Lamenting the decline in all crucial welfare services during ten years of Thatcher rule, the author warns that this dream may fast becoming a Conservative nightmare. The book is supplemented by statistics that indicate the damage done by the last decade of the Thatcher government. Townsend's anecdotes are a highly personal testimony to the Welfare State and the principles which underlie the concept of welfare. The author has had a number of plays staged including Bazaar and Rummage, The Great Celestial Cow. She also wrote The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and Three Quarters and its follow-up The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole as well as Rebuilding Coventry.