myebooksbuy
My Books

The whole shelf

All free summaries — page 581

34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 581 of 714.

Cover of Home Influence: A Tale for Mothers and Daughters

Home Influence: A Tale for Mothers and Daughters

Grace Aguilar

A quiet house in Devonshire becomes the testing ground for every variety of childhood fault and maternal patience.

British Literature9 min read
Cover of How to Get Married, Although a Woman

How to Get Married, Although a Woman

Irene W. Hartt

Practical strategy triumphs over romance in a Victorian manual that treats courtship as a coolly calculated campaign, urging women to keep their composure, manage male vanity, and secure a marriage proposal through self-control.

How To ...5 min read
Cover of Idle Hours in a Library

Idle Hours in a Library

William Henry Hudson

A literary scholar invites readers on four distinct excursions into the past, wandering through London’s vibrant streets, private diaries, early romantic fiction, and the fragile, impoverished attics of Parisian artists.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of In the Days of Queen Elizabeth

In the Days of Queen Elizabeth

Eva March Tappan

Elizabeth Tudor navigates royal deadly rivalries, imprisonment in the Tower, and the burdens of statecraft to forge a unified, prosperous England over half a century of rule.

History - British7 min read
Cover of Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Joel Chandler Harris

Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Joel Chandler Harris

Joel Chandler Harris

A vast landscape of Middle Georgia opens up through a rich tapestry of animal fables, historical sketches, Reconstruction struggles, and swamp adventures. Across decades of storytelling, plantation traditions give way to a changing Southern society.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Jack in the Rockies: A Boy's Adventures with a Pack Train

Jack in the Rockies: A Boy's Adventures with a Pack Train

George Bird Grinnell

An old hand leads two boys through a vanishing wilderness, where every mountain pass and campfire story opens another layer of the West.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of John Ames, Native Commissioner: A Romance of the Matabele Rising

John Ames, Native Commissioner: A Romance of the Matabele Rising

Bertram Mitford

A British official in colonial Rhodesia faces a native uprising, personal betrayal, and a perilous journey to protect a woman he loves.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Kafir Stories: Seven Short Stories

Kafir Stories: Seven Short Stories

W. C. (William Charles) Scully

Crossing cultural frontiers in late nineteenth-century South Africa, these seven tales lay bare the collisions of human greed, tribal custom, and imperial authority.

Short Stories6 min read
Cover of Kings Mountain National Military Park, South Carolina

Kings Mountain National Military Park, South Carolina

George C. Mackenzie

In October 1780, an untrained army of Appalachian frontiersmen surrounded a heavily fortified ridge in South Carolina to confront a Loyalist force, altering the trajectory of the American Revolution in a single hour of violent combat.

History - American6 min read
Cover of "Laramie;" Or, The Queen of Bedlam. A Story of the Sioux War of 1876

"Laramie;" Or, The Queen of Bedlam. A Story of the Sioux War of 1876

Charles King

A young lieutenant’s silver money vanishes from his desk on a frontier army post, leaving a trail of silken rustles and missing keepsakes across the Cheyenne plains.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Leprosy

Leprosy

G. Armauer (Gerhard Armauer) Hansen

A landmark nineteenth-century clinical study replaces centuries of terror and folklore with precise microscopic observation, establishing leprosy as a specific, bacterial infection that demands rational public health measures rather than ancient superstitions.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Letters from the peninsula, 1808-1812

Letters from the peninsula, 1808-1812

Warre, William, Sir

Underneath the official histories of Wellington’s campaigns lies a far more candid story of wet boots, frustrating allies, and the gritty day-to-day work of forging a functioning army.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Life on the Mississippi, Part 3

Life on the Mississippi, Part 3

Mark Twain

A treacherous river shifts under every passing boat, demanding absolute mastery from the men who steer the great wooden steamers through its dark, labyrinthine currents.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Little Philippe of Belgium

Little Philippe of Belgium

Madeline Brandeis

A restless young boy on a quiet Belgian farm longs for a life of grand adventure, only to discover how treacherous the open road can be.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Mad Shepherds, and Other Human Studies

Mad Shepherds, and Other Human Studies

L. P. (Lawrence Pearsall) Jacks

A eccentric shepherd looks up at the English night sky, indifferent to the gossip of the village tavern because his mind is wandering through the rings of Saturn.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Married life

Married life

May Edginton

Expectations collide with hard realities when romantic ideals enter the grind of domestic life and financial strain.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Meeting of the Minds

Meeting of the Minds

Robert Sheckley

A long-dormant Martian entity stows away to Earth, seeking to unify all living creatures into a single hive mind—starting with an isolated island treasure-hunting expedition.

