by Herbert Vivian
Herbert Vivian was very much of an obnoxious opportunist, and later became a fascist. Born in 1865 in England, he enjoyed a life of privilege and elevated social circles. He was once friends with Oscar Wilde, but after Vivian published “The Reminiscences of a Short Life” Wilde forbid Vivian from coming near. The work caused fallout among Wilde and some of his friends. He was very involved in the Neo-Jacobite Revival, a UK political movement around the 1900s, which looked to replace British parliamentary democracy with a return to monarchy. In 1891, Vivian unsuccessfully ran for office. He still tried to remain in the political sphere, and started a few Jacobite leagues, like the Legitimist Jacobite League of Great Britain and Ireland, since he kept fighting with founding organization partners. Because his reputation in the UK was not good, he ended up becoming a travel writer to earn money and maintain some semblance of his reputation. He published a variety of books and articles on a variety of subjects, from fiction to a faulty gambling system, to mixed reviews. Sometimes he published under a pseudonym, but not to better results. In the 1930s he became a fan of fascist Italy and wrote its praises. By this time, even his attempts at non-fiction writing were advised to be considered mostly fiction. He died in 1940 to little fanfare and many sighs of relief.
Westphalia Press 