The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 44
32,123 public-domain books, summarised. Page 44 of 670.
Laura Middleton
Anonymous
This narrative follows a young man’s arrival at a country estate, where he discovers a hidden world of libertine indulgence shared among the inhabitants and their young guests. It is a candid, focused account of sexual initiation and the complex social maneuvers required to maintain such secret lives.
Myths and Legends of China
E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers) Werner
This comprehensive survey of Chinese mythology gathers the foundational stories, spirits, and celestial hierarchies that have shaped the moral and imaginative landscape of the Chinese people for centuries.
The Home Medical Library, Volume 2 (of 6)
Unknown
When illness strikes the home, knowledge is the first line of defense. This guide provides a clinical, no-nonsense look at how to manage everything from common ailments to the gravest threats to family health.
The symbolism of Freemasonry
Albert Gallatin Mackey
This exploration of Masonic philosophy reveals the hidden language of ritual, arguing that the craft is not merely a social club, but a profound, enduring science of symbols.
Tam o' the Scoots
Edgar Wallace
This collection of linked short stories captures the high-stakes, surreal atmosphere of the Great War’s early aerial combat. It follows the exploits of a singular Scottish aviator whose technical mastery and wry, philosophical outlook make him an unlikely legend among his peers.
Destruction and Reconstruction:: Personal Experiences of the Late War
Richard Taylor
The author recounts a lifetime of military service and political displacement, offering a perspective on the American Civil War that blends battlefield command with an embittered, sharp-eyed view of the subsequent Reconstruction era.
The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-In-Chief
Morrison Heady
This account of George Washington’s early life frames the historical figure as a moral beacon, using the storyteller’s own warmth to bring the formative years of a future leader to life for young readers.
History of Australia and New Zealand from 1606 to 1890
Alexander Sutherland
Australia and New Zealand emerged from distant maritime outposts into organized colonial societies through centuries of exploration, hardship, and growth. This chronicle traces that transformation, capturing the rugged spirit of pioneers and the complex evolution of their laws.
Witch-Doctors
Charles Beadle
A professor of anthropology finds himself thrust into a collision of cultures, where he must adopt the role of a god to survive in the heart of colonial Africa.
Simon
J. Storer (Joseph Storer) Clouston
A solitary, guarded traveler arrives in a desolate northern region, sparking a chain of events that exposes a lethal deception hidden behind a lawyer’s inscrutable mask. This mystery unfolds as a quiet study of identity and the chilling lengths to which a desperate man will go to protect a stolen life.
Palmistry for All
Cheiro
This guide offers a systematic method for interpreting character and destiny through the study of the hand. It provides a practical, detailed framework for observing lines, mounts, and physical shapes to reveal an individual’s innate tendencies.
A brother to dragons, and other old-time tales
Amélie Rives
A collection of period tales, this volume traverses themes of sacrifice, unrequited love, and the complex moral landscapes of the seventeenth century. These narratives offer a glimpse into the vanished manners and intense emotional lives of their time.
A Shropshire Lad
A. E. (Alfred Edward) Housman
A collection of sixty-three poems, this work captures the fleeting nature of youth and the inevitability of death with a haunting, musical simplicity. It remains a definitive portrait of the ache of being alive.
Aunt Jo's scrap bag, Volume 2
Louisa May Alcott
Three American women cast off the conventions of traditional tourism, opting to trade cumbersome trunks for light baggage and a spirit of unapologetic independence. Their year-long journey through Europe serves as both a travelogue and a manifesto for self-reliance.
Stories of Authors, British and American
Edwin Watts Chubb
Great writers are often best understood not through their formal histories, but through the small, human habits that shaped their daily lives. This collection of biographical sketches invites readers to see the person behind the page.
Victorian Songs: Lyrics of the Affections and Nature
Unknown
This collection gathers the lyrical heartbeat of the nineteenth century, distilling the era’s preoccupation with fading beauty, romantic longing, and the immutable cycles of the natural world. It serves as an intimate gallery of verse that captures the Victorian spirit not through grand political narratives, but…
Panther Eye
Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell
A young miner’s quest for gold in the frozen North spirals into a desperate struggle against mysterious saboteurs and the chaos of post-revolutionary Russia. This adventure blends rugged exploration with the intrigue of a high-stakes detective mystery.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 122, December, 1867: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics
Various
Beyond the bustle of the nineteenth-century parlor, the silent depths of limestone caverns, and the precise mechanics of the telegraph, a world of intellectual ambition and quiet domesticity unfolds. This collection captures the pulse of a transformative era, weaving together the intimate complexities of human…
Education and the Higher Life
John Lancaster Spalding
To pursue an education is not merely to amass information, but to cultivate the soul for a life of purpose, moral clarity, and intellectual freedom.
Mother West Wind "How" Stories
Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess
Through fables of how the animals earned their stripes—or wings, or songs—this collection offers a gentle, mythic look at the natural world, framed by the inquisitive mind of a rabbit.
Walter and the Wireless
Sara Ware Bassett
An energetic teenager discovers that mastering the mysterious technology of the air is the key to saving his family from financial ruin and recovering a prized stolen dog.
The Adventures of Piang the Moro Jungle Boy: A Book for Young and Old
Florence Partello Stuart
A Moro boy navigates the wild jungles and treacherous waters of the Philippines, relying on his wits, his heritage, and an unwavering belief in his own destiny as a "charm boy.
Terribly Intimate Portraits
Noël Coward
This collection of lampoons offers a sharp, satirical look at the pomposity of historical biography, framing the lives of absurd, invented figures with the mock-earnestness of a scholar. It is a playful exercise in sustained irony, where the pretense of rigorous research serves only to highlight the ridiculous…
In Her Own Right
John Reed Scott
HOOK A gentleman inherits a mysterious estate, only to find himself entangled in a high-stakes search for buried pirate gold and the affections of a captivating heiress.
