At the end of Might is Right it is written "P.S. Book II will be issued when circumstances demand it." I believe that I have found Book II.
First I would like to give an introduction to who the author is. The identity of the author of Might is Right remains obscure. Upon taking up my own investigation into this work, I believe that the writer was a man named Arthur Desmond. Desmond was described by Sidney E Parker as a man who was red-bearded, with red hair, and whose poetry was very similar to that written in Might is Right. Pictured below is the best image of Desmond that I could find.
-Who is Arthur Desmond?
Arthur Desmond was a rather interesting and adventurous figure in life. His birth and origins are cloaked in mystery due to how secretive he was. From the information I've gathered, he was a poet, and started out as a political activist in New Zealand, fighting on behalf of the Maori people. This was much to the antagonism of the European population who despised the Maori. When a Maori leader named Te Kooti was coming to visit Gisborne, Desmond advocated on his behalf and defended him. This resulted in him being thrown out of a meeting discussing his visit and almost being killed by the Europeans the second time, when he let slip that he had been in contact with the Maori leaders for some time. Desmond wrote a poem dedicated to him called "The Song of Te Kooti." He tried twice to run for Parliament, in 1884 and 1887, losing twice.
On October 10th 1892, after his political blunders in New Zealand, he moved to Sydney, New South Wales Australia. There he worked on a journal titled The New Order, and promoted an Active Service Brigade, with the aim of disrupting the rallies of his political opponents. He spearheaded a revolutionary effort and helped guide the actions of of the Australian working class against the authorities with his journal Hard Cash, as well as his other works. Desmond's writings infuriated the Australian police, costing their government over £3,000,000 in damage. Despite their best efforts, the police failed to capture him during his stay in Australia. They did however target his associates, capturing the newsagents who helped publish his journals and putting them in prison. Soon Desmond consulted with his friend John Arthur Andrews and laid out his plans to start an armed rebellion, an insurrection with the aim of overthrowing the Australian government, aiming to use his money for the "sinews of war." However, when his friend advised him against it, he took it to heart and, a few months later, disappointed, having used up most of his money on his uprising plan, and two years after he arrived in Australia, left in the summer of 1894. However, he did not leave before greatly insulting Justice Minister Thomas Slattery and leaving him fuming in his last journal, after the Australian Labor Party tried to offer Desmond a seat in their government.
Arthur Desmond's journals were filled with his righteous fury. He raged against the banks and cursed the Jews who ran them, his articles often populated by antisemitic remarks.
It is said that if you knew Desmond in person, you either admired him as a living Caesar or hated him as a man with "delusions of grandeur", as remarked by one Chicagoan named Ralph Chaplin in Wobbly: The Rough and Tumble Story of an American Radical published in 1948 on page 316.
-Military Career(?)
There is at least one report claiming that, after leaving Australia, he went to South Africa to serve under Cecil Rhodes. What follows are Desmond's claims of his military experience. After promoting his book Might is Right in 1898, he claims to have taken time off to fight in the Second Boer War. That he was "a member of General Bob's light horse at Cape Town and Pretoria." He declared that he had fought in the Battle of Paardeberg in 1900, the biggest and bloodiest battle of the Boer War. While he was living in Chicago in 1904, he operated an ice cream company, of which he used the office to base his Thurland & Thurland and Desmond Commericial Advertising Bureau companies, using his company office for an advertising sideline. One day a phone inspector wanted to enter the factory to perform maintenance and when Desmond refused to let him in, he came back with police. Desmond responded by fighting off the police with a rifle he claims to have obtained from the Battle of Paardeberg. Though Desmond was defeated, thrown in jail, and put on trial, his natural charm and silver tongue managed to convince the judge and jury that he was the victim, and he was released with all charges dropped.
Desmond's claims of military adventures in South Africa are, unfortunately, unsubstantiated. There have been no records found proving that he fought for Cecil Rhodes in the Boer War. As such his claims are up in the air. It is clear however, that sometime after he left Australia, he moved to the US city of Chicago and made it his new home. Every now and then he would travel to England and back, publishing new writings, and in 1903 published Rival Caesars.
-What is Rival Caesars?
