Capital versus labour; policemen's truncheons smashing skulls under flat caps, with army tanks brought into George Square as the establishment tries to crush dissent. Revolutionaries versus reformers fight it out, dreaming of the best way to achieve dignity amongst the penury. What might have been if there was more unity throughout the country? This is a terrific popular history by Kenny MacAskill, setting the imagination alive as the decades flash before us. --Paul Laverty, screenwriter of The Wind that Shakes the Barley and I, Daniel Blake
A new and thoughtful insight into a vital part of our history that has had such an impact on our political, social and economic landscape, and which many of us still share and believe in today. -- Henry McLeish, former First Minister of Scotland
With impeccable research and a brilliant way with words, Kenny MacAskill has written a hugely rich and unapologetically frank book on the history of Bloody Friday in Glasgow. Comprehensive in scope, once you start reading it's an eye-opener you can't put down. --Harry Benson CBE, award-winning photojournalist
As the Great War ended, a century ago, revolutions broke out all over Europe. Some were social and Bolshevik, some were national. The socialist uprisings failed, but left fateful consequences: middle-class terror of 'Reds', and ironically the strengthening of capitalism through welfare states and the acceptance of collective bargaining. In this thrilling book, Kenny MacAskill pilots us down Red Clydeside to the brink of its Niagara a real revolution and shows why it didn't go over the edge. This is the story of Glasgow as a great city awakening to its own strength the incredible power of mobilising hundreds of thousands of working men and women to defy authority and battle for justice. But MacAskill also reveals how Red Clydeside's leaders failed to crack the government's confidence in its ability to rule. Revolution was postponed: most of the strike leaders became Labour MPs driving social reform in decades to come. --Neal Ascherson, journalist and writer
A new and thoughtful insight into a vital part of our history that has had such an impact on our political, social and economic landscape, and which many of us still share and believe in today. -- Henry McLeish, former First Minister of Scotland
With impeccable research and a brilliant way with words, Kenny MacAskill has written a hugely rich and unapologetically frank book on the history of Bloody Friday in Glasgow. Comprehensive in scope, once you start reading it's an eye-opener you can't put down. --Harry Benson CBE, award-winning photojournalist
Kenny MacAskill is a former SNP politician, serving as MSP from 1999 to 2016 and as Scottish Justice Secretary from 2007 to 2014. Prior to that he was a senior partner in a law firm. Since stepping down from politics he has been writing columns for newspapers and magazines on current and historical affairs. He is also the author of The Lockerbie Bombing (2016) and Jimmy Reid (2017).
