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All free summaries — page 295
34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 295 of 714.
The life and works of Sir Charles Barry
Alfred Barry
The life and work of the architect behind the Houses of Parliament reveal a man of rigorous discipline and vast aesthetic ambition. This biography captures the complex intersection of artistic vision and bureaucratic struggle.
The Main Chance
Meredith Nicholson
A man of ambition navigates the moral complexities of business and romance in a rising Midwestern city, where success is the ultimate, and often dangerous, pursuit.
The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A psychological interpretation of mythology
Otto Rank
Mythology is not a collection of ancient whimsy, but a profound projection of the universal human psyche, revealing the secret, often turbulent, childhood fantasies we all harbor toward our own parents.
The Old Manse (From "Mosses from an Old Manse")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
An old parsonage in Concord becomes a sanctuary where the quiet rhythms of nature and the ghosts of history invite a deep, reflective stillness. This meditation on a home serves as a bridge between the vibrant, ephemeral present and the enduring weight of the past.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898
Unknown
The seventeenth-century Philippines emerge as a precarious frontier of the Spanish Empire, defined by the constant threat of Dutch naval blockade, the fragility of the China trade, and the grueling logistics of colonial survival. This archival collection offers a raw, unvarnished look at the administrative…
The Pirates of Shan: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story
Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin
Two boys race across the globe to rescue missing friends, braving a remote volcanic island and a dangerous maritime syndicate.
The Pretty Lady
Arnold Bennett
HOOK This novel captures the strange, jarring intersection of a shallow West End society and the encroaching, irreversible trauma of the First World War.
The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Hugh Latimer
The voice of the early reformers rings out from these pages, demanding that the faithful prepare their souls for the inevitable arrival of the final judgment. It is a bracing, uncompromising call to moral vigilance and spiritual clarity.
The Still-Room
Harry Roberts
This guide serves as a practical manual for the traditional home, focusing on the meticulous art of preserving food, crafting beverages, and creating home-made essences. It is a bridge between the domestic practices of the past and the enduring utility of self-sufficiency.
The Story of the Hills: A Book About Mountains for General Readers
H. N. (Henry Neville) Hutchinson
Mountains are far more than mere scenery; they are the sculpted, living history of the earth, waiting to be read by those who know how to look. This exploration reveals the complex, violent, and patient forces that build, shape, and eventually dismantle the world’s most majestic heights.
The Western United States: A Geographical Reader
Harold W. (Harold Wellman) Fairbanks
The American West is not merely a destination, but a living laboratory of geologic drama and human ambition, where the earth’s volatile history dictates the paths of those who explore and settle its rugged expanses.
True Bear Stories
Joaquin Miller
These intimate sketches of wild bears challenge the folklore of the man-eating beast, revealing instead a creature of surprising intelligence, humor, and dignity. They offer a rare, grounded look at the life of the grizzly through the eyes of a man who lived alongside them.
Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia
Charles Sturt
The quest for knowledge often demands a high price, pitting human endurance against the vast, unforgiving silence of an unknown wilderness. This account chronicles the harrowing struggle to unveil the secrets of a continent’s interior.
U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, 1950-1953, Volume 2 (of 5): The Inchon-Seoul Operation
Lynn Montross
The Inchon Landing was a high-stakes gamble against geography and weather, proving that a bold, precisely executed amphibious strategy could turn the tide of a desperate war.
Virginia under the Stuarts 1607-1688
Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker
The story of colonial Virginia’s first eighty years is a struggle for the survival of both the plantation and the emerging spirit of self-government. It is a record of how a small, isolated settlement transformed into a defiant political force.
Walks near Edinburgh
Margaret Warrender
The past is a living presence in this survey of the Scottish landscape, where every turn in the road invites a ghost story or an echo of historical tragedy.
Wild Life Near Home
Dallas Lore Sharp
The world is not a vast, distant wilderness but a series of overlapping lives right outside the back door. Through patient observation, the smallest creatures reveal a complexity that rivals the grandest dramas of the wild.
A Book of Gems, or, Choice selections from the writings of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
This collection preserves the rigorous, no-nonsense convictions of a nineteenth-century preacher. It offers a window into a faith centered on the literal authority of Scripture and the rejection of modern ecclesiastical innovations.
A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 3
Unknown
These rarely seen dramas from the late sixteenth century offer a raw, unvarnished window into the frantic wit and dark moral complexity of the Elizabethan stage.
A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 1 (of 2)
Henry O. (Henry Ogg) Forbes
The natural history of the primates offers a rigorous, detailed catalog of the world’s monkeys, lemurs, and their kin. It provides a foundational look at their anatomical diversity and geographic distribution in the late nineteenth century.
A little help for Hawkins
W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle
This humorous Western tale follows a group of well-meaning but misguided cowboys who attempt to "save" their gloom-stricken friend from a perceived inheritance crisis, only to discover that the tragedy they are solving exists entirely within the pages of a magazine.
A Virginia Village
Charles Alexander Stewart
The quiet growth of a Northern Virginia town at the turn of the twentieth century reveals the intersection of colonial history and the encroaching modernity of the urban suburb.
Barry Blake of the Flying Fortress
Gaylord Du Bois
The young pilot finds his wings in the clouds, but soon learns that the true test of his character lies in the grueling, desperate reality of the Pacific air war.
Benita, an African romance
H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
A desperate hunt for hidden treasure in the African wilderness becomes a struggle for survival, where the boundary between the living and the dead begins to dissolve under the weight of ancient secrets.
