The Troublemaker: A Biography of the Reverend Michael Scott

Synopsis

In Britain, Michael Scott is one of the forgotten heroes of twentieth-century resistance against injustice and racial discrimination, though there are parts of Southern Africa and India where he is still regarded as a prophet or a saint.. His activities got him banned by the governing white regimes of three countries - South Africa, South West Africa (now Namibla) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) - in later life he was deported from India, and he served four terms in jail, three in Britain and one in South Africa. Even in his lifetime he was a mysterious and paradoxical figure, a one-time undercover agent for the Communist Party who became a scourge of totalitarianism, a Gandhian exponent of non-violence who trained as a rear gunner in the RAF, a Christian who enjoyed the company of atheists, a clergyman who berated his own church, a modest orator who once held the United Nations spelibound. The Church of England hierarchy accorded him little honour compared with Trevor Huiddleston or Canon John Collins, yet both men regarded him as their inspiration. The authors reveal that Scott did more than triumph over racial tyranny and abuse, he also triumphed over the circumstance of his own sexual abuse as a child. They do not conclude that he was either a saint or a prophet - he was much more interesting than that; but they have no doubt that he was an authentic British hero.