This image is the cover for the book When The Clyde Ran Red

When The Clyde Ran Red

This social history chronicles the protest movements of early 20th century Glasgow and Western Scotland: “A moving story told with enthusiasm” (Sunday Herald, UK).

When the Clyde Ran Red paints a vivid picture of the heady days when revolution was in the air of Glasgow and surrounding areas along the River Clyde. Through the bitter strike at the Singer Sewing machine plant in Clydebank in 1911, Bloody Friday in Glasgow’s George Square in 1919, the General Strike of 1926 and on through the Spanish Civil War to the Clydebank Blitz of 1941, the people fought for the right to work, the dignity of labor, and a fairer society for everyone.

The Red Clydeside movement took hold in a Glasgow where overcrowded tenements stood no distance from elegant tea rooms, dance halls, and art galleries. The River Clyde was also home to the famous artists of the Glasgow Style and exhibitions showcasing the wonders of the age. Political idealism and artistic creativity were matched by industrial productivity—especially in ship and locomotive building. In this book Maggie Craig situates the politics of the time in the broader historical context, telling a story of social change and human drama.

Maggie Craig

Maggie Craig is the acclaimed writer of the ground-breaking Damn’ Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45, and its companion volume Bare-Arsed Banditti: The Men of the ’45. She is also the author of six family saga novels set in her native Glasgow and Clydebank. She is a popular speaker in libraries and book festivals and has served two terms as a committee member of the Society of Authors in Scotland.

Birlinn