The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 588
34,093 public-domain books, summarised. Page 588 of 711.
Oxford
Andrew Lang
A reflective journey through centuries of architectural and human change, exploring the enduring spirit of an ancient seat of learning.
Pastoral Poems by Nicholas Breton, Selected Poetry by George Wither, and Pastoral Poetry by William Browne (of Tavistock)
Nicholas Breton
A tapestry of rural song, courtly longing, and fierce independence weaves through these three early modern voices as they praise the quiet countryside and defend the integrity of the mind.
Poems on Serious and Sacred Subjects: Printed only as Private Tokens of Regard, for the Particular Friends of the Author
William Hayley
Written in the twilight of life as intimate gifts for close friends, this collection transforms personal sorrow and theological reflection into quiet, elegant verse that gently reconciles mortal grief with Christian hope.
Précis writing for beginners
Guy Noel Pocock
A structured training manual turns the art of clear summary into a series of rigorous, step-by-step compositional rules for young students.
Punch, or the London Charivari, The Christmas Number, 1890
Various
A satirical grand tour across the solar system exposes the absurdities of Victorian society through the eyes of a globe-trotting jester and an aging, weary allegory.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, July 15, 1914
Various
An anonymous satirical volume published on the eve of the First World War captures a society enjoying its final summer of peaceful triviality. Through short sketches, parodic verses, lighthearted commentary, and humorous essays, the book dissects British society in mid-July 1914. Its light, ironic voice paints a…
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-04-07
Various
A satirical slice of post-war British life, this single issue of Punch captures a nation navigating the absurdities of housing shortages, high taxes, and social change with dry, understated humor.
Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 22, August 27, 1870
Various
A colorful slice of late nineteenth-century urban culture captures a nation lampooning its own social fractures, political scandals, and literary ambitions.
Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee: Giving an Account of Her Call to Preach the Gospel
Jarena Lee
An early nineteenth-century itinerant evangelist recounts her spiritual conversion, her fight against gendered hostility, and her thousands of miles traveled to deliver the Gospel.
Riley Farm-Rhymes
James Whitcomb Riley
Sunlight filters through orchard leaves, and the scent of damp clover lingers long after childhood has slipped away.
Rudimental Divine Science
Mary Baker Eddy
Spiritual freedom requires discarding the illusion that matter rules existence, grounding all reality and healing in a single, infinite divine Mind.
Sanders of the river
Edgar Wallace
A solitary British commissioner rules a vast African territory through swift, iron-handed authority, unyielding local magic, and the quiet threat of a river gunboat.
Sanitation in Panama
William Crawford Gorgas
Before mosquito control turned Panama from a deadly trap into a viable canal route, public health was driven by guesswork, fear, and crippling mortality rates.
Scouting and patrolling
United States. Marine Corps
A precision instruction manual for tactical reconnaissance, this official military doctrine shapes raw terrain and basic human physiology into calculated tools for survival and battlefield dominance.
Secret Diplomacy: How Far Can It Be Eliminated?
Paul S. (Paul Samuel) Reinsch
Can statecraft function without deception, or are international relations trapped in a perpetual loop of suspicion, armaments, and war?
Seven Frozen Sailors
George Manville Fenn
A ship's captain lies delirious on an Arctic voyage, dreaming that his vessel is trapped inside a massive ice crater where seven preserved mariners are successively thawed out to spin their life stories.
Sir Quixote of the Moors: Being some account of an episode in the life of the Sieur de Rohaine
John Buchan
A fugitive French gentleman, marooned among the wet heather of the Scottish hills, takes shelter in a lonely manse and finds his chivalric honor tested by an unexpected love.
Skookum Chuck Fables: Bits of History, Through the Microscope
R. D. (Robert Dalziel) Cumming
A dry, sardonic eye peers through the damp mists of British Columbia to document the foibles of pioneers, rogues, and ordinary dreamers struggling for a foothold.
Songs and Satires
Edgar Lee Masters
In a world drowned in transient noise, language breaks down before the absolute depths of human life, leaving us voiceless before grief, urban decay, and elusive love.
Terence's Andrian, a comedy, in five acts
Terence
A young Athenian citizen falls in love with a penniless woman, only for his father to arrange a marriage with a wealthy neighbor's daughter.
Thames Valley Villages, Volume 2 (of 2)
Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
Wandering past ancient parish churches, quiet river backwaters, and suburban developments, a sharp-eyed observer uncovers the eccentric history, forgotten lives, and changing landscapes of the Thames Valley.
The American Missionary
Various
A monthly collection of field reports, personal correspondence, and financial ledgers paints