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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 167 of 714.

Cover of The Fair Maid of Perth

The Fair Maid of Perth

Walter Scott

In fourteen-century Scotland, a peaceful maiden and an fiery armorer navigate a treacherous web of royal corruption, feud, and bloody urban warfare.

British Literature12 min read
Cover of The Queen of the Air: Being a Study of the Greek Myths of Cloud and Storm

The Queen of the Air: Being a Study of the Greek Myths of Cloud and Storm

John Ruskin

The vital powers of nature find their highest expression in the quiet order of human virtue, the truth of noble art, and the life-sustaining clarity of the air.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore7 min read
Cover of The Threshold Covenant

The Threshold Covenant

H. Clay (Henry Clay) Trumbull

Sacred blood spilled at the doorway forms humanity’s oldest altar, binding humans to each other and to the divine across history.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of The World's Greatest Books

The World's Greatest Books

Unknown

A vast array of thinkers across centuries attempts to decode the fundamental mechanics of the natural world, moving from the movement of blood and planets to the inner workings of cells and chemical bonds.

Psychiatry/Psychology9 min read
Cover of Troy and Its Remains: A Narrative of Researches and Discoveries Made on the Site of Ilium and in the Trojan Plain

Troy and Its Remains: A Narrative of Researches and Discoveries Made on the Site of Ilium and in the Trojan Plain

Heinrich Schliemann

A hammer and pickaxe cut through fifty feet of debris to force Homer’s epic back into the realm of concrete human history.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of While the Billy Boils

While the Billy Boils

Henry Lawson

A wandering swagman carries his world on his back, finding humor, quiet grief, and unspoken brotherhood across a unforgiving sunbaked landscape.

Short Stories5 min read
Cover of Christian Schools and Scholars

Christian Schools and Scholars

Augusta Theodosia Drane

Through the darkest centuries of Europe, holy men and women preserved the torch of intellectual life, building schools from lonely monastic cells to sprawling medieval universities.

History - Religious10 min read
Cover of Color Key to North American Birds: with bibliographical appendix

Color Key to North American Birds: with bibliographical appendix

Frank M. (Frank Michler) Chapman

A practical field handbook designed to solve bird identification through concise physical descriptions, vocalization notes, geographic ranges, and regional bibliographies.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of Joe Miller's Jests, with Copious Additions

Joe Miller's Jests, with Copious Additions

Unknown

A sharp tongue and a swift turn of phrase can settle accounts faster than a court of law. This classic anthology captures the razor-sharp wit, streetwise retorts, and irreverent humor of eighteenth-century English society.

Humour5 min read
Cover of On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures

On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures

Charles Babbage

A rare window into the birth of industrial computing, this foundational work reveals how mechanical ingenuity transformed the nature of human labor and economic organization.

Business/Management6 min read
Cover of Philosophical Letters

Philosophical Letters

Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of

A bold seventeenth-century natural philosopher dismantles the mechanicist views of her famous male contemporaries to defend a radical vision of a living, thinking universe where matter moves and senses itself.

Essays, Letters & Speeches10 min read
Cover of Popular Adventure Tales

Popular Adventure Tales

Mayne Reid

A young traveler does not need a map so much as a curious mind, an eye for track and wing, and the quiet steady courage that turns every wild corner into a place to stand.

Adventure12 min read
Cover of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume IV, Georgia Narratives, Part 4

Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume IV, Georgia Narratives, Part 4

United States. Work Projects Administration

Bound to a life of bondage, ordinary men and women endure the unimaginable while preserving their dignity, humor, and faith across generations.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism

The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism

Upton Sinclair

An uncompromising assault on the American press exposes how commercial interests, corporate advertisers, and wealthy elites systematically bribe, suppress, and manufacture news to serve property over humanity.

American Literature9 min read
Cover of The Goddess of Atvatabar: Being the history of the discovery of the interior world and conquest of Atvatabar

The Goddess of Atvatabar: Being the history of the discovery of the interior world and conquest of Atvatabar

William Richard Bradshaw

Through a polar chasm at the edge of the world lies a hollow interior planet of eternal daylight, where gravity is light, art and invention are worshipped, and a tragic goddess awaits a conqueror.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Love Affairs of Lord Byron

The Love Affairs of Lord Byron

Francis Henry Gribble

Driven by overwhelming passions and constant theatricality, a legendary Romantic poet turns his chaotic intimate life into the central drama of his existence.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Masters and Their Music: A series of illustrative programs with biographical

The Masters and Their Music: A series of illustrative programs with biographical

W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock) Mathews

Mastering classic instrumental repertoire requires directly engaging with its foundational creators through structured, active listening and hands-on performance.

