myebooksbuy
My Books

The whole shelf

All free summaries — page 287

34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 287 of 714.

Cover of The Radio Boys at Ocean Point

The Radio Boys at Ocean Point

Allen Chapman

Four teenage radio enthusiasts turn their amateur wireless hobby into a tool for justice and maritime rescue during a summer of high-stakes outdoor adventure.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Roman Pronunciation of Latin: Why We Use It and How to Use It

The Roman Pronunciation of Latin: Why We Use It and How to Use It

Frances E. (Frances Ellen) Lord

Restoring the authentic sound of Latin is a project of historical recovery, bridging the gap between the printed page and the living, rhythmic speech of the ancient Roman world.

Language & Communication6 min read
Cover of The Sanskrit drama

The Sanskrit drama

Arthur Berriedale Keith

The ancient theaters of India remain alive through a sophisticated tradition of performance, poetic theory, and moral philosophy. This comprehensive study reconstructs the evolution of the Sanskrit drama from its early, mysterious origins to its mature, classical brilliance.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of The Spinster Book

The Spinster Book

Myrtle Reed

The secret to a happy marriage is not found in grand gestures, but in the art of feeding a man and knowing when to remain silent. This witty, cynical guide serves as a manual for the unattached woman navigating the treacherous waters of romance.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children

The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children

Jane Andrews

Nature is not merely a backdrop for human activity, but a tireless, multitasking intelligence that guards, builds, and nurtures every corner of the earth. By observing the small dramas of plants and animals, we come to understand the interconnected life of the world.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Story of American Aviation

The Story of American Aviation

Jim Ray

The history of American flight is a chronicle of rapid, relentless invention, transforming a fragile, eight-horsepower machine into a global force of industry and warfare in just four decades.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of The Terror Out of Space

The Terror Out of Space

Dwight V. Swain

A desperate pilot enters the deadly unknown of space to rescue a woman, only to find himself embroiled in a cosmic conflict between human greed and an alien species that manifests nightmares into reality.

Novels5 min read
Cover of The Watcher, and other weird stories

The Watcher, and other weird stories

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

The past is never truly buried in these chilling tales, where secrets return from the grave to claim their due. A master of the atmospheric gothic, the writer turns ordinary lives into landscapes of dread and inescapable fate.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery5 min read
Cover of The wolf-cub

The wolf-cub

Patrick Casey

The mountain-born outlaw Jacinto Quesada navigates a treacherous landscape of plague, vengeance, and shifting loyalties in a Spain where the divide between the lawless and the righteous is as thin as a razor’s edge.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of The Wonderful Story of Ravalette

The Wonderful Story of Ravalette

Paschal Beverly Randolph

This 1863 narrative blends occult mystery with the intense, often erratic, personal philosophy of a singular American figure. It serves as a strange, atmospheric bridge between the burgeoning Spiritualist movement and the more structured, ancient traditions of the Rosicrucians.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Tramping with Tramps: Studies and Sketches of Vagabond Life

Tramping with Tramps: Studies and Sketches of Vagabond Life

Josiah Flynt

The vagrant life is not merely a condition of poverty, but a complex, subterranean society with its own rigid codes, hierarchies, and linguistic geography. This immersive investigation chronicles the hidden world of the American tramp at the turn of the 20th century.

History - American6 min read
Cover of True Blue

True Blue

William Henry Giles Kingston

The sea offers no quarter, and honor is found not in rank, but in the steady performance of one’s duty amid the roar of gales and the thunder of broadsides.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Under the red robe

Under the red robe

Stanley John Weyman

A notorious gambler and duellist finds his life hanging by a thread, only to be offered a reprieve by the most powerful man in France—provided he can betray the woman he has come to love.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Where Your Treasure Is: Being the Personal Narrative of Ross Sidney, Diver

Where Your Treasure Is: Being the Personal Narrative of Ross Sidney, Diver

Holman Day

HOOK A young diver finds his life transformed by the lure of "maverick" treasure, moving from the quiet desperation of a small-town upbringing to the high-stakes, lawless world of deep-sea salvage.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of Wireless Telegraph Construction For Amateurs

Wireless Telegraph Construction For Amateurs

Alfred Powell Morgan

Build a radio station from the ground up using nothing but basic tools, patience, and the fundamental laws of electromagnetic waves. This guide turns the complex world of early wireless communication into a reachable hobby.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of Women of India

Women of India

Otto Rothfield

Women of India explores the diverse social landscapes, domestic traditions, and evolving roles of women across the Indian subcontinent at the turn of the twentieth century. It offers a detailed, observational study of how cultural identity shapes the lives of women from varied castes and classes.

Gender & Sexuality Studies6 min read
Cover of A Desperate Chance

A Desperate Chance

Old Sleuth

This is a quintessential adventure of the late nineteenth century, centering on the grit and moral fortitude of a young man who rises from poverty to prosperity through pluck and serendipity. It is an earnest, fast-paced tale that leans into the period’s fascination with "tramps," hidden riches, and the romantic…

Adventure6 min read
Cover of A history of tithes

A history of tithes

Henry William Clarke

This history traces the transformation of church tithes from voluntary offerings into a compulsory legal burden. It serves as a rigorous, point-by-point rebuttal to the historical claims made by nineteenth-century defenders of the Church of England.