Published sometime in 1903, Rival Caesars, full title Rival Caesars: A Romance of Ambition, Love, and War. Being the Tale of a Vice President, a Major General, and Three Brilliant and Beautiful Women, is a historical fantasy novel that Desmond published and released exclusively through his own Thurland & Thurland Publishers bookstore. Desmond published the book under the pseudonym Desmond Dilg. This is because he wrote it together with author Will H. Dilg as the co-writer. The premise of the book is that the American Revolution was the result of a carefully calculated plot by a secret society known as the Iron Cross. An interesting thing about Rival Caesars is Desmond's claim that the story was written based on authentic historical documents found by an American scout in a monastery on the island of Cuba. However, since these alleged documents have never come to light, I have no choice but to treat this as a work of historical fiction. The main character and de facto "Hero" of Rival Caesars is non other than Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson's Vice President during his first term, and a colonel who fought in the Revolutionary War. The story follows Burr from his time fighting in the Revolution, all up to his duel with Alexander Hamilton. A bit of background on Burr:
Those of you familiar with Burr know of the Burr Conspiracy: a plot by Aaron with the British government and his allies in the American army, even Andrew Jackson, to invade and conquer Texas, followed by Mexico, and in so doing establish his own country which would allow him to build a powerful Navy to dominate the Gulf and the Caribbean. Combined with all the gold and natural resources in South America, this would give him enough power to challenge the US Government, and perhaps in so doing, establish himself as the emperor of the Americas, reigning supreme over the northern and southern continents. Letters from Alexander Hamilton and the British Ambassador both show us that in the historical record, Aaron Burr was an amoral, ruthless man, of limitless ambition. As such, this makes him the perfect role model for a man like Ragnar Redbeard.
Although Aaron Burr's ambitions were dashed by the treachery of his "friend", the Brigadier General James Wilkinson, and his work was for naught, he remains a role model for Arthur Desmond, something that is made clear in the text.
-Is Rival Caesars really the sequel to Might is Right?
Yes, absolutely! When I first started reading this book, I did so with an open mind, but skeptical. I figured a bona-fide sequel to Might is Right would've been more well known, I had to dig around the internet to find it after all. However, as I continued reading the pages, I became more and more convinced of this novel's authenticity, of the claims that it was a sequel to MiR. I made sure to read through all of MiR before starting Rival Caesars. Having finished reading the book about two or three weeks ago, I can say this with certainty: This is Book II!!! It has just about everything that you would expect of a novel written by Ragnar Redbeard:
-Advocating for an amoral lifestyle? Check.
-Criticism of Judaism, Christianity, and moral principles? Check.
-A belief in Darwinism and the use of war as a form of eugenics? Check.
-A rather..... politically incorrect description, discussion, and portrayal of women (the kind that would have feminists tearing their hair out and screaming their heads off)? Check.
-Declaring that the family is the property of the man? Check.
-Advocating for an eye for an eye? To hate your enemies? To do unto others as they do unto you? Check.
-There seems to be something of an anti-civilization sentiment in a couple of chapters.
-The book also provides a short criticism of the Myth of Progress.
-Conquerors such as Oliver Cromwell, Napoleon, and Julius Caesar are all given praise, similar to MiR.
-In one page of the book, there is a line straight from Might is Right. Something I find to be an unlikely coincidence, given that this book was released in 1903.
-And, let us not forget, the all too familiar assertion that might is right? The argument that morals and principles are meaningless, and that the only thing that matters is whether one has the Power to make Right? Check!
-Why did Arthur Desmond write Rival Caesars?
It is believed that when Desmond wrote Rival Caesars he did so with a scheme in mind. It's worth pointing out that his associates had previously written novels as a way of generating support for their causes. Something that proved successful for them. For example, his friend William Lane had used this tactic to drum up support for a new colony. Publishing a novel called The Working Man's Paradise, he obtained the necessary wealth and earned the commitment of five hundred "colonists" for his "New Australia" colony. Likewise, another friend of Desmond, Samuel A. Rosa, published a book about open revolution named The Coming Terror for a similar purpose.
