[1] Bland was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, and attended Manchester Grammar School.

Bland considered Mao Zedong a left-deviationist while still maintaining that Hoxha was a true Marxist-Leninist in the tradition of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin.

Bland's position was strengthened after the Sino-Albanian split and he formed the Communist League of Great Britain.

He also wrote an English-Albanian dictionary which included information on Albanian life, culture, politics and history.

"[3] Aside from theoretical and historical works, Bland wrote a number of plays, directed two films and produced a ballet.