History - British6 min read
Cover of A Letter to Dion

A Letter to Dion

Bernard Mandeville

A sharp-tongued defense of provocative ideas, this work serves as an intellectual counter-punch against those who seek to silence controversial thinkers through misrepresentation and moral posturing.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of A long way from home

A long way from home

Claude McKay

This restless, wandering memoir captures a life lived on the front lines of art and politics, where the search for personal freedom constantly collides with the rigid, often cruel barriers of race and class.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Abroad with the Jimmies

Abroad with the Jimmies

Lilian Bell

This chronicle of a grand tour through Europe and Russia captures the breezy, opinionated spirit of an American woman traveling with her sister and a charming married couple, the "Jimmies." It is a lighthearted travelogue that prioritizes personality over itinerary.

Humour5 min read
Cover of An Outline of the Phonology and Morphology of Old Provençal

An Outline of the Phonology and Morphology of Old Provençal

C. H. (Charles Hall) Grandgent

This technical guide reconstructs the linguistic evolution of Old Provençal, tracing the transformation of Latin sounds and forms into the literary language of medieval southern France.

Language & Communication6 min read
Cover of Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador: An Address Presented by Lt.-Colonel William Wood, F.R.S.C. before the Second Annual Meeting of the Commission of Conservation at Quebec, January, 1911

Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador: An Address Presented by Lt.-Colonel William Wood, F.R.S.C. before the Second Annual Meeting of the Commission of Conservation at Quebec, January, 1911

William Wood

HOOK This urgent 1911 plea argues that Labrador’s vast, untamed wilderness serves as a vital global sanctuary, demanding immediate protection from the reckless, systemic slaughter of its animal life.

Environmental Issues6 min read
Cover of Back Home

Back Home

Eugene Wood

The echoes of a vanishing world resonate through these pages, capturing the bittersweet ache of childhood and the enduring pull of the places that shaped us. This collection of sketches serves as a quiet homecoming to an American heartland defined by seasons, small-town rituals, and the transition from innocence to…

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Back to Billabong

Back to Billabong

Mary Grant Bruce

Seeking a fresh start after the Great War, two orphaned siblings trade the stifling atmosphere of a London home for the vast, sun-drenched landscapes of the Australian bush. This classic tale of resilience follows their journey from displacement to belonging, finding lasting appeal in its portrait of courage and…

Novels5 min read
Cover of Bewick's Select Fables of Æsop and others.: In three parts. 1. Fables extracted from Dodsley's. 2. Fables with reflections in prose and verse. 3. Fables in verse

Bewick's Select Fables of Æsop and others.: In three parts. 1. Fables extracted from Dodsley's. 2. Fables with reflections in prose and verse. 3. Fables in verse

Aesop

Fables offer a mirror to the human condition, reflecting our follies and virtues through the lives of animals and ancient archetypes. This collection serves as both a moral guide and an enduring testament to the power of wisdom distilled into simple, sharp narratives.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of Buffon's Natural History, Volume 03 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c

Buffon's Natural History, Volume 03 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c

Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de

This sweeping inquiry into the mechanics of life challenges the dogmas of the Enlightenment, arguing that existence is not a fixed design but a fluid, mechanical dance of organic molecules.

History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)6 min read
Cover of Chivalry: Dizain des Reines

Chivalry: Dizain des Reines

James Branch Cabell

This collection of ten interconnected stories reimagines the medieval age through the prism of courtly love, where the pursuit of an ideal remains both a sublime calling and a source of devastating irony. It explores the persistence of romantic dreams against the harsh, indifferent landscape of human history.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of Chronicles and characters of the stock exchange

Chronicles and characters of the stock exchange

Francis, John, of the Bank of England

This historical narrative charts the rise of the London financial markets, exposing how the machinery of national debt, speculation, and institutional greed shaped the modern world. It offers a gritty, anecdotal look at the human cost of high finance, from the seventeenth-century birth of the Bank of England to the…

Economics6 min read
Cover of Compensation

Compensation

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The universe is a self-balancing equation, where every action and every event carries its own invisible but inevitable price. Justice is not a deferred reward, but a constant, present reality woven into the fabric of existence.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Constantine the Great: The reorganization of the Empire and the triumph of the Church

Constantine the Great: The reorganization of the Empire and the triumph of the Church

John B. (John Benjamin) Firth

The conversion of a Roman Emperor and the subsequent transformation of a pagan empire provide a lens through which to examine the intersection of personal ambition and institutional change. This inquiry navigates the shifting landscape of the fourth century, balancing historical analysis with the moral complexities…

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Dog Stories from the "Spectator": Being anecdotes of the intelligence, reasoning power, affection and sympathy of dogs, selected from the correspondence columns of "The Spectator"

Dog Stories from the "Spectator": Being anecdotes of the intelligence, reasoning power, affection and sympathy of dogs, selected from the correspondence columns of "The Spectator"

