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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 241 of 714.

Cover of The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume II (of 2)

The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume II (of 2)

Charles Darwin

A deep, meticulous exploration of how living traits pass down through generations, mutate under human hands, and reveal the hidden mechanisms of biological inheritance.

Science - Biology10 min read
Cover of A History of Pendennis, Volume 1: His fortunes and misfortunes, his friends and his greatest enemy

A History of Pendennis, Volume 1: His fortunes and misfortunes, his friends and his greatest enemy

William Makepeace Thackeray

A young man's vanity is his own greatest enemy as he navigates the temptations of nineteenth-century England.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of A Literary and Historical Atlas of Asia

A Literary and Historical Atlas of Asia

J. G. (John George) Bartholomew

A sweeping cartographic survey bridges ancient imperial footprints and modern colonial borders across the vast Asiatic continent.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference5 min read
Cover of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 11

A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 11

Unknown

A wide-ranging collection of early seventeenth-century plays captures the humor, sharp-tongued wit, and theatrical flair of Jacobean London.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery)

An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery)

Honoré de Balzac

A fearless young royalist aristocrat and her devoted bailiff clash with Napoleon's imperial police in a high-stakes struggle of political conspiracy, framed kidnapping, and sacrificial devotion.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of Books and their makers during the Middle Ages

Books and their makers during the Middle Ages

George Haven Putnam

The hand-copied manuscript and the printed page shaped the preserve of human thought across thirteen centuries of European history.

History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)8 min read
Cover of Changing China

Changing China

William Gascoyne-Cecil

An ancient civilization stands at a treacherous crossroad, caught between traditional philosophy and the rushing tide of Western technology. If it adopts raw industrial materialism without an ethical anchor, the resulting clash of global ambitions could plunge the world into unspeakable conflict.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Character and Opinion in the United States: With Reminiscences of William James and Josiah Royce and Academic Life in America

Character and Opinion in the United States: With Reminiscences of William James and Josiah Royce and Academic Life in America

George Santayana

An outsider’s affectionate yet unsparing gaze uncovers the hidden tensions animating the young, restless soul of early twentieth-century America.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Comrades: A Story of Social Adventure in California

Comrades: A Story of Social Adventure in California

Dixon, Thomas, Jr.

A wealthy young idealist surrenders his fortune to establish an egalitarian utopia on an isolated California island, only to discover how quickly absolute communal power turns to tyranny.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Crime: Its Cause and Treatment

Crime: Its Cause and Treatment

Clarence Darrow

Human behavior, like every physical phenomenon in the universe, is governed by absolute laws of cause and effect, making moral blame a cruel illusion.

Law & Criminology7 min read
Cover of Earth's Holocaust (From "Mosses from an Old Manse")

Earth's Holocaust (From "Mosses from an Old Manse")

Nathaniel Hawthorne

A visionary bonfire on a vast Western prairie promises to rid humanity of all its accumulated rubbish, but burning history, law, and art cannot cleanse the source of human flaw.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Essays on Political Economy

Essays on Political Economy

Frédéric Bastiat

True wealth consists in the abundance of real goods and services, while state intervention often produces subtle, unseen harms that far outweigh its visible benefits.

Economics6 min read
Cover of Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chapters I to XIV

Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chapters I to XIV

Alexander Maclaren

A quiet, luminous exploration of John's Gospel, showing how an ancient sacred text speaks directly to the permanent longings, struggles, and quiet questions of the human heart.

Religion/Spirituality10 min read
Cover of Good Cheer Stories Every Child Should Know

Good Cheer Stories Every Child Should Know

Unknown

Lacking fancy fixings, a humble family shares what they have and finds warmth in unexpected company.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Goody Two-Shoes: A Facsimile Reproduction of the Edition of 1766

Goody Two-Shoes: A Facsimile Reproduction of the Edition of 1766

Anonymous

Left destitute by a grasping landlord, a orphaned farmgirl relies on cheerfulness and a box of wooden alphabet blocks to make her way in eighteenth-century rural England. She turns literacy into a community mission, overcoming accusations of witchcraft to earn a fortune and secure her place in society.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History

Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History

Unknown

Individual greatness rarely springs from isolated genius; it is forged through relentless devotion, sudden revolutions, and the quiet persistence that reshapes human society.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of How They Succeeded: Life Stories of Successful Men Told by Themselves

How They Succeeded: Life Stories of Successful Men Told by Themselves

Orison Swett Marden

A collection of firsthand interviews reveals how late-nineteenth-century icons converted sheer persistence, strict self-discipline, and focused mental effort into extraordinary American fortunes and careers.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of How to conquer stupidity

How to conquer stupidity

Leo Markun

To act foolishly is a universal human trait, yet we routinely mistake unexamined habits, emotional impulses, and superficial credentials for fixed intelligence. Overcoming our daily lapses requires treating clear thinking not as an innate gift, but as a deliberate discipline.