With all of this in mind, I must also consider the contents of the book itself. The author commands the reader in the introduction to "think between the lines," several times the novel brings up Aaron Burr's goal of conquering Mexico later on, the final chapter of the book itself is an 1806 song called The Plains of Mexico, and the political situation of Mexico itself at the time it was written should be considered as well. It is theorized that Arthur Desmond's goal was a revival of Aaron Burr's plan. Desmond's plan appeared to be to use Rival Caesars as a recruitment tool to garner support, using American history to appeal to readers. Then once he had acquired a sufficient power base, launch an invasion into Mexico and topple it's government, establishing his own empire in the process. Much like how his idol Cecil Rhodes had conquered South Africa, another historical conqueror Ragnar Redbeard gave plenty of praise to in Might is Right. His own friend, former Prime Minister of Australia William "Billy" Hughes slyly insinuated that Mexican President General Victoriano Huerta may have been Desmond, noting how similar they look. This showed that those who knew Desmond were at least aware of his ambitions regarding Mexico.
Alas, Desmond's dreams of an empire were for naught. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 concluded with Francisco Madero taking over, followed by General Huerta, in a chain of uprisings that continued for some time. After 1911, Desmond dissolved the Thurland and Thurland company and his bookstore in Evanston. He never worked with Will H. Dilg again. He opened a used bookstore named House O' Gowrie running it by himself under the pseudonym Richard Thurland, and ran it for the rest of his days.
On the morning of January 23, 1929 Arthur Desmond died of a stroke. Given that his date of birth was not entirely known (only his birth year: 1859), he was 69-70 years old when he passed. He was survived by his only son, a man named Arthur Konar Walther Desmond. It's unknown what became of him afterwards.
-Should you read Rival Caesars?
Yes. The book is worth at least one read through. The book showcases the views Redbeard wrote in MiR in action, depicting the world as Desmond thought it ought to be. Desmond's writing and prose kept me reading the book and progressing through it. When there's action going on, Desmond doesn't hesitate to describe armed combat in all it's bloody, graphic glory, and the novel has it's fair share of poetry. Since Rival Caesars was released in 1903, it's long since entered the public domain. Because of this, and the story behind the book, I plan to give it a spot in the Grand Library in the future. In the meantime you can find the PDF file for Rival Caesars at the bottom of this OP.
If you stuck with me and read everything I've posted, then I'd like to say thanks. The reason I made this OP as long as it was is because very little information on Ragnar Redbeard appeared to be known to the public, as well as the folks on here, and given how notorious the author was, how I had enjoyed reading his books, and the kind of life he lived, I wanted to make his story more well known. As such, I took the chance to speak to the people of the farms of his identity and of his last novel. Arthur Desmond was a remarkable man, who lived a life of adventure, daring, and political intrigue. Throughout the course of his life, he made many enemies, and even though -like Aaron Burr- his dreams and ambitions were not meant to be, he continued pushing forward all the same. Persevering until his final day. He was a great poet and an excellent writer, and I'm glad to give the farms a place to learn more about him. Thanks for letting me spergout and tell the story of Ragnar Redbeard. To close off this OP, I'd like to end it with a poem Desmond wrote in England under the pseudonym Catiline. I hope it resonates with those you struggling through this rotten age we all live in.
*Author's words, not mine. Desmond often tried to get his readers to spread his works and correspond with him in his published writings.
First I would like to give an introduction to who the author is. The identity of the author of Might is Right remains obscure. Upon taking up my own investigation into this work, I believe that the writer was a man named Arthur Desmond. Desmond was described by Sidney E Parker as a man who was red-bearded, with red hair, and whose poetry was very similar to that written in Might is Right. Pictured below is the best image of Desmond that I could find.
-Who is Arthur Desmond?
Arthur Desmond was a rather interesting and adventurous figure in life. His birth and origins are cloaked in mystery due to how secretive he was. From the information I've gathered, he was a poet, and started out as a political activist in New Zealand, fighting on behalf of the Maori people. This was much to the antagonism of the European population who despised the Maori. When a Maori leader named Te Kooti was coming to visit Gisborne, Desmond advocated on his behalf and defended him. This resulted in him being thrown out of a meeting discussing his visit and almost being killed by the Europeans the second time, when he let slip that he had been in contact with the Maori leaders for some time. Desmond wrote a poem dedicated to him called "The Song of Te Kooti." He tried twice to run for Parliament, in 1884 and 1887, losing twice.
