Great John Maclean Has Come Home to the Clyde

John Maclean, Scottish school teacher and revolutionary, planted the seeds of Marxism in Scotland. Author Donald Robertson introduces us to both Maclean the man, and to everything that was happening around him: from the rent strikes on the Clyde; to the Hands off Russia protests about Allied intervention against the Bolsheviks; to the twists and turns in the formation of the Communist Party of Great Britain and to the rekindling of the movement for Scottish independence.

Donald Robertson was born in Kinlochleven. He co-founded the Australian music and arts magazine Roadrunner, was the first editor of Countdown magazine, and is the author of books about rock music. He lives in Sydney and blogs at roadrunnertwice.com.au.

Praise for (Resistance Books, 2025)

Excellently written, and unafraid to confront the issues of his contested political legacy, this is the most thorough account of Maclean’s life and work I have read.—Ian R Mitchell, historian and author of Walking through Glasgow’s industrial past.

Pollokshaws Burgh Hall is an appropriate location for this meeting as it is in the area where John Maclean was born and lived most of his life. The Hall is easily accessible by public transport: Pollokshaws West station, on the Glasgow Central to East Kilbride train line is opposite and is widely signposted as the stop for the Burrell Collection, and the Number 3 bus from Drumchapel to Govan via Glasgow City Centre stops nearby in Shawbridge Street/Christian Street, near Pollokshaws Library. There is also car parking at the Hall.

Pollokshaws Library itself, a few minutes walk away from the Hall, houses the stained glass window celebrating the life of John Maclean by artist Kiera McLean, opened on the 100th Anniversary of his death in 2023, and is worth visiting in the library before the meeting (the Library closes 8pm on Tuesdays). The rather dishevelled outdoor site of the Glasgow City Council cairn to John Maclean, installed in 1973, is currently awaiting refurbishment due to local housing development but can also be be viewed a few minutes walk from the meeting, opposite the Library.

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