Music6 min read
Cover of The Salem Witchcraft, the Planchette Mystery, and Modern Spiritualism: With Dr. Doddridge's Dream

The Salem Witchcraft, the Planchette Mystery, and Modern Spiritualism: With Dr. Doddridge's Dream

Harriet Beecher Stowe

When human minds encounter the unexplained, fear and fascination struggle for mastery. This volume traces how society moves from burning supposed witches in horror to seeking comfort in unseen spiritual forces.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 4 of 4: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy

The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 4 of 4: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy

H. P. (Helena Petrovna) Blavatsky

A synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy, exploring the esoteric teachings of the ancient world.

Philosophy & Ethics11 min read
Cover of The Strength of the Strong

The Strength of the Strong

Jack London

A bone-sewing caveman recounts the fall of his tribe while a million-dollar strikes turn San Francisco into a battlefield—seven tales of human ambition, isolation, and collapse.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories

The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories

Lord Dunsany

A realm of ornate bronze cities, haunted wastes, and ancient magic comes alive through sweeping tales of heroic sacrifice, tragic pride, and forgotten gods.

Science-Fiction & Fantasy6 min read
Cover of Across Asia on a bicycle

Across Asia on a bicycle

Thomas Gaskell Allen

Two young American graduates set out on pneumatic bicycles to circle the globe, relying entirely on their own wits, cameras, and physical endurance as they forge a path across nineteenth-century Asia.

Travel Writing5 min read
Cover of Beatrice Boville and Other Stories

Beatrice Boville and Other Stories

Ouida

These mid-Victorian tales of fashionable military men and the women who cross their paths play out in glittering drawing rooms and far-flung outposts, where vanity and affection collide.

Romance5 min read
Cover of Elements of metaphysics

Elements of metaphysics

A. E. (Alfred Edward) Taylor

When standard categories break down under reflection, only a disciplined inquiry into the ultimate nature of experience can distinguish mere appearance from absolute reality.

Philosophy & Ethics8 min read
Cover of In Barbary

In Barbary

E. Alexander (Edward Alexander) Powell

A journey across North Africa reveals a land where ancient Roman ruins, French colonial ambition, and timeless Islamic cultures meet at the edge of the desert.

Archaeology & Anthropology7 min read
Cover of Letters to an Unknown

Letters to an Unknown

Prosper Mérimée

A private, decades-long paper trail captures the guarded soul of a French man of letters as he drops his emotional armor for a mysterious woman.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Lords of the Housetops: Thirteen Cat Tales

Lords of the Housetops: Thirteen Cat Tales

Unknown

A mysterious feline prowls between shadow and light, commanding households and bending the human heart to its inscrutable, independent will.

Short Stories7 min read
Cover of Montezuma's Daughter

Montezuma's Daughter

H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

Driven across the ocean to avenge a family tragedy, an Elizabethan Englishman is drawn into the fall of the Aztec Empire, torn between a native princess and his distant homeland.

Adventure8 min read
Cover of Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin: Comprising the Celebrated Political and Satirical Poems, of the Rt. Hons. G. Canning, John Hookham Frere, W. Pitt, the Marquis Wellesley, G. Ellis, W. Gifford, the Earl of Carlisle, and Others

Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin: Comprising the Celebrated Political and Satirical Poems, of the Rt. Hons. G. Canning, John Hookham Frere, W. Pitt, the Marquis Wellesley, G. Ellis, W. Gifford, the Earl of Carlisle, and Others

Unknown

High-spirits and sharp-edged wit fuel this classic collection of British political satires, written to combat revolutionary radicalism through the power of ridicule.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The changing world, and lectures to theosophical students.: Fifteen lectures delivered in London during May, June, and July, 1909

The changing world, and lectures to theosophical students.: Fifteen lectures delivered in London during May, June, and July, 1909

Annie Besant

As human society reaches a breaking point in its institutions and social orders, an old age quietly closes so a spiritually evolved new world can take its place.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell

The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell

James Russell Lowell

A quiet New England voice ranges from gentle, introspective lyrics to sharp political satire, tracing a nation's soul through war, grief, and change.