On October 10th 1892, after his political blunders in New Zealand, he moved to Sydney, New South Wales Australia. There he worked on a journal titled The New Order, and promoted an Active Service Brigade, with the aim of disrupting the rallies of his political opponents. He spearheaded a revolutionary effort and helped guide the actions of of the Australian working class against the authorities with his journal Hard Cash, as well as his other works. Desmond's writings infuriated the Australian police, costing their government over £3,000,000 in damage. Despite their best efforts, the police failed to capture him during his stay in Australia. They did however target his associates, capturing the newsagents who helped publish his journals and putting them in prison. Soon Desmond consulted with his friend John Arthur Andrews and laid out his plans to start an armed rebellion, an insurrection with the aim of overthrowing the Australian government, aiming to use his money for the "sinews of war." However, when his friend advised him against it, he took it to heart and, a few months later, disappointed, having used up most of his money on his uprising plan, and two years after he arrived in Australia, left in the summer of 1894. However, he did not leave before greatly insulting Justice Minister Thomas Slattery and leaving him fuming in his last journal, after the Australian Labor Party tried to offer Desmond a seat in their government.
Arthur Desmond's journals were filled with his righteous fury. He raged against the banks and cursed the Jews who ran them, his articles often populated by antisemitic remarks.
It is said that if you knew Desmond in person, you either admired him as a living Caesar or hated him as a man with "delusions of grandeur", as remarked by one Chicagoan named Ralph Chaplin in Wobbly: The Rough and Tumble Story of an American Radical published in 1948 on page 316.
-Military Career(?)
There is at least one report claiming that, after leaving Australia, he went to South Africa to serve under Cecil Rhodes. What follows are Desmond's claims of his military experience. After promoting his book Might is Right in 1898, he claims to have taken time off to fight in the Second Boer War. That he was "a member of General Bob's light horse at Cape Town and Pretoria." He declared that he had fought in the Battle of Paardeberg in 1900, the biggest and bloodiest battle of the Boer War. While he was living in Chicago in 1904, he operated an ice cream company, of which he used the office to base his Thurland & Thurland and Desmond Commericial Advertising Bureau companies, using his company office for an advertising sideline. One day a phone inspector wanted to enter the factory to perform maintenance and when Desmond refused to let him in, he came back with police. Desmond responded by fighting off the police with a rifle he claims to have obtained from the Battle of Paardeberg. Though Desmond was defeated, thrown in jail, and put on trial, his natural charm and silver tongue managed to convince the judge and jury that he was the victim, and he was released with all charges dropped.
Desmond's claims of military adventures in South Africa are, unfortunately, unsubstantiated. There have been no records found proving that he fought for Cecil Rhodes in the Boer War. As such his claims are up in the air. It is clear however, that sometime after he left Australia, he moved to the US city of Chicago and made it his new home. Every now and then he would travel to England and back, publishing new writings, and in 1903 published Rival Caesars.
-What is Rival Caesars?
Published sometime in 1903, Rival Caesars, full title Rival Caesars: A Romance of Ambition, Love, and War. Being the Tale of a Vice President, a Major General, and Three Brilliant and Beautiful Women, is a historical fantasy novel that Desmond published and released exclusively through his own Thurland & Thurland Publishers bookstore. Desmond published the book under the pseudonym Desmond Dilg. This is because he wrote it together with author Will H. Dilg as the co-writer. The premise of the book is that the American Revolution was the result of a carefully calculated plot by a secret society known as the Iron Cross. An interesting thing about Rival Caesars is Desmond's claim that the story was written based on authentic historical documents found by an American scout in a monastery on the island of Cuba. However, since these alleged documents have never come to light, I have no choice but to treat this as a work of historical fiction. The main character and de facto "Hero" of Rival Caesars is non other than Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson's Vice President during his first term, and a colonel who fought in the Revolutionary War. The story follows Burr from his time fighting in the Revolution, all up to his duel with Alexander Hamilton. A bit of background on Burr:
Those of you familiar with Burr know of the Burr Conspiracy: a plot by Aaron with the British government and his allies in the American army, even Andrew Jackson, to invade and conquer Texas, followed by Mexico, and in so doing establish his own country which would allow him to build a powerful Navy to dominate the Gulf and the Caribbean. Combined with all the gold and natural resources in South America, this would give him enough power to challenge the US Government, and perhaps in so doing, establish himself as the emperor of the Americas, reigning supreme over the northern and southern continents. Letters from Alexander Hamilton and the British Ambassador both show us that in the historical record, Aaron Burr was an amoral, ruthless man, of limitless ambition. As such, this makes him the perfect role model for a man like Ragnar Redbeard.