Science-Fiction & Fantasy6 min read
Cover of Monsieur Lecoq, v. 2

Monsieur Lecoq, v. 2

Emile Gaboriau

Driven by political fury, secret shame, and relentless jealousy, two noble families and an army of conspirators tear themselves apart in post-Napoleonic France.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of Moral Tales

Moral Tales

Madame (Elisabeth Charlotte Pauline) Guizot

Everyday domestic choices become the true crucible of character in this French collection, where childhood errors carry real weight and quiet integrity quietly prevails.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of Moriah's Mourning and Other Half-Hour Sketches

Moriah's Mourning and Other Half-Hour Sketches

Ruth McEnery Stuart

A month after burying her husband, a plantation widow plans a remarriage while stubbornly guarding her full year of grief, setting off a collection of wry, tender tales.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of My Escape from Donington Hall, Preceded by an Account of the Siege of Kiao-Chow in 1915

My Escape from Donington Hall, Preceded by an Account of the Siege of Kiao-Chow in 1915

Gunther Plüschow

A solitary German aviator wages an aerial campaign over a besieged Chinese outpost, falls into British hands, and pulls off a daring escape through the heart of wartime London.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of My Escape from Germany

My Escape from Germany

Eric A. Keith

A stubborn civilian prisoner navigates false leads, wet woods, and cold cells to outwit his captors and slip across the border into Holland.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Nature and Art

Nature and Art

Mrs. Inchbald

Two brothers choose radically different paths in eighteenth-century England—one climbing the ranks of social ambition through rigid conformity, the other raising a son in wild innocence far from worldly corruption.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Navy Day

Navy Day

Harry Harrison

Military grandstanding turns into a surreal bureaucratic arms race when technological breakthroughs redefine land and sea power overnight.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Neighbours on the Green

Neighbours on the Green

Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Quiet observers know that small towns keep big secrets. In this nineteenth-century Surrey enclave, gossipy warmth masks deep griefs, secret pasts, and quiet sacrifices.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of Neva's three lovers: a novel

Neva's three lovers: a novel

Harriet Lewis

A orphaned heiress navigating a labyrinth of forged letters, treacherous step-parents, and competing suitors must unearth the truth about her past to secure her future.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Next Door Neighbours: A Comedy

Next Door Neighbours: A Comedy

Mrs. Inchbald

Boundaries melt when a paper-thin wall is all that separates a realm of ruinous aristocratic luxury from a cold room where an impoverished family starves.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Notes and Queries, Number 77, April 19, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc

Notes and Queries, Number 77, April 19, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc

Various

A lively Victorian forum unfolds through brief dispatches, preserving a rich tapestry of literary debate, historical investigation, and regional folklore.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of Notes on the History of Argentine Independence

Notes on the History of Argentine Independence

Charles W. Whittemore

South America’s march toward freedom begins not in sudden ideological thunder, but in an expansive geographical reversal that turns a colonial commercial outpost into an invincible continental liberator.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Old Melbourne Memories: Second Edition, Revised

Old Melbourne Memories: Second Edition, Revised

Rolf Boldrewood

Boundless open pastures, violent frontier skirmishes, and the heady thrill of building a colony from scratch animate this rich pastoral memoir. Rolf Boldrewood captures the untamed spirit of early Victoria through vivid, authentic recollections.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Personal Reminiscences in Book Making, and Some Short Stories

Personal Reminiscences in Book Making, and Some Short Stories

R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

A writer who dives into cold seas to test a plot point will stop at nothing to capture the truth.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Pirate tales from the law

Pirate tales from the law

Arthur M. (Arthur Merton) Harris

Eighteenth-century pirates step out of romantic legend and into the harsh light of courtroom records, where sworn testimonies reveal their actual lives, petty squabbles, and eventual walk to the gallows.

