This book describes the career of William Edward Forster (1818-86), the nineteenth-century British statesman, who is remembered mainly for the 1870 Education Act. This ensured the first nationwide survey of elementary school capacity in England and the establishment of school boards in areas where provision was inadequate.

The act was intensely controversial because it left the church schools in a commanding position in many rural areas, much to the dismay of Liberal nonconformists whose aim was the disestablishment of the Church of England.

Forster is interesting and important as one of the first "new men" from a manufacturing background, without a public-school or university education or any connection with the social and political "establishment," to achieve a leading position in British politics. He remained his own man, unwilling to compromise his principles for party political purposes.