TOM NAIRN, after serving time on the hulk of hms Britain, escaped to teaching 'Nationalism Studies' at Edinburgh University, then to researching 'Globalisation and Nationalism' at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology inVictoria, Australia. His book The Break-up of Britain appeared in 1977 (Verso Books, most recent edition Common Ground Publishing, Melbourne, 2003). Faces of Nationalism (Verso) appeared in 1997 and Global Matrix (Pluto Press, with Paul James) in 2005. JAMIE MAXWELL is a political journalist. He writes for the New Statesman, Bella Caledonia and the Scottish Review of Books, among other publications. He is the editor of The Case for Left Wing Nationalism, a collection of hislate father Stephen Maxwell's essays and the co-author, with David Torrance, of Scotland's Referendum: A Voter's Guide. PETE RAMAND is the co-author, with James Foley, of Yes: the Radical Case for Scottish Independence and a co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign. In 2013 he received an MSC (with distinction) in Nationalism Studies from the University of Edinburgh.

ANTHONY BARNETT is the founder of openDemocracy and served as its Editor-in-Chief until 2007. He was the director of Charter 88 from 1988 to 1995. He is the author of numerous books, including Iron Britannia: Why Parliament Waged Its Falklands War, and is a regular contributor to the New Statesman and the Guardian.