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of Poems by Jean Ingelow, In Two Volumes, Volume II

Poems by Jean Ingelow, In Two Volumes, Volume II

Jean Ingelow

A quiet, luminous collection of Victorian verse, exploring faith, domestic intimacy, and the lingering shadow of loss.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 21, 1914

Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 21, 1914

Various

Dive into the wit and satire of *Punch* magazine, offering a unique perspective on early 20th-century life, politics, and culture.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 32, November 5, 1870

Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 32, November 5, 1870

Various

This nineteenth-century American humor periodical delivers a sharp, theatrical snapshot of Reconstruction-era urban satire, blending parodies of popular literature with barbed commentary on Gilded Age society, politics, and press rivalries.

Humour6 min read
Cover of Robert Annys: Poor Priest. A Tale of the Great Uprising

Robert Annys: Poor Priest. A Tale of the Great Uprising

Annie Nathan Meyer

A devoted fourteenth-century reformer finds his spirit torn between the quiet purity of the sanctuary, the fiery demands of a peasant uprising, and the agonizing call of human desire.

Historical Novels7 min read
Cover of Roman life in the days of Cicero

Roman life in the days of Cicero

Alfred John Church

An eye for detail and a knack for human drama bring first-century Rome to life through the public speeches and private correspondence of its greatest orator.

History - Ancient6 min read
Cover of Rosy

Rosy

Mrs. Molesworth

A young girl’s fierce jealousy and explosive temper threaten to tear apart her quiet English home when a gentle orphaned cousin arrives to live with her family.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Sonnets and Canzonets

Sonnets and Canzonets

Amos Bronson Alcott

Through quiet verse and earnest portraits, a New England elder reflects on a long life shaped by love, philosophical friendship, and the American struggle for freedom.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Spiritual Adventures

Spiritual Adventures

Arthur Symons

A strange, quiet child watches his parents, learns he has no home to anchor him, and discovers that the only real life he possesses is the life going on inside his head.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Storm Warriors

Storm Warriors

John Gilmore

Men battle furious seas off the English coast to rescue strangers stranded upon shifting quicksands.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Taras Shevchenko, the poet of Ukraine

Taras Shevchenko, the poet of Ukraine

Taras Shevchenko

A bound nation’s agony and hunger for freedom find their enduring voice in the verses of a former serf turned poet.

Poetry5 min read
Cover of That Stick

That Stick

Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

An unexpected inheritance lifts a modest, middle-aged clerk into the British peerage, forcing an unpretentious couple to navigate elevated social duties while protecting their young heir from envious family scheme.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Air Ship Boys

The Air Ship Boys

H. L. (Harry Lincoln) Sayler

A teenage aeronaut builds a hydrogen-powered dirigible to unearth a ancient Aztec temple hidden high in the southwestern mountains.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Autobiography of a Monkey

The Autobiography of a Monkey

Albert Bigelow Paine

Born in the deep shadows of an African forest, a bright young monkey is tricked into leaving his native tree-tops, embarking on an extraordinary journey through human society before ultimately returning home as a fully civilized leader.

Humour6 min read
Cover of The Banner Boy Scouts

The Banner Boy Scouts

George A. Warren

An eager small-town teenager rallies his friends into a newly formed Boy Scout patrol, leading them through midnight practical jokes, lost-child hunts, and local rivalries to claim their county’s top banner.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Barren Ground of Northern Canada

The Barren Ground of Northern Canada

Warburton Pike

A journey beyond the tree line becomes a test of sheer physical endurance in the raw, unforgiving wilderness of northern Canada.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of The Beggar Man

The Beggar Man

Ruby M. (Ruby Mildred) Ayres

She married a mysterious stranger to save her family from poverty, only to discover he might be the very man who ruined them.

British Literature6 min read
Advertisement