dictating my notes of it to a secretary in the soundproof cellar at the British Embassy …
CB: Do you remember any of the dialogue?
Charles Powell: She launched into a coruscating attack on the record of the Soviet Union, at home, abroad, its failures and so on, what it needed to do to bring itself into the civilized nations, and he actually responded in similar fashion, I mean, he talked about social inequalities in Britain, and the miseries of the miners, and the way Northern Ireland and all the other problems we had, and it was a real irony, we reached a stage where I was thinking of packing up my briefcase, thinking we were going to get slung out of the Kremlin, we wouldn’t even survive, so we might as well have a statement ready for how we were going to explain to the press that she’d been virtually expelled from the Soviet Union …
CB: Were you really thinking that, or are you exaggerating now for effect?
Charles Powell: Well, I’m exaggerating now a bit for effect, but it really was to the point where I thought, you know, that this was going to end in disaster, this meeting.
CB: At what point were you thinking that, exactly?
Charles Powell: Well, quite early on, because it started like that. But Gorbachev himself was very good at breaking the tension, and after about a sort of hour and a bit of this, he sort of suddenly, you know, broke into smiles, and sort of relaxed the tension, and moved on to something else, and after another couple hours again it sort of built up, it was rather like British weather, really …
CB: You don’t remember what he said that had everyone smiling, do you?
I'll have print versions of these coming out in a few weeks, too, but they'll be a lot more expensive. There doesn't yet seem to be a way to produce a really inexpensive print-on-demand version. But it's all a big experiment, so we'll see--maybe people still like printed books enough to pay that much.
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Comments:
Oct '10
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Don't give it a second thought ... there's nothing unseemly about it at all. In fact, it's a service that you gathered this data and it's a service that you are making it available to us for a few measly bucks. Thatcher achieved exactly what many of us are hopeful for today ... a roll back of the Left's seemingly implacably march forward. These interviews are full of important insights into how that was made possible. Bravo … keep them coming!
Oct '10
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
(Claire, this advice is worth exactly what you're paying for it.)
Finding a juicy quote (not in the book) about something current - Europe, the Euro, China, NoKo, a Putin spin on Russia - and having it picked up by James Delingpole and the conservative blogosphere in the UK seems an interesting way to market these things. Yes, the US is a bigger market, but Thatcher resonates viscerally in the UK in a way she never will elsewhere.
I'm not a fan of the cover - if anything, your book should be a companion to your research. Why put resources behind promoting your publisher's brand?
The US$3.67 price in Europe - because of Amazon's strange whispernet tax - looks odd. (And there is no pricing info on amazon.co.uk that I could find.)
But I love the idea.
Aug '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
I think we should have a Ricochet Marketplace where we can all flog each other's stuff to each other.
BTW, if you're looking for a private tour of Israel, drop me a line ;)
Dec '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Interesting comment to read just as a good friend in the UK accused me (as well as my fellow Americans) of "romanticizing" PM Thatcher.
Perhaps a lecture/book signing event at the Heritage Foundation, AEI or Cato?
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Red-blooded conservatives are red-blooded capitalists, and never apologize for commerce.
I say so long as what you are selling is related to Ricochet's mission involving politics and culture, sell it here.
Of course if we some day find ourselves home to people who come to make commercials and not participate, we'll boot them.
But if a member writes a book, does an interview, makes a relevant records and has it for sale, I'd love to know about it and buy it.
Sep '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
genferei: ((And there is no pricing info on amazon.co.uk that I could find.)
But I love the idea. · Dec 29 at 2:24am
I searched on amazon.co.uk for Claire Berlinski, and they came up immediately, with price, and I've bought them both.
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
I have no issue with this promotion . Remember, everyone, the sale of these interviews is vital - it keeps Claire out of poverty, so she can still continue to enlighten us about Turkey, Thatcher, Europe, etc. Hahaha...For the record, I plan to buy the print version, as I have yet to upgrade to a kindle.
Sep '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Claire, you can sell away, as far as I'm concerned!
Thatcher is indeed a very controversial figure in the UK. Many people feel a visceral hatred for her, and that's unlikely to change. But the point is that almost no one says Thatcher was unimportant; and many who are wholly opposed to what she stood for will want to read these interviews if they have a serious interest in politics. So don't hesitate to promote the interviews in the liberal and left-wing media as that will undoubtedly bring you money even if it is accompanied by verbal abuse. The book will be more difficult to sell until it's on Kindle, and the marketing may put some people off as they may suspect it's a tract rather than a serious work of political history. But plug away, and good luck!