Benton of the Royal Mounted: A Tale of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police
Ralph S. (Ralph Selwood) Kendall
A rugged, introspective lawman patrols the vast, unforgiving expanses of the Canadian West, grappling with the heavy burden of duty and the ache of profound isolation.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 68, No 422, December 1850
Various
This periodical captures the intellectual and political turbulence of mid-nineteenth-century Britain, blending serialized fiction with rigorous commentary on the pressing debates of 1850. It serves as a fascinating lens into the Victorian mind.
Cabin Fever
B. M. Bower
HOOK The isolation of the rugged West acts as a merciless mirror, revealing the hidden flaws and potential redemptions of those who share its lonely, silent spaces.
Cowley's Essays
Abraham Cowley
This collection of essays serves as a quiet manifesto for the interior life, arguing that true liberty is found not in public acclaim or wealth, but in the deliberate cultivation of one’s own mind, garden, and books. It remains a foundational work of English prose, celebrated for its gentle, thoughtful rhythm and…
Death at the Excelsior, and other stories
P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse
A collection of lighthearted tales featuring eccentric English gentlemen, formidable butlers, and the delicate art of navigating romantic and social mishaps with grace.
Deccan Nursery Tales
C. A. (Charles Augustus) Kincaid
Faithful to the rhythms of ancient oral traditions, these tales weave together the divine and the domestic in a world where gods and humans constantly collide.
Every Man His Own University
Russell H. Conwell
The greatest university is not a collection of buildings, but the one you carry under your own hat. Success belongs to those who learn to observe the world for themselves.
Five Lectures on Reincarnation
Swami Abhedananda
The soul is an eternal traveler, moving through countless lives to achieve perfection, governed not by divine whim, but by the immutable laws of cause and effect.
God and Mr. Wells: A Critical Examination of 'God the Invisible King'
William Archer
A rationalist perspective on the quest for divine meaning, this work scrutinizes the theological innovations of a prominent contemporary thinker, ultimately questioning whether humanity requires a new deity to justify the struggle for social progress.
Guy Kenmore's Wife, and The Rose and the Lily
Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs.
These two intertwined tales of Victorian-era romance explore the heavy price of secrets, the volatility of social standing, and the enduring quest for redemption amid betrayal and tragic loss.
Handbook of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts: With 143 Illustrations
Joseph Breck
A guiding companion for the early twentieth-century museum visitor, this volume offers a structured walk through the galleries of the newly established Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 2
Charles Herbert Sylvester
These classic stories and poems serve as a gateway to the imagination, inviting readers to explore the wonder of timeless tales that have shaped generations of children.
Legends and Satires from Mediæval Literature
Unknown
This collection offers a window into the medieval mind, gathering the legends, satires, and moral instruction that shaped the imagination of the fourteenth century. It serves as a bridge for the modern reader to encounter the voices of an age both pious and earthy.
Letters of Asa Gray
Asa Gray
This collection of personal correspondence offers an intimate window into the nineteenth-century scientific world, revealing the relentless industry and intellectual fervor of one of America’s most significant botanists. Through these letters, the reader traverses the development of a professional life built on…
Letters to "The Times" upon War and Neutrality (1881-1920)
Thomas Erskine Holland
This collection preserves the rigorous, often dry, public discourse of an era when international law was actively being debated in the columns of the Times of London during the lead-up to the First World War.
Mrs. Mary Robinson, Written by Herself,: With the lives of the Duchesses of Gordon and Devonshire
Mary Robinson
A celebrated beauty of the eighteenth century recounts her rise from fragile domesticity to the perilous heights of London fashion. Her memoir serves as a poignant testament to the fragility of reputation and the harsh cost of fame.
Nerves and Common Sense
Annie Payson Call
An invitation to reclaim one’s vitality by identifying and dropping the habitual mental and physical tensions that masquerade as necessary reactions to the demands of daily life.
Newton Forster
Frederick Marryat
A young merchant sailor navigates the brutal realities of impressment, war, and societal ambition, eventually discovering his own path to fortune amidst the unpredictable tides of the nineteenth-century British maritime world.
Other Things Being Equal
Emma Wolf
HOOK A young woman navigates the delicate, often painful friction between her traditional upbringing and an unexpected, cross-cultural love in late nineteenth-century San Francisco.
Practical Hand Book of Gas, Oil and Steam Engines: Stationary, Marine, Traction
John B. Rathbun
This technical manual serves as an exhaustive guide to the mechanics, operation, and maintenance of early twentieth-century power plants. It demystifies the complex inner workings of stationary, marine, and traction engines for the practical operator.
Quaint Korea
Louise Jordan Miln
A traveler’s candid, observant journey into the heart of a "hermit" nation, capturing the beauty and fading traditions of a land on the precipice of irrevocable change.
Saturday's Child
Kathleen Thompson Norris
Saturday’s child must work for her living, and Susan Brown finds that lesson to be the defining rhythm of her young adulthood. This story tracks her journey from a clerk in a San Francisco office to the center of a life built on grit, sacrifice, and the quiet rewards of a shared home.
Sir Christopher: A Romance of a Maryland Manor in 1644
Maud Wilder Goodwin
Amid the volatile tensions of 1644 Maryland, a loyalist nobleman faces false accusations of murder, fighting to reclaim his honor and protect those he loves from the reach of a ruthless adversary.
Sketches in Canada, and rambles among the red men
Mrs. (Anna) Jameson
A woman of refined sensibilities navigates the raw, rugged Canadian frontier, documenting her encounters with both colonial settlers and the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region.