American Literature10 min read
Cover of The Damnation of Theron Ware

The Damnation of Theron Ware

Harold Frederic

A promising young Methodist minister in upstate New York suffers a total collapse of his faith and morals after encountering sophisticated local intellectuals who expose his utter shallowness.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, Vol. VI (of VI), "Spanish Passions": The First Complete and Unabridged English Translation, Illustrated with Old Engravings

The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, Vol. VI (of VI), "Spanish Passions": The First Complete and Unabridged English Translation, Illustrated with Old Engravings

Giacomo Casanova

An aging adventurer wanders through a fading eighteenth-century Europe, where his once-irresistible charm yields to prison bars, violent ambushes, card-table swindles, and the quiet, melancholic ache of growing old.

Adventure9 min read
Cover of The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Estremoz to Felspar: Volume 4, Part 3

The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Estremoz to Felspar: Volume 4, Part 3

Various

A vast inventory of global knowledge captures human civilization at a moment of profound transformation.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference5 min read
Cover of The outlaw of Torn

The outlaw of Torn

Edgar Rice Burroughs

A kidnapped prince, raised by a vengeful swordmaster to hate his own bloodline, becomes medieval England's most feared outlaw before discovering his true birthright.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens

The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

A varied collection of verses reveals a famous novelist experimenting with theatrical songs, biting political satires, and solemn dramatic prologues.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Story of the Philippines: Natural Riches, Industrial Resources, Statistics of Productions, Commerce and Population

The Story of the Philippines: Natural Riches, Industrial Resources, Statistics of Productions, Commerce and Population

Murat Halstead

A journalist travels across oceans to capture the immediate, turbulent birth of American empire at the end of the nineteenth century.

History - American8 min read
Cover of Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829.: with remarks on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and anecdotes of distiguished public characters. In a series of letters by a German Prince

Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829.: with remarks on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and anecdotes of distiguished public characters. In a series of letters by a German Prince

Pückler-Muskau, Hermann, Fürst von

A high-born aristocrat crisscrosses Western Europe on a grand journey of self-discovery, casting a remarkably candid, witty, and razor-sharp gaze upon the glittering salons, miserable backstreets, and wild landscapes of a changing nineteenth-century world.

Essays, Letters & Speeches10 min read
Cover of A Primary Reader: Old-time Stories, Fairy Tales and Myths Retold by Children

A Primary Reader: Old-time Stories, Fairy Tales and Myths Retold by Children

E. Louise (Emma Louise) Smythe

Children rewrite classic lore into brief, plain-spoken episodes designed to build early reading fluency through familiar tales.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method Into Moral Subjects

A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method Into Moral Subjects

David Hume

This philosophy explores human thought by examining how impressions become ideas, how habit constructs our sense of reality, and how passion shapes our choices.

Philosophy & Ethics8 min read
Cover of A Wodehouse Miscellany: Articles & Stories

A Wodehouse Miscellany: Articles & Stories

P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

High society, domestic dilemmas, and absurdity meet in early comic sketches and stories filled with foolish bachelors, imperious women, and sharp-witted servants.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of An explanation of the Baltimore catechism of Christian doctrine

An explanation of the Baltimore catechism of Christian doctrine

J. (Januarius) De Concilio

Designed as a reference for teachers and advanced students, this expansive exposition unpacks foundational Christian tenets, moral duties, and sacramental practices through clear definitions and everyday analogies.

Religion/Spirituality8 min read
Cover of Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of Home

Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of Home

Bayard Taylor

A society reveals its true heart when its accepted rules are pushed to their logical, absurd, or heartbreaking limits.

Novels7 min read
Cover of Every Man out of His Humour

Every Man out of His Humour

Ben Jonson

A biting Elizabethan satire exposes human absurdity through characters consumed by bizarre, self-indulgent obsessions they mistake for refined personality traits.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Geronimo's Story of His Life

Geronimo's Story of His Life

Geronimo

An old warrior's voice carries across decades of exile, offering a raw, unvarnished account of survival, sacred traditions, and a desperate fight for his homeland.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Giants' bread

Giants' bread

Agatha Christie

A young composer's rise and fall, a family's unraveling, and the enduring power of music.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Hero Tales from American History

Hero Tales from American History

Henry Cabot Lodge

Daring action and unyielding devotion define the men who shaped the American republic across its most perilous hours. Through vivid historical vignettes, this volume celebrates the rugged character, military genius, and moral force that forged a nation.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of History of Brighthelmston

History of Brighthelmston

John Ackerson Erredge

Encroaching waves, French raids, and aristocratic whims shape the transformation of a vulnerable Sussex fishing village into Britain's most celebrated, eccentric seaside resort.

Archaeology & Anthropology8 min read
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