J. B. McLachlan was a fiery, idealistic Scot who came to Canada with a vision of a better world. He settled in Cape Breton, and there he worked in the coalmines beside hundreds of men and boys from all parts of the world. In the first decades of the twentieth century mine owners cared little for safety or working conditions: miners and their families were virtual serfs of the company. As their wages were squeezed lower, mine workers fought back through...