Although Aaron Burr's ambitions were dashed by the treachery of his "friend", the Brigadier General James Wilkinson, and his work was for naught, he remains a role model for Arthur Desmond, something that is made clear in the text.
-Is Rival Caesars really the sequel to Might is Right?
Yes, absolutely! When I first started reading this book, I did so with an open mind, but skeptical. I figured a bona-fide sequel to Might is Right would've been more well known, I had to dig around the internet to find it after all. However, as I continued reading the pages, I became more and more convinced of this novel's authenticity, of the claims that it was a sequel to MiR. I made sure to read through all of MiR before starting Rival Caesars. Having finished reading the book about two or three weeks ago, I can say this with certainty: This is Book II!!! It has just about everything that you would expect of a novel written by Ragnar Redbeard:
-Advocating for an amoral lifestyle? Check.
-Criticism of Judaism, Christianity, and moral principles? Check.
-A belief in Darwinism and the use of war as a form of eugenics? Check.
-A rather..... politically incorrect description, discussion, and portrayal of women (the kind that would have feminists tearing their hair out and screaming their heads off)? Check.
-Declaring that the family is the property of the man? Check.
-Advocating for an eye for an eye? To hate your enemies? To do unto others as they do unto you? Check.
-There seems to be something of an anti-civilization sentiment in a couple of chapters.
-The book also provides a short criticism of the Myth of Progress.
-Conquerors such as Oliver Cromwell, Napoleon, and Julius Caesar are all given praise, similar to MiR.
-In one page of the book, there is a line straight from Might is Right. Something I find to be an unlikely coincidence, given that this book was released in 1903.
-And, let us not forget, the all too familiar assertion that might is right? The argument that morals and principles are meaningless, and that the only thing that matters is whether one has the Power to make Right? Check!
-Why did Arthur Desmond write Rival Caesars?
It is believed that when Desmond wrote Rival Caesars he did so with a scheme in mind. It's worth pointing out that his associates had previously written novels as a way of generating support for their causes. Something that proved successful for them. For example, his friend William Lane had used this tactic to drum up support for a new colony. Publishing a novel called The Working Man's Paradise, he obtained the necessary wealth and earned the commitment of five hundred "colonists" for his "New Australia" colony. Likewise, another friend of Desmond, Samuel A. Rosa, published a book about open revolution named The Coming Terror for a similar purpose.
With all of this in mind, I must also consider the contents of the book itself. The author commands the reader in the introduction to "think between the lines," several times the novel brings up Aaron Burr's goal of conquering Mexico later on, the final chapter of the book itself is an 1806 song called The Plains of Mexico, and the political situation of Mexico itself at the time it was written should be considered as well. It is theorized that Arthur Desmond's goal was a revival of Aaron Burr's plan. Desmond's plan appeared to be to use Rival Caesars as a recruitment tool to garner support, using American history to appeal to readers. Then once he had acquired a sufficient power base, launch an invasion into Mexico and topple it's government, establishing his own empire in the process. Much like how his idol Cecil Rhodes had conquered South Africa, another historical conqueror Ragnar Redbeard gave plenty of praise to in Might is Right. His own friend, former Prime Minister of Australia William "Billy" Hughes slyly insinuated that Mexican President General Victoriano Huerta may have been Desmond, noting how similar they look. This showed that those who knew Desmond were at least aware of his ambitions regarding Mexico.
Alas, Desmond's dreams of an empire were for naught. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 concluded with Francisco Madero taking over, followed by General Huerta, in a chain of uprisings that continued for some time. After 1911, Desmond dissolved the Thurland and Thurland company and his bookstore in Evanston. He never worked with Will H. Dilg again. He opened a used bookstore named House O' Gowrie running it by himself under the pseudonym Richard Thurland, and ran it for the rest of his days.
