THE PEOPLE’S REFERENDUM- Why Scotland Will Never Be The Same Again, by PETER GEOGHEGAN, is a book that takes us on a geographical tour of Scotland, exploring the history of specific areas and why that may have influenced the Referendum Vote last year, writes Kerry Black. It covers everything from sectarianism, the Border Reivers and the Wee Free Church in Scotland and even has a few chapters about how other countries have faced potential independence and it has one chapter that looks closely at the happenings in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area.

Each chapter has a title which is a pun on a well known film title, including “From Rosyth With Love”, covering Communism in Fife, which is normally considered to be a “Labour heartland”.

It looks at Willie Clarke, the local councillor for Ballingry, who now stands as an independent candidate. In 1973, he started out by being elected for the Communist Party of Great Britain. In fact, that year they won 12 seats in Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath.

Born and bred in the mining community of Glencraig, Willie went down the pit at the age of 14. He chose Communism as, “It caught your imagination, they were radical, wanted change, they were not prepared to accept things as they were”.

Alongside the Selkirks, the late Alex and Mary Maxwell and Jackie Allan, they had a belief that Communists were “the people who help you the most”, unaware at that time of the brutal reality of life in the Soviet Union.

Lumphinnans was known as Little Moscow, indeed the name Gagarin Way, is now well known, due to the success of Gregory Burke’s titular play.

Willie Clarke worked hard to promote the ‘Yes’ vote, inviting speakers such as Dennis Canavan to the Benarty Centre, which Willie was instrumental in developing The pits have closed, the Berlin Wall has fallen, but Willie’s hopes of a fairer land for everyone have never changed. In his own words, “Activists never retire”.

The author concludes the book by saying, “Scotland after the Referendum is a peculiar place. Everything has changed and everything has stayed the same.” It will be interesting to see how the No vote affects communities in the future.

THE PEOPLE’S REFERENDUM- Why Scotland Will Never Be The Same Again, by PETER GEOGHEGAN.