“A beautifully structured and brilliantly written biography. . . . Henry Bell’s moving, evocative portrait of the complex man and his times is compelling and timely. It tells not just the story of the radical hero from the red Clyde, but a story of Scotland.” 

"A fine introduction to Scotland’s most famous revolutionary. It acknowledges the power of the John Maclean legend but gives the facts from which that legend grew . . .  and it reminds us of the tragic price that he and his family paid for his dedication to the cause of Marxist revolution." 

“John Maclean's swing towards the project of socialist independence for Scotland contains detailed lessons for today. Bell's biography tells the story of how a potter's son from the outskirts of Glasgow ended up schooling Lenin on the dynamics of class and nation.” 

“There have been other biographies of John Maclean, but this clearly written narrative by Henry Bell sets a new standard in its careful balance and judicious conclusions. Maclean emerges from the pages of the book as a more complex figure than that depicted hitherto.”

“It is always good to see something new published about John Maclean. Since the Glasgow Labour Party retreated from Socialism it has done it's best to forget him. . . . Scotland does not deserve its greatest people.”