but they'll make me a bestseller

Rock star Thom Yorke has given acclaimed Scots author Alastair McIntosh's book the thumbs up - and made it a must-read for campaigners.

ALASTAIR McINTOSH doesn't look like your usual anti-globalisation campaigner. Sitting in his house in the Govan area of Glasgow,the 48-year-old writer and academic looks more like a librarian than a champion of the fight against global corporations. But thanks to a few words from one of the world's biggest rock stars, he's on the verge of becoming Scotland's unlikely answer to Michael Moore.
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has sparked interest in Alastair's book, Soil and Soul, after recommending it to the band's fans on his website.

Writers around the world would give anything to have their work championed by the singer, who is well-known for his political activism.

But Alastair is taking it in his stride, as he admits he'd never even heard of Radiohead when he was told about his latest fan.

He said: 'To be honest when somebody told me Thom Yorke had recommended my book I had no idea who he was.

'My son took me out in his van, playing Radiohead's album on his stereo.

'It all sounded pretty depressing and downbeat to me, so I couldn't really get my head round it.'

Alastair's book describes the role he played in allowing the residents of Eigg to buy the island from their laird and how he helped stop a mountain on the Isle of Harris from being turned into a superquarry.

Also woven through the stories are his own thoughts and theories on everything from economics, politics and history to poetry and religion.

The book received critical acclaim upon its release in 2001, but is now set to reach a wider audience thanks to Yorke's words of praise.

It could even follow in the footsteps of the last book Yorke told his fans to read.

In 2000 he recommended a little-known book called No Logo by Canadian journalist Naomi Klein.

The book has since gone on to sell more than a million copies and has been translated into 27 languages, with Klein becoming one of the world's most revered figures in the battle against corporate power. But Alastair had no idea the recommendation was so significant until he found out more about the Radiohead star.

Indeed Yorke is so impressed that he has even approached a mutual friend, journalist and author George Monbiot, to set up a meeting with his new favourite writer.

Alastair said: 'I can see from what I have read about Thom Yorke that he's very thoughtful, but also a no-nonsense type of person.

'That's something I like in people, so I think it would be very interesting to meet him.

'He's obviously interested in the power of music and poetry to change people's lives and I think he will have picked upon that in the book.

'It tells a lot of stories, and woven in between it is some heavyweight stuff, but I have tried to make it readable and I think he will have appreciated that.

'Someone like him is influential upon a young generation that is lacking a sense of meaning and is experiencing a lot of depression as they don't quite know where they fit into the modern world.

'I might not understand his music, but I guess he speaks to people because he understands them.'

Despite the renewed interest in his book, Alastair isn't expecting his life to be changed by Yorke's public support.

He splits his time between his work as a fellow at Edinburgh's Centre for Human Ecology, giving lectures which take him around the world, and his voluntary work with Govan-based community project GalGael.

The project helps people with problems such as drug addiction get their lives back on track through teaching them how to work with wood, stone, metal and textiles.

The group has specialised in building and renovating traditional boats since its launch in 1997.

Alastair's enthusiasm for the project is the reason why he moved to Govan with French wife Vérène. And while someone like Alastair would normally be expected to live in a leafy, affluent, suburb, he insists he's not 'slumming it', by staying in one of Scotland's poorest areas.

As we drive through the streets of Govan, he points to a burned-down house, a car with all its tyres slashed and a community that's blighted by drug abuse.

But he also attempts to explain what causes these problems and what needs to be done to tackle them.

He said: 'I'm not some kind of noble social worker and I'm not lowering myself to be living here. It's not like that.

'I feel I've been accepted by this community and being allowed to play arole in it makes me very happy.We were finding more and more of our work involved being in Glasgow, and especially at GalGael.

'People say 'why do you live in a place like this?' but it inspires me.

'Here we have one of the most hard-pressed communities in Scotland and yet the people are capable of some of the most beautiful, amazing and creative work.

'There are some fantastic stories of people who have managed to get their lives back together and that's good, as my work is all about community.'

While Alastair is hoping that Yorke's recommendation will lead to more people reading his book, it's not his first brush with fame - two years ago he won £50,000 on Channel Four game show Without Prejudice.

The programme saw a panel of people deciding which contestant deserved the prize money based on debates on moral issues and secret filming to see how they dealt with set-up situations.

Viewers saw Alastair reunite a mobile phone owner with a handset he found in a taxi and dealing with an expenses fiddle.

But he insists money wasn't the motivation for appearing on the show, and he was left with mixed feelings due to how he was portrayed.

He said: 'It's one of those things where if I knew what it was going to be like I might not have done it.

'They spent a whole day filming me at my house, but they only used tiny little soundbites. At first I didn't want to go on the programme.When I was invited I said I didn't do gameshows.

'I was asked what I did do, so I said I did things that would get a serious point across about social and environmental issues.

'They said that was one of the aims of the show, but what they didn't let on about is that it was more about the prejudices of their panel than it was about the answers given by me and the other contestants.'

Indeed, appearing on a game show seems unusual for a man who doesn't even own a television because he fears it would take over his life.

But Alastair believes he was successful in managing to get his message across.

He said: 'When you turn on a show like that you don't expect to see someone like me, so I was astonished afterwards by how many letters I got from people who liked what I was saying.

'I had a lot of people coming up to me in the street and I still get recognised sometimes by people who tell mehow encouraging it was.'

Getting recognised in public could become a common occurrence for Alastair if more people take Yorke's advice and read his book.

He's hoping that if he is to meet the musician, the G8summit will provide the perfect opportunity.

But even if the get-together doesn't materialise, Alastair will still be nearby when the world's most powerful leaders meet at Gleneagles next month.

He said: 'What I'd like to see most is a shift in the economy so we can move away from the idea that we all have to compete against one another to be efficient.

'It's wrong that we have a dog-eat-dog economy where it makes no difference to the big corporations whether their workers are in Scotland or China.

'It doesn't have to be like that. In Scotland we have a cultural heritage that we can draw upon through stories, through song, through poetry, through art and craft and through industry.

'But we will only change things if the whole nation realises that we're pulling on the oars of one boat together.'

# Soil and Soul: People Versus Corporate Power, is published by Aurum and available now in paperback, priced £7.99

By Craig Mcqueen, Daily Record, Jun 8 2005

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