The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 554
34,093 public-domain books, summarised. Page 554 of 711.
An Amateur Fireman
James Otis
A bootblack’s dream of glory ignites when he finds a place among the brave men of the city’s fire department. Through grit and unwavering focus, a boy transforms his life from the streets to the firehouse.
Aniwee
Dixie, Florence, Lady
A band of young English travelers and South American allies venture into the Chilean wilderness, navigating wild beasts, strange tribes, and natural disasters in a spirited quest for a lost child and an ancient gold mine.
Annabel: A Novel for Young Folks
L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum
A resourceful boy fights to reclaim his family’s stolen legacy from a duplicitous opportunist, navigating poverty and social exclusion to secure his future.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, January 1899: Volume LIV, No. 3, January 1899
Various
This collection of scientific essays serves as a time capsule for the closing decade of the nineteenth century, documenting a moment when empirical observation, industrial expansion, and evolutionary theory were rapidly redefining the boundaries of human knowledge.
Aslauga's Knight
La Motte-Fouqué, Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de
A valiant knight devotes his life to the memory of a legendary queen, only to find his path intertwined with a young suitor and his own destiny in this haunting tale of devotion.
![Cover of Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 3 [August 1902]: Illustrated by Color Photography](https://cdn.myebooksbuy.com/c/birds-and-nature-vol-12-no-3-august-1902-illustrated-by-color.webp)
Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 3 [August 1902]: Illustrated by Color Photography
Various
This collection serves as a vibrant, kaleidoscopic window into the natural world at the turn of the twentieth century, blending scientific observation with poetic appreciation. It captures the curiosity of an era transitioning toward a more conservation-minded view of the environment.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 355, May 1845
Various
This vibrant collection of 1845 periodical writing offers a panoramic view of Victorian-era intellectual life, blending sharp political analysis with literary criticism and spirited storytelling.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 64, No. 397, November 1848
Various
The volatile year of 1848 vibrates through these pages, capturing the anxiety of a British establishment watching the collapse of order across Europe while grappling with its own domestic fractures. This collection of essays, reviews, and political commentary serves as a frantic dispatch from an era caught between…
Boris Lensky
Ossip Schubin
The life of a legendary artist often demands a sacrifice that the world never sees, and here the cost is paid in the currency of both fame and family. This portrait of a virtuoso explores the chasm between a public persona’s brilliance and the private ruin of a man who has bartered his soul for an irresistible,…
Burning of the Brooklyn Theatre: A thrilling personal experience! Brooklyn's horror. Wholesale holocaust at the Brooklyn, New York, Theatre, on the night of December 5th, 1876
Anonymous
The tragic 1876 fire at the Brooklyn Theatre claimed over three hundred lives, leaving a city in mourning and a nation searching for answers. This account chronicles the harrowing disaster, its aftermath, and the personal cost of a night turned to ash.
By The Sea: 1887
Heman White Chaplin
A rugged, salt-sprayed coast guards the secrets of two stubborn men fighting for the soul and custody of a vibrant child. This portrait of a fading New England way of life captures the quiet, crushing weight of loss.
Campfire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains
Stella M. Francis
The Flamingo Camp Fire girls face a perilous Christmas holiday when a labor dispute in a mining town turns into a web of kidnapping and mystery.
Canadian Battlefields, and Other Poems
J. R. (John Richardson) Wilkinson
Across nineteenth-century battlefields, quiet Ontario lanes, and the vast expanse of space, this collection seeks a permanent refuge for human devotion against the steady, relentless march of time.
Captain Mugford: Our Salt and Fresh Water Tutors
William Henry Giles Kingston
A group of brothers and their tutors embark on a classic maritime adventure, finding that the true perils of life are often found not just in the crashing surf, but in the character they build together.
Carette of Sark
John Oxenham
A story of forbidden love and smugglers’ feuds unfolds on the rugged, isolated cliffs of Sark, where a young man discovers his own identity is inextricably linked to the island’s most dangerous outlaw.
