Throughout the 1980s Mrs Thatcher dominated political life in the UK and Thatcherism became the shorthand for a series of political initiatives all over the world. Most accounts of these years have concentrated on the economics of free markets and privatization. This book takes a different stance through a detailed analysis of the responses of NALGO (The National and Local Government Officers Association) members, activists, leaders, and officials to the government's public sector reform and restructuring programme. Employees in health, local government, and education faced cuts in funding, compulsory competitive tendering, internal markets, and new management practices associated with HRM and TQM. Others in the gas, water, electricity, and transport industries faced wholesale privatization. This unique account of the period written from the evidence and perspective of those involved will be an important source for researchers, teachers, and practitioners in politics, industrial relations, public administration, and management concerned with the events and lessons of the 1980s.

Brooding psychological thriller, starring Christian Bale. Trevor Reznik (Bale) is a factory machine-operator who is suffering from crippling insomnia. His weight has plummeted, he suffers from hallucinations, and he finds himself unable to concentrate at work, leading to a horrific accident involving one of his co-workers. Ostracised from the other men at the factory, Reznik starts finding threatening notes and begins to fear that someone is trying to kill him. Is his paranoia part of his psychological breakdown, or is it possibly justified?

Jennifer Lynch directs this thriller starring Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman as two FBI agents posted to a remote police station in Santa Fe to investigate a series of gruesome murders carried out by a mysterious masked gang. As the agents interrogate various witnesses and victims, the testimonies diverge more and more wildly as the seedy underbelly of the community - complete with corrupt police officers, drug addicts and sadistic sexual deviants - is grimly revealed.

Wolfgang Petersen's screen adaptation of Sebastian Junger's semi-fictional book about the loss of a fishing vessel and its crew during one of the biggest storms for decades seen off the coast of the US. In the autumn of 1991 the Andrea Gail leaves the port of Gloucester, Massachusetts, never to be seen again. Heading out to the fishing waters of the Flemish Cap in search of swordfish, Captain Billy Tyne (George Clooney) and his crew soon find themselves overtaken by a massive storm, one which taxes their courage to the very limit. Focusing mainly on the adventures of the Andrea Gail, but also taking in the attempts of a rescue helicopter to rescue the crew of an ailing sailboat, Wolfgang Petersen's film uses impressive state-of-the-art effects to present a vivid account of the storm's awesome, destructive power.