Sep '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
On amazon.co.uk they are £2.21 each.
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
The odd thing, Gaby, is that the book didn't do well in the UK at all. It did much better in the US. This may have been a matter of less aggressive marketing.
Apr '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
You know that old (bad metaphysics) description of eternity—granite block 1000 miles on a side; a little bird lands on it every 1000 years, etc.?
That's you wearing out your credit promoting your work.
But that's just me.
Moving right along, to receive informative e-mails about high-Quality watch reproductions and all-natural male enhancement products, &c., &c., &c., go to my portal.
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
genferei:
I'm not a fan of the cover - if anything, your book should be a companion to your research. Why put resources behind promoting your publisher's brand?
The US$3.67 price in Europe - because of Amazon's strange whispernet tax - looks odd. (And there is no pricing info on amazon.co.uk that I could find.)
But I love the idea. · Dec 29 at 2:24am
I can't figure out what Amazon's charging for it. In Turkey, it says "Price not available." It should be the equivalent of USD 2.99. That's the lowest price you can charge and still be in the 70 percent royalty bracket--below that, and you only make 35 percent.
As for the cover ... got a better idea? Graphic design is just not my forte; even figuring out how to do that took me two days.
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Not a bad idea at all!
Nov '10
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Keep it up, please, Ma'am. I need the information; you need the revenue. That sounds like a fine, balanced bargain to me.
Mar '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
jonorose:
BTW, if you're looking for a private tour of Israel, drop me a line ;)
I'm thinking of visiting Jerusalam sometime in the next year or two -- I'll let you know.
Btw, Claire, I am enjoying your first round of interviews -- I hadn't realized how important a role Mrs Thatcher's advisers had (and it sounds like a yummy meal).
I'll probably go and see the Iron Lady (movie) in a week or two.
As to why your book wasn't so popular in the UK, that's probably partly down to the British being more poverty-stricken, and partly because it remains a center-left country where Mrs Thatcher is more unpopular than she is in the US. Hence Mr Cameron.
Edited on December 29, 2011 at 3:37pmDec '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Claire: May I echo the other comments -- sell away in good conscience.
One question though: As an Amazon prime subscriber, the website offered it to me for free (or for 2.99). I paid for it as a matter of choice, wanting to support writers who do good work.
My question is -- if purchased through Amazon prime, are you still getting a royalty (or whatever -- cash in your pocket)?
Thank you. TW
Feb '11
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
I concur, sell and promote, especially as the topic is pertinent to the site. Please always release new (and back library too) on Kindle. My switch to digital started 2 years ago and is cemented now.
Edited on December 29, 2011 at 5:42pmMay '10
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Claire, here's an interesting little column by Hugh Hewitt on the "game change" that e-books represent -- the ease, the speed, the flexibility in length and subject, the autonomy, the not having to share the dough. Congrats and good luck.
May '10
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
Personally, I don't like to pay for the privileged of being spammed. If there was a "marketplace" to hock your wares, or the Rico T-shirt or the latest conservative manifesto, that's a different matter. But I think it is in poor taste to commercialize the forum. And, after all, it isn't an option, at least on the Main Feed, for those of us who have to pay to contribute. It smacks of taking advantage of your position. Of course, if you want to give away Ricochet for free in exchange for advertising, that is an Internet tradition with a long line of advocates. That's my two bits. Your mileage may vary.
Edited on December 29, 2011 at 8:49pmAug '10
Re: What Did Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary Remember?
I'll second the call for a Ricochet Marketplace. It would consolidate the writings of all our great contributors, instead of hearing about them piecemeal from various podcasts or single links in posts. By segregating the self-promotion into one place, it keeps the main feeds "pure" conversation, and avoids needlessly annoying people who don't want to see it.
Phase 2 of the master plan could have links from all members, but then we get into the problems of gatekeeping, implicit site endorsements, spammy members, etc. But I would very much want to see what my fellow members are doing. I've already discovered some projects, like R. J. Moeller's podcasts (he did a link in the member feed when he interviewed Rob Long), which I consider part of the value I get for my $3.58.
Maybe the informal discovery approach works for members right now. But at the least, we should have a RicoMarket for our featured contributors to self-promote without feeling guilty.