On the morning of January 23, 1929 Arthur Desmond died of a stroke. Given that his date of birth was not entirely known (only his birth year: 1859), he was 69-70 years old when he passed. He was survived by his only son, a man named Arthur Konar Walther Desmond. It's unknown what became of him afterwards.
-Should you read Rival Caesars?
Yes. The book is worth at least one read through. The book showcases the views Redbeard wrote in MiR in action, depicting the world as Desmond thought it ought to be. Desmond's writing and prose kept me reading the book and progressing through it. When there's action going on, Desmond doesn't hesitate to describe armed combat in all it's bloody, graphic glory, and the novel has it's fair share of poetry. Since Rival Caesars was released in 1903, it's long since entered the public domain. Because of this, and the story behind the book, I plan to give it a spot in the Grand Library in the future. In the meantime you can find the PDF file for Rival Caesars at the bottom of this OP.
If you stuck with me and read everything I've posted, then I'd like to say thanks. The reason I made this OP as long as it was is because very little information on Ragnar Redbeard appeared to be known to the public, as well as the folks on here, and given how notorious the author was, how I had enjoyed reading his books, and the kind of life he lived, I wanted to make his story more well known. As such, I took the chance to speak to the people of the farms of his identity and of his last novel. Arthur Desmond was a remarkable man, who lived a life of adventure, daring, and political intrigue. Throughout the course of his life, he made many enemies, and even though -like Aaron Burr- his dreams and ambitions were not meant to be, he continued pushing forward all the same. Persevering until his final day. He was a great poet and an excellent writer, and I'm glad to give the farms a place to learn more about him. Thanks for letting me spergout and tell the story of Ragnar Redbeard. To close off this OP, I'd like to end it with a poem Desmond wrote in England under the pseudonym Catiline. I hope it resonates with those you struggling through this rotten age we all live in.
The Flames of Freedom
In every age and cause and clime,
The mightiest weapon of war and time,
For battling down the lords of crime,
Is fire,
Fire,
Victorious fire.
It shatters armies
With its flashes,
Whelming empires
In thunder crashes.
By fire perished Babylon,
Nineveh, Thebes, and Rome,
Fire burnt down Jerusalem
And flamed Diana’s dome.
The glow of blazing Carthage
Lit up the Punic foam,
And fire swept Troy and Sodom
To their everlasting home.
Manifest destiny!
Must is must—
Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust.
Trembling, flickering, leaping higher,
Blood and iron, days of ire,
Wrathful, vengeful, higher, higher,
Beauteous, sun-born, cleansing fire.
Belshazzar’s hall it made his tomb,
It flung Napoleon to his doom.
Verily, verily, verily!
The days of the Judgement is nigh—
O! Goddess of Liberty hearken!
You are holding your torch too high!
Lower it,
Lower it,
Lower it,
Lower it before I die.
Temples to ashes,
Debt to dust,
Fire consumeth
Things accursed.
CATILINE
London, 1899
You are requested to make at least five legible copies of this and pass them to good men in different places. Be sure and put upon each one of them this request, and sign no name whatever*
In every age and cause and clime,
The mightiest weapon of war and time,
For battling down the lords of crime,
Is fire,
Fire,
Victorious fire.
It shatters armies
With its flashes,
Whelming empires
In thunder crashes.
By fire perished Babylon,
Nineveh, Thebes, and Rome,
Fire burnt down Jerusalem
And flamed Diana’s dome.
The glow of blazing Carthage
Lit up the Punic foam,
And fire swept Troy and Sodom
To their everlasting home.
Manifest destiny!
Must is must—
Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust.
Trembling, flickering, leaping higher,
Blood and iron, days of ire,
Wrathful, vengeful, higher, higher,
Beauteous, sun-born, cleansing fire.
Belshazzar’s hall it made his tomb,
It flung Napoleon to his doom.
Verily, verily, verily!
The days of the Judgement is nigh—
O! Goddess of Liberty hearken!
You are holding your torch too high!
Lower it,
Lower it,
Lower it,
Lower it before I die.
Temples to ashes,
Debt to dust,
Fire consumeth
Things accursed.
CATILINE
London, 1899
You are requested to make at least five legible copies of this and pass them to good men in different places. Be sure and put upon each one of them this request, and sign no name whatever*
*Author's words, not mine. Desmond often tried to get his readers to spread his works and correspond with him in his published writings.
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