The Unwilling Vestal: A Tale of Rome Under the Caesars, and Lukundoo

Edward Lucas White (1866-1934) was an American author and poet. He wrote a number of historical novels, including: The Unwilling Vestal: A Tale of Rome Under the Caesars (1918), Andivius Hedulio: Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire (1921) and Helen (1926); but he is best remembered as a fantasist, for stories such as The House of Nightmare and Lukundoo. These short horror stories were based on his own nightmares. Two collections of his short fiction were published in his lifetime, The Song of the Sirens (1919) and Lukundoo and Other Stories (1927). A much-revised utopian science fiction novel, Plus Ultra, was begun in 1885; White destroyed this draft, but began a rewrite in 1901. In 1918-19 he produced a novella, From Behind the Stars, which he later incorporated into the massive completed version of Plus Ultra, which remains unpublished.