General6 min read
Cover of Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo

Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo

William Le Queux

A handsome young Englishman finds himself accused of a crime he did not commit after a shadowy figure is shot just as she is about to reveal the secret behind his father’s tragic death.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of Magic: A Fantastic Comedy

Magic: A Fantastic Comedy

G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

In an aristocratic English drawing room, a cynical stage magician performs a genuinely miraculous act, shattering the fragile, narrow worldviews of the skeptics and dreamers gathered around him.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Mildred at Roselands: A Sequel to Mildred Keith

Mildred at Roselands: A Sequel to Mildred Keith

Martha Finley

When an invalid young woman travels south to recover her health, she finds herself navigating the social hazards of a wealthy plantation, where quiet moral choices shape every family dynamic.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Motherhood and the Relationships of the Sexes

Motherhood and the Relationships of the Sexes

C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine) Hartley

Safeguarding the next generation requires honoring the physical realities of reproduction and placing the responsibilities of motherhood at the very center of human society.

Gender & Sexuality Studies5 min read
Cover of My Book of Indoor Games

My Book of Indoor Games

Clarence Squareman

A turn-of-the-century gathering comes alive as simple household items and lively group dynamics turn any ordinary parlor or classroom into an arena of shared play.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of My Brother, Theodore Roosevelt

My Brother, Theodore Roosevelt

Corinne Roosevelt Robinson

An intimate sisterly window onto the life of Theodore Roosevelt, this memoir traces a fragile, nature-obsessed boy as he grows into a formidable leader through sheer grit and deep familial love.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Nuggets of the New Thought: Several Things That Have Helped People

Nuggets of the New Thought: Several Things That Have Helped People

William Walker Atkinson

To cultivate a mind of confidence, strength, and inner peace, one must cast aside fear and learn to resonate in harmony with universal law.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Nuts to crack

Nuts to crack

Richard Gooch

An irrepressible gallery of university wits, eccentrics, and collegiate rogues fills this lively nineteenth-century compendium of academic folklore.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Our Foreigners: A Chronicle of Americans in the Making

Our Foreigners: A Chronicle of Americans in the Making

Samuel Peter Orth

A sweeping, three-century wave of human migration transformed a forested wilderness into a complex, multi-ethnic republic.

History - American5 min read
Cover of Preface to Major Barbara: First Aid to Critics

Preface to Major Barbara: First Aid to Critics

Bernard Shaw

Grounded in the social realities of industrial Britain, this polemical essay dismantling the myths surrounding poverty, charity, and institutional morality reveals that economic starvation is a societal crime rather than a personal failing.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Record of Medals of Honor issued to the officers and enlisted men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, 1862-1923

Record of Medals of Honor issued to the officers and enlisted men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, 1862-1923

United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel

A comprehensive record of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard's Medal of Honor recipients from 1862 to 1923.

History - American5 min read
Cover of Sea-gift: A Novel

Sea-gift: A Novel

Edwin W. (Edwin Wiley) Fuller

A young North Carolina man grows up along the coast, journeys to college in Chapel Hill, and sees his peaceful world shattered by the Civil War.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Tales from the X-bar Horse Camp: The Blue-Roan "Outlaw" and Other Stories

Tales from the X-bar Horse Camp: The Blue-Roan "Outlaw" and Other Stories

Will C. (Will Croft) Barnes

Riding through red-rock canyons, flash floods, and blinding sandstorms, the cowboys and range riders of the turn-of-the-century Southwest confront stampeding herds, outlaw steers, and the rugged, unforgiving wilderness of an American frontier fast passing into history.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Chemistry of Plant Life

The Chemistry of Plant Life

Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher

Plant life operates as a structured, self-regulating chemical factory, converting raw elements into complex living matter through precise molecular mechanisms.

