Killing Thatcher

A Sunday Times Paperback of the Year 2024
The Sunday Times Bestseller and Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2024
A Sunday Times History Book of the Year
A Spectator Book of the Year
The Irish Times No.1 Bestseller

• ‘As taut as a fictional thriller’ – Mail on Sunday
• ‘Gripping, detailed and richly layered’ – Guardian

KILLING THATCHER is the gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher and wiping out the British Cabinet. This extraordinary assassination attempt is intricately linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles and stands as the most daring conspiracy against the Crown since the Gunpowder Plot.

Key Highlights:

• The Road to the Brighton Bombing: Veteran journalist Rory Carroll retraces the events leading up to the infamous Brighton bombing in 1984, an incident that profoundly shaped the UK's political landscape for decades.
• Historical Context: The story begins with the execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979—an act for which the IRA claimed responsibility—and follows the rise of Margaret Thatcher, her response to the Irish ‘Troubles,’ and the hunger strikes of 1981, culminating in the death of 10 republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands. These events cemented Thatcher as an enemy of the IRA, which vowed revenge.
• A Thrilling Prologue: The book opens with a brilliantly-paced prologue introducing bomber Patrick Magee in the lead-up to the Brighton attack.
• A Global Narrative: The story spans three continents, moving through pubs, palaces, safe houses, interrogation rooms, hotels, and barracks.

On one side, an elite IRA team—supported by a renegade priest, US-raised funds, and Libya’s Qaddafi. On the other, intelligence officers, police detectives, informers, and bomb disposal experts.

Blending true crime with political history, this is the first major book to investigate the Brighton attack.