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. For the initiated "a recruiting tool for revolutionary dreams." By Desmond Dilg The author says in an introductory note; "From original documents preserved from utter destruction in a very remarkable manner this book has been written. The discovery of these documents (withered and tattered and mouldy with age and damp) is in itself a strange and tragic story. Someday it shall be related." This mysterious document, it is elsewhere stated, makes the revelation that Theodosia Alston, Aaron Burr's daughter, did not perish by shipwreck, as is generally supposed, but lived many years afterwards in Cuba. There has of recent years been new documentary evidence brought to light from Spanish sources touching on the alleged conspiracy for which Burr was tried at Richmond, but the ancient papers which this Chicago romanticist mentions are, of course, imaginary. With their aid, however, he has managed to weave an interesting, though necessarily fanciful, story, in which Burr and Hamilton are the principal characters, the latter showing to the best advantage. The story begins in the colonial days, when Burr and Hamilton were both young men in New York and continue until after the fatal duel. It is supposed that both the "Rival Caesars" were members of a secret organization known as "The Iron Cross," and in this way, as well as in some other respects, the story is given suggestion of the weird and occult.

Is it possible that the famous duel between Hamilton and Burr was part of a judgment against the two by a secret society they formed decades prior to create an American shadow government? This story, telling of the lives of two great rivals, lies somewhere between a Robert E. Howard pastiche and a Yankee version of Thomas Dixon Jr. Rival Caesars is a fantasy Revolutionary War tale by the man who penned the infamous philippic titled Might is Right. Arthur Desmond, who wrote as Ragnar Redbeard, here uses the nom de guerre Desmond Dilg. Might is Right ends thus: "P.S. Book II will be issued when circumstances demand it." The 1903 novel Rival Caesars is that book. Preceding his time as one of the earliest proponents of an American Nietzscheanism, Desmond was an Antipodean radical, fighting in the streets alongside anarcho-communists and trade unionists. He stood for election as a labor candidate and promoted Georgism to both Māori and Europeans in New Zealand and Australia. Fleeing the law, he settled in America among the Chicago bohemian scene, and his radicalism turned from collective rights to individualist might. While Might is Right was intended as an awakening call for "mighty men of valor," Rival Caesars is the plan of action, plotted out under the guise of a historical romance. This novel is nothing short of a rallying cry to an American Caesar to claim their share of pelf, prominence, and prestige in the vein of Napoleon or Cecil Rhodes. Incredibly rare for nearly a century, here, finally, is an accessible and beautifully designed paperback edition, with an authoritative introductory essay by Darrell W. Conder. While it will never be as infamous as its predecessor, Rival Caesars is the ultimate book by the man known as Ragnar Redbeard.

Rival Caesars is the little known second book by Arthur Desmond (writing under the pseudonym Desmond Dilg), aka Ragnar Redbeard, author of one of the most infamous and controversial books of all time, "Might is Right: The Survival of the Fittest." Peppered with Desmond's fascinating, unique, and thought-provoking philosophy, Rival Caesars is a wildly entertaining "alternative history" account of the famed rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr that ended in the bloody, fatal duel. Out-of-print for over a century, editor Benjamin Garland has rescued this politically incorrect book from obscurity. Sure to be appreciated by fans of "Might is Right" and casual fiction readers alike, "Rival Caesars" is a piece of history now readily available to all.

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. For the initiated "a recruiting tool for revolutionary dreams." By Desmond Dilg The author says in an introductory note; "From original documents preserved from utter destruction in a very remarkable manner this book has been written. The discovery of these documents (withered and tattered and mouldy with age and damp) is in itself a strange and tragic story. Someday it shall be related." This mysterious document, it is elsewhere stated, makes the revelation that Theodosia Alston, Aaron Burr's daughter, did not perish by shipwreck, as is generally supposed, but lived many years afterwards in Cuba. There has of recent years been new documentary evidence brought to light from Spanish sources touching on the alleged conspiracy for which Burr was tried at Richmond, but the ancient papers which this Chicago romanticist mentions are, of course, imaginary. With their aid, however, he has managed to weave an interesting, though necessarily fanciful, story, in which Burr and Hamilton are the principal characters, the latter showing to the best advantage. The story begins in the colonial days, when Burr and Hamilton were both young men in New York and continue until after the fatal duel. It is supposed that both the "Rival Caesars" were members of a secret organization known as "The Iron Cross," and in this way, as well as in some other respects, the story is given suggestion of the weird and occult. The author (the Chicago romanticist) Desmond Dilg, is in fact a pseudonym for Arthur Desmond (1859-1929) and Will H. Dilg (1867-1927) who collaborated in writing Rival Caesars. Arthur Desmond most famous for being the author of Might is Right, (1896) which he wrote under his nom de guerre Ragnar Redbeard. Will H. Dilg (1867-1927) was one of the 54 founders of the Izaak Walton League and served as the organization's first national president. Dilg wrote articles for "Outdoor America. Defenders of the Woods, Waters and Wild Life, " and the book "Tragic Fishing Moments."