Science - Biology6 min read
Cover of The Death of the Gods: (Christ and Antichrist, 1 of 3)

The Death of the Gods: (Christ and Antichrist, 1 of 3)

Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky

A fourth-century emperor attempts to turn back the clock of history, pitting the dying gods of pagan antiquity against the relentless rise of a young Christian church.

Historical Novels12 min read
Cover of The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume 1 (of 3)

The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume 1 (of 3)

James Augustus St. John

A physical world of dust, sunlight, and strict laws comes vividly into focus, revealing that human nature remains unchanged across three thousand years.

History - Ancient7 min read
Cover of The horror at Red Hook

The horror at Red Hook

H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft

Beneath the decaying brick facades of a Brooklyn waterfront, ancient occult horrors take root within the dark, crowded mazes of the city's criminal underworld.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The New York Subway, Its Construction and Equipment

The New York Subway, Its Construction and Equipment

Interborough Rapid Transit Company

A sprawling metropolis reaches a breaking point where surface transit can no longer carry its millions, forcing engineers to carve an unprecedented, high-speed rail corridor through the rocky earth beneath its crowded streets.

Engineering & Technology7 min read
Cover of The Powder of Sympathy

The Powder of Sympathy

Christopher Morley

A lighthearted look at life turns everyday suburban commutes, literary discoveries, and odd corner-store encounters into quiet moments of humor and delight.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The Rake's Progress

The Rake's Progress

Marjorie Bowen

A sudden drop from inherited elegance into terminal debt leaves a young aristocrat with only his charm, his title, and a series of increasingly cold calculation.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Reminiscences of an Irish Land Agent

The Reminiscences of an Irish Land Agent

Samuel Murray Hussey

An outspoken Irish estate manager looks back over eighty years of agrarian conflict, offering a rare, highly personal window into nineteenth-century Ireland’s land wars from the side of the landlords.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of The Sea Lady

The Sea Lady

H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

When a mermaid comes ashore at an English seaside resort, her arrival disrupts the carefully ordered lives, sensible political ambitions, and social conventions of a respectable Edwardian family.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Story of Verona

The Story of Verona

Alethea Wiel

Standing where northern invaders once poured through the Alps into the fertile plains of Lombardy, a historic fortress city reflects two thousand years of Italian empire, factional violence, and artistic triumph.

History - European7 min read
Cover of The Terms of Surrender

The Terms of Surrender

Louis Tracy

A man driven into exile by love and betrayal seeks meaning in hard labor and far-flung lands, only to discover that the heaviest terms of surrender are those he must demand of himself.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 1 (of 4)

The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 1 (of 4)

William Crooke

A detailed ethnographic survey of Northern India mapping social hierarchies, ancestral origins, and tribal customs through quantitative data and local field observations.

History8 min read
Cover of The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 12 (of 12)

The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 12 (of 12)

Edmund Burke

A relentless prosecutor lays bare the systemic abuse of imperial power in India, demanding that Parliament hold its highest officials accountable to human decency.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Three Frenchmen in Bengal: The Commercial Ruin of the French Settlements in 1757

Three Frenchmen in Bengal: The Commercial Ruin of the French Settlements in 1757

Samuel Charles Hill

Driven by ambition, corporate rivalries, and royal geopolitics, three French administrators risk everything in eighteenth-century Bengal, only to watch their commercial empire crumble to British military force and shifting local alliances.

History - European6 min read
Cover of Tom Moore: An Unhistorical Romance: Founded on Certain Happenings in the Life of Ireland's Greatest Poet

Tom Moore: An Unhistorical Romance: Founded on Certain Happenings in the Life of Ireland's Greatest Poet

Theodore Burt Sayre

A impulsive young poet, a stubborn schoolmistress, and a flurry of theatrical misunderstandings collide in a lighthearted fictionalization of Ireland's most famous bard.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Undine

Undine

La Motte-Fouqué, Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de

To love a human is to gain a soul, and to gain a soul is to open oneself to heartbreak.

German Literature6 min read
Cover of Waterways of Westward Expansion - The Ohio River and its Tributaries

Waterways of Westward Expansion - The Ohio River and its Tributaries

Archer Butler Hulbert

An arterial history of the early American frontier, this study traces how a single great river shaped the conquest, settlement, and commerce of an expanding nation.

History - American6 min read
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