Child Labor in City Streets
Edward Nicholas Clopper
This investigative study exposes the often-ignored dangers lurking in the lives of children working on city streets, challenging the public to rethink its complicity in their exploitation. By documenting the pervasive physical and moral risks faced by newsboys, messengers, and street peddlers, the text serves as a…
Dave Porter and the Runaways
Edward Stratemeyer
HOOK A persistent student navigates school rivalries, a mysterious "wild man" in the woods, and the fallout of a local hotel bombing, ultimately striving to secure his graduation during his final term at Oak Hall.
Disturbances of the Heart: Discussion of the Treatment of the Heart in Its Various Disorders, With a Chapter on Blood Pressure
Oliver T. (Oliver Thomas) Osborne
A medical guide for the early 20th-century practitioner, this text offers a systematic, pragmatic approach to managing cardiac distress, prioritizing clinical observation and conservative therapy for the ailing heart.
Doctor Therne
H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
HOOK A once-brilliant physician finds his life unraveled by his own public crusade against vaccination. As a deadly epidemic strikes his community, his hypocrisy becomes a weapon that eventually destroys everything he holds dear.
Elder Conklin
Frank Harris
The prairie frontier is a crucible where shifting loyalties and rigid moralities collide. A young schoolmaster, an inscrutable patriarch, and his restless daughter navigate a landscape defined by both vast, indifferent nature and the encroaching reach of federal law.
Extraction of the Teeth
Frank Colyer
This manual serves as a definitive guide for the late-Victorian dental surgeon, navigating the delicate transition from crude tooth-pulling to the refined, antiseptic standards of modern clinical practice. It offers a structured approach to the surgical removal of teeth, emphasizing technical precision and patient…
Fighting the Whales
R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
A young sailor ventures into the perilous waters of the South Seas to support his widowed mother, discovering that the true challenge is not just the sea, but the titanic struggle against the sperm whale.
For Sceptre and Crown: A Romance of the Present Time. Vol. 2 (of 2)
Gregor Samarow
This intricate historical mosaic dramatizes the tectonic shifts of 1866, capturing the final dissolution of the old German order and the inexorable rise of a unified Prussian state. It serves as a narrative bridge between the personal lives of the displaced and the cold, high-stakes maneuvering of the era’s most…
Four American poets
Sherwin Cody
These biographical portraits capture the formative experiences and steady character of four pillars of American letters, presenting their lives as inspiring models of citizenship and enduring literary craft.
German Society at the Close of the Middle Ages
Ernest Belfort Bax
The Reformation was not merely a theological rupture, but a seismic social shift where decaying feudal structures collided with the raw, rising force of early capitalism.
Goody Two-Shoes
Unknown
A resilient orphan girl triumphs over poverty and prejudice, using her wisdom and kindness to educate village children and secure a place for herself in polite society.
Hex
Laurence M. Janifer
HOOK A young, idealistic social worker hides a terrifying secret: she uses genuine psychic powers to manipulate her clients into "bettering" their lives, whether they want the change or not.
Historical Record of the Forty-sixth or South Devonshire Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1741 and of Its Subsequent Services to 1851
Richard Cannon
This chronicle serves as a formal, rigorous audit of a century of military life, documenting the evolving identity and discipline of a single infantry unit from its inception to the mid-nineteenth century.
History of the United States of America, Volume 2 (of 9)
Henry Adams
The delicate experiment of the early American republic faces its first true test of power, testing whether a government born of revolution can act like an empire without losing its soul.
How to Fail in Literature: A Lecture
Andrew Lang
To write well is a formidable challenge, but to write poorly is an art form of its own. This manual for the aspiring literary aspirant serves as a cautionary guide to the precise methods—and social blunders—that guarantee total professional obscurity.
How to Write Music: Musical Orthography
Clement A. (Clement Antrobus) Harris
The art of musical transcription is often dismissed as a mechanical chore, yet it remains a crucial skill for any musician who wishes to communicate their ideas with clarity and professionalism. This guide serves as an essential manual for transforming abstract musical thoughts into the precise, standardized visual…
In Search of a Son
William S. Walsh
HOOK A grieving man returns from years of exile searching for a lost child, only to find the answer to his heart’s deepest question hidden in plain sight among his friends’ children.
