In a year in which we commemorate the war and also debate the question of Scottish independence, Maclean is a figure from working class history who can speak to us today. This concise biography highlights his power as an orator and organiser, and the tensions between revolutionary internationalism and Scottish nationalism in his activities. 'My appeal is to the working class... because they, and they alone, can bring about the time when the whole world will be in one brotherhood, on a sound economic foundation' - spoken by John Maclean, May 1918.