They Don't Teach Us About Oswald Mosley in U.S. Schools

From a tweet the other day by Eddi Reader, whom I gather is a well-known (though not to me) Scottish singer. She wrote:

Bertrand Russell to Oswald Mosley in 1962. This is how to tell a fascist you won't debate with them.

 And then she linked to this:


(The letter image was posted by author and historian Guy Walters.)

Which caused me to look up Oswald Mosley, 1896-1980, since I've never heard of him. After reading through enough British titleage to feel like it was a script from Downton Abbey, I came across this gem:

During this marriage he had an extended affair with his wife's younger sister Lady Alexandra Metcalfe, and with their stepmother, Grace Curzon, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston, the U.S.-born second wife and widow of Lord Curzon of Kedleston.

If he wasn't also a fascist, that would be plenty of reason to dislike him.

But then there was this:

[His wife] died of peritonitis in 1933, after which Mosley married his mistress Diana Guinness, née Mitford (1910–2003). They married in secret in Germany on 6 October 1936 in the Berlin home of Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. Adolf Hitler was one of the guests.

 Charming.