In the Far East: A Narrative of Exploration and Adventure in Cochin-China, Cambodia, Laos, and Siam
W. H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport) Adams
A sweeping chronicle of nineteenth-century exploration, this narrative captures the perilous journeys through the untamed landscapes and diverse cultures of Indochina. It documents the relentless pursuit of geographical knowledge in a region then undergoing profound political and social shifts.
Jack the Young Cowboy: An Eastern Boy's Experiance on a Western Round-up
George Bird Grinnell
A young man from the East ventures into the rugged, vanishing wilderness of the American West to discover that the romantic life of a cowboy is, in truth, a demanding labor of dust, grit, and constant peril.
Jaros Hygienic Wear: The therapeutic and prophylactic application
I. Jaros
The scientific application of wool-fleece construction promises a revolution in health, offering the wearer protection against the vagaries of climate through the innovative management of body heat and moisture.
Knock three-one-two
Fredric Brown
A city gripped by terror finds its fates entwined when a desperate gambler and a lethal predator navigate the same dark streets. Fear is the only constant in a neighborhood where every knock on a door carries the weight of life or death.
Krindlesyke
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
Krindlesyke is a stark, relentless drama of Northumbrian life, tracing the erosion of a family through generations of pride, bitterness, and abandonment. Within the remote, unforgiving landscape of the fells, human lives burn out like fires in a draughty cottage, leaving only the cold stone walls to endure.
Lady Good-for-Nothing: A Man's Portrait of a Woman
Arthur Quiller-Couch
This historical novel traces the tumultuous life of an outcast woman who finds an uneasy, complex redemption through her connection to a powerful man. It is a study of social rigidities, the cruelty of provincial judgment, and the resilience of a spirit forged in hardship.
Lake Ngami
Charles John Andersson
This detailed account of nineteenth-century African exploration chronicles a harrowing quest to reach the remote Lake Ngami, documenting the endurance required to traverse a harsh and largely uncharted wilderness.
Libraries in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods: The Rede Lecture Delivered June 13, 1894
John Willis Clark
The physical evolution of the library, from the humble, chain-bound lecterns of monastic cloisters to the grand, wall-lined repositories of the Renaissance, reveals how humanity has long sought to preserve its most precious intellectual treasures.
Magazine, or Animadversions on the English Spelling (1703)
G. W.
This 1703 linguistic pamphlet exposes the absurd contradictions of the English writing system, proposing a radical, phonetic overhaul to bridge the gap between how words are spelled and how they are actually spoken.
Mam' Linda
Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben
A young lawyer risks his political future and his life to defend the innocent, navigating a treacherous landscape of mob violence and deep-seated prejudice in the post-Reconstruction South.
Marital Power Exemplified in Mrs. Packard's Trial, and Self-Defence from the Charge of Insanity
E. P. W. (Elizabeth Parsons Ware) Packard
A woman’s intellectual independence is branded as madness in this harrowing account of wrongful imprisonment. The narrative serves as both a personal memoir and a potent legal call for the rights of married women.
Marvels of Modern Science
Paul Severing
The rapid advancement of human ingenuity at the dawn of the twentieth century suggests that no frontier—on land, at sea, or in the stars—is beyond our reach.
Memorial Address on the Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln: Delivered at the request of both Houses of Congress of America
George Bancroft
A solemn, expansive tribute, this oration frames the life of a fallen leader as the inevitable, providential climax of the American struggle for freedom.
Mother Carey's Chicken: Her Voyage to the Unknown Isle
George Manville Fenn
A young man’s dream of maritime adventure turns into a desperate struggle for survival when his family’s ship is crippled in the Java Seas. This classic boys' adventure tale blends high-stakes survivalism with the wonder of discovery.
Mother Truth's Melodies. Common Sense For Children. A Kindergarten
Miller, E. P., Mrs.
This Victorian compendium offers a blend of rhyming lessons, moral instruction, and rudimentary science, designed to shape children into truthful, healthy, and informed members of society.
Motor Matt's Prize
Stanley R. Matthews
This fast-paced adventure follows a young mechanical prodigy as he navigates a high-stakes motorboat race, overcoming sabotage and personal injury through sheer technical skill and loyalty. It is a classic example of early twentieth-century boys' fiction, characterized by its brisk pacing, earnest moral lessons,…