Unlike Althusser’s, Tom Nairn’s Marxism would grow almost unrecognisably open and eclectic. Many on the left never forgave him for writing that ‘the theory of nationalism represents Marxism’s great historical failure,’ or for his insistence that globalisation had liberating, progressive aspects. But many on the right, including Britain’s intelligence services and their clients, never forgave him either – for spreading seditious doctrines threatening to the kingdom.