Quarried from newspapers and journals, in which Hugh MacDiarmid(C.M. Grieve) wrote under a variety of pseudonyms, this collection – the second – reflects his enduring interests and eclectic range of concerns. It is in writings like those collected here that MacDiarmid spoke most freely and suggestively. He was unable to conform, to toe the line, to join committees and groups. Whatever his declared politics (and he declared his politics in many different ways) he was at heart a deeply humane anarchist.