Unknown

This collection of Victorian correspondence reveals the surprising ingenuity of dogs, proving they are far more than simple companions through documented accounts of their reasoning, humor, and complex emotional lives.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Donald Ross of Heimra (Volume 3 of 3)

Donald Ross of Heimra (Volume 3 of 3)

William Black

A remote Highland estate becomes the stage for a tense struggle between ancestral loyalties and modern reform, centering on a proud, mysterious local leader and the spirited woman who inherits his corner of the world.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Essays

Essays

Winthrop Mackworth Praed

A sharp wit and a melancholic grace define these sketches, capturing the fleeting manners of a gentleman’s world. They offer a window into the mind of a brilliant, restless writer whose observations remain as biting and polished as ever.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Everybody's Guide to Money Matters: With a description of the various investments chiefly dealt in on the stock exchange, and the mode of dealing therein

Everybody's Guide to Money Matters: With a description of the various investments chiefly dealt in on the stock exchange, and the mode of dealing therein

Cotton, William, F.S.A., of Exeter

Navigating the complexities of late-Victorian finance requires more than mere thrift; it demands the steady guidance of a seasoned hand to turn modest savings into secure, lasting assets.

Business/Management6 min read
Cover of Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse

Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse

Unknown

This collection gathers the voices of a transformative era, capturing the collision of medieval devotion, social unrest, and the dawning light of the printed word in fifteenth-century England.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Foes

Foes

Mary Johnston

This is a somber, meditative exploration of a lifelong rivalry, tracing how two men bound by history and affection eventually unravel the knots of vengeance that threaten to destroy them.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of Historic Adventures: Tales from American History

Historic Adventures: Tales from American History

Rupert Sargent Holland

This collection of historical snapshots traces the expansion and maturation of the American identity, offering vivid portraits of the people who shaped the nation’s rugged, often violent, and restless frontier.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Home Pork Making

Home Pork Making

A. W. (Albert Watson) Fulton

This comprehensive guide offers a vanishing window into the nineteenth-century farm, detailing the meticulous, traditional methods required to transform a living hog into a winter’s supply of cured meat.

Cooking & Drinking6 min read
Cover of Household Administration, Its Place in the Higher Education of Women

Household Administration, Its Place in the Higher Education of Women

Unknown

Modern domestic life requires more than just instinct; it demands a foundation of rigorous scientific training to preserve the health and stability of the family.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of How to Eat: A Cure for "Nerves"

How to Eat: A Cure for "Nerves"

Thomas C. (Thomas Clark) Hinkle

HOOK This guide reveals how a physician conquered his own years of debilitating "nerves" through a simple, rigorous commitment to mindful eating and outdoor activity.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of How to Make an Index

How to Make an Index

Henry B. (Henry Benjamin) Wheatley

A guide to the art of indexing, this work explores the historical development, practical mechanics, and occasional humor found within the essential task of organizing information. It transforms a seemingly dry clerical duty into a thoughtful literary pursuit.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of In the Old West

In the Old West

George Frederick Augustus Ruxton

The life of the free trapper in the American West is a chronicle of solitude, survival, and the relentless pursuit of beaver in a landscape where the boundary between hunter and prey is perpetually blurred.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Legends of the City of Mexico

Legends of the City of Mexico

Thomas A. (Thomas Allibone) Janvier

These tales capture the vanished pulse of a historic capital, where ancient stone walls harbor ghosts, secrets, and the lingering echoes of colonial tragedy. They serve as a bridge between the living city and the shadows of its past.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of Memorials of the Independent Churches in Northamptonshire: with biographical notices of their pastors, and some account of the puritan ministers who laboured in the county

Memorials of the Independent Churches in Northamptonshire: with biographical notices of their pastors, and some account of the puritan ministers who laboured in the county

Thomas Coleman

This work chronicles the persistence of faith, documenting the rise of Independent churches in Northamptonshire from the late Reformation through the mid-nineteenth century. It serves as both a ledger of local history and a testament to the ministers who led these congregations through periods of intense social and…

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Nellie's Housekeeping: Little Sunbeams Series

Nellie's Housekeeping: Little Sunbeams Series

Joanna H. (Joanna Hooe) Mathews

A quiet, thoughtful young girl finds her purpose in the domestic sphere, learning that the most profound acts of character are often found in the small, hidden duties of daily life.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Notes on Certain Maya and Mexican Manuscripts: Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 3-66

Notes on Certain Maya and Mexican Manuscripts: Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 3-66

Cyrus Thomas

The ancient calendars of the Maya and Mexican civilizations hold their secrets in the intricate, surviving codices. This analytical study decodes the symbolic architecture of these manuscripts to bridge the cultural distance between two distinct but related chronological systems.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of P.'s Correspondence (From "Mosses from an Old Manse")

P.'s Correspondence (From "Mosses from an Old Manse")

Nathaniel Hawthorne

A man confined to a small, iron-grated chamber travels the globe through the expansive, often unreliable lens of his own imagination. He writes letters from an illusory London, encountering the celebrated figures of his age as if they were ghosts trapped in the machinery of his own crumbling mind.

American Literature6 min read
Advertisement