GARSIDE'S CAREER tells the story of Peter Garside's soaring flight from working engineer to member of Parliament, propelled by a 'silver tongue' and an insatiable fascination with his power to persuade: "You don't know the glorious sensation of holding a crowd in the hollow of your hand, mastering it, doing what you like with it." Peter's fiance knows the danger of Peter's fascination, "The Itch to speak is like the itch to drink, except that it's cheaper to talk yourself tipsy."