ABSTRACT
In 1917 the Glasgow Marxist John MacLean proclaimed Scotland ‘in the rapids of revolution’. Over seventy years later, with the breakdown of the ‘scientific socialist’ order which he had fought for, the metaphor again seemed valid, ‘Wunds wi’ warlds tae swing’ gave Scotland a particular battering. In July 1988 the Piper Alpha production platform blew up with huge loss of life, after a long period of lax maintenance and superficial inspection. In December an American airliner was destroyed (by a bomb planted by Libyan agents) over Lockerbie, killing nearly three hundred people. In 1993 the tanker Braer crashed into the Shetland Isles, polluting sea and land. A year later the attempt of Shell to scuttle the Brent Spar platform led to worldwide protest. Most tragic of all, in Dunblane in March 1996, a misfit obsessed with guns and young boys murdered half a classful of innocents and their teacher before killing himself.
