To many Australians, Eddie Ward was the "bad boy" of politics. His radicalism and his forthrightness did much to ringbark his ambition to become leader of the Labor Party and Prime Minister of Australia.
Member of the House of Representatives for 27 years, he was called to order more times than any other member, and was under suspension from the House even at the time of his death. He was the centre of many political storms and Royal Commissions—including the Brisbane Line furore, the New Guinea Timber scandal, and the Petrov case.
In this biography, Elwyn Spratt reveals yet another side to Ward—the man who was beloved by his constituents, who read his Bible and studied his dictionary ever night; the man who was always a ready fighter for those he saw as under-dogs, striking out with no mercy either for his enemies or for himself.
In the words of Sir Robert Menzies, with whom he feuded for so many years, "he accepted no compromise, gave no quarter, and expected none."