The Lady and the Pirate: Being the Plain Tale of a Diligent Pirate and a Fair Captive
Emerson Hough
This is a story of a man who attempts to win the woman he loves by kidnapping her, a desperate gamble that reveals the fragile boundary between romantic obsession and the genuine search for connection.
Labrador Days: Tales of the Sea Toilers
Grenfell, Wilfred Thomason, Sir
In the unforgiving reaches of the Labrador coast, the sea demands everything from those who dare to harvest its bounty. These stories capture the quiet courage of people living on the knife-edge of survival.
High Noon: A New Sequel to 'Three Weeks'
Unknown
HOOK A grieving English gentleman travels to Switzerland to escape his past, only to find himself entangled in a dangerous, romantic struggle for the soul of a Russian noblewoman.
A Little Traitor to the South: A War Time Comedy with a Tragic Interlude
Cyrus Townsend Brady
The honor of the South and the unpredictable nature of the human heart collide in this tense, atmospheric story set within the besieged city of Charleston.
The Beautiful and Damned
F. Scott (Francis Scott) Fitzgerald
The victor belongs to the spoils, but the spoils are often hollow. This haunting portrait of aimlessness tracks the slow disintegration of a young couple who mistake their beauty and privilege for a life purpose.
Murder in the Gunroom
H. Beam Piper
A private detective, himself a connoisseur of antique firearms, is hired to appraise a collection, only to find himself untangling a cold-blooded murder hidden behind a facade of high-society respectability.
Woodward's Country Homes
George E. (George Evertson) Woodward
This architectural manual presents a curated collection of designs for the nineteenth-century American landscape, advocating for suburban expansion as a solution to urban density. It serves as both a practical guide and a philosophical argument for the harmony between domestic life and the natural environment.
Pride and Prejudice, a play founded on Jane Austen's novel
Jane Austen
A sharp-witted young woman and a reserved, aristocratic landowner must overcome their own misconceptions before they can acknowledge a growing attraction in this classic tale of social standing and true character.
Due West
Maturin M. (Maturin Murray) Ballou
A traveler’s keen eyes and open heart turn a ten-month journey around the globe into a vivid, permanent education. See the world through a nineteenth-century lens, where every distant shore holds a mirror to one’s own home.
An Essay on Professional Ethics: Second Edition
George Sharswood
The legal profession demands more than technical skill; it requires a deep, unwavering commitment to moral integrity. This classic treatise explores the ethical foundation upon which a life in the law must be built.
Raleigh
Edmund Gosse
The life of a man who embodied the fire and tragedy of the Elizabethan age, this biography traces the rise and fall of a courtier, navigator, and writer who lived at the edge of greatness.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
This narrative serves as a quintessential guide to self-improvement, offering a candid, pragmatic look at the life of one of history’s most influential figures as he transforms from a runaway apprentice into a statesman.
Grimm's Fairy Stories
Jacob Grimm
HOOK These timeless tales map the strange, often brutal logic of the human heart, where the smallest acts of kindness or cruelty determine a hero’s fate.
Last Words: A Final Collection of Stories
Juliana Horatia Ewing
A collection of tender, evocative tales and reflections, this volume captures the delicate intersection of childhood imagination and the quiet demands of duty. It remains a poignant, gentle testament to the joys of the garden.
Semiramis, and Other Plays
Olive Tilford Dargan
This collection of three verse dramas explores the volatile intersection of personal desire and the crushing weight of public history. With a tone that shifts between grandiosity and intimate desperation, the work examines how the pursuit of love and ambition often leads to ruin.
Human, All-Too-Human: A Book for Free Spirits, Part 1: Complete Works, Volume Six
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
A weary philosopher finds his voice by dismantling the idols he once worshipped, trading grand systems for the sharp, solitary light of the independent mind. This is an invitation to witness the liberation of a thinker who has finally decided to belong to no one but himself.
Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Complete
Dante Alighieri
A traveler traverses the landscapes of the afterlife, guided by reason and faith, to confront the consequences of human choice and the ultimate nature of the divine.
Fred Fenton on the Crew
Allen Chapman
This story follows the earnest, athletic Fred Fenton as he navigates the social and competitive waters of his town, balancing the demands of a high-stakes rowing team against local mysteries and school-yard rivalries.
Wild Nature Won By Kindness
Mrs. (Eliza Elder) Brightwen
This collection of gentle, observational essays documents the rewarding process of domesticating wild creatures through patience and empathy. It serves as a classic manual for finding kinship with the smallest lives in one’s immediate environment.
Eight Keys to Eden
Mark Clifton
When a colony on a lush, unreachable world falls silent, a brilliant investigator must navigate the thin, terrifying threshold between human logic and the unknown.
Alroy: The Prince of the Captivity
Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield
A visionary Jewish leader attempts to reclaim the ancient throne of David in the twelfth-century East, balanced between divine inspiration and the corrupting allure of worldly power.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume IV, Georgia Narratives, Part 2
United States. Work Projects Administration
The memories of those who survived the system of enslavement in Georgia offer a direct, unfiltered testament to a world defined by both harrowing labor and the enduring persistence of the human spirit.
The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe: Including Essays on Poetry
Edgar Allan Poe
A master of the macabre and the melancholic, this collection gathers the lyrical output of a singular American voice. It presents a haunting vision where beauty and loss are forever locked in a mournful embrace.
Talks To Teachers On Psychology
William James
Psychology is not a cold science of labels, but the study of the living, breathing stream of consciousness we all experience. Understanding how we learn, act, and find purpose is the teacher’s greatest tool.