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The files disclose a series of bizarre moments in the nations’ so-called ‘special relationship’ during the 1980s, when Cold War tensions flared between the West and Soviet Russia.
RT picks the highlights of these newly declassified documents from The National Archives.
Then-US President Reagan urged then-PM Thatcher to read ‘Red Storm Rising’ ahead of a summit in Reykjavík with the Soviet Union on nuclear disarmament.
The fictional thriller by Tom Clancy imagines WWIII being fought with conventional weapons in Europe, the Atlantic Sea and even Iceland.
Chemical Maggie: Thatcher considered chem weapons stockpile in Cold War standoff http://t.co/as7UC8lE0Qpic.twitter.com/ERyfQMkWUw
— RT UK (@RTUKnews) December 30, 2014
“The president strongly recommended to the prime minister a new book by the author of Red October called (I think) Red Storm Rising,” Thatcher’s private secretary wrote at the time.
“It gave an excellent picture of the Soviet Union’s intentions and strategy. He had clearly been much impressed by the book.”
Thatcher’s reaction is not recorded and it is not known whether the PM acted up upon Reagan’s recommendation.
Four tiny specks of moon dust were discovered by a Thatcher aide in a Downing Street cupboard years after they were donated in 1970 by then-US President Richard Nixon to his British counterpart, Harold Wilson.
‘Nuclear winter’ threat dismissed by Thatcher govt, papers reveal http://t.co/ozUdBJorOkpic.twitter.com/J0lU9oV7i5
— RT UK (@RTUKnews) December 30, 2014
The moon dust initially sparked a battle between British museums over who would display the artifacts, which were later described as “disappointing” by the Science Museum in London.
They eventually returned to Downing Street in 1973, where they “languished for several years” in a cupboard during Edward Heath’s premiership. When Thatcher won power she suggested putting the dust in a display cabinet, but the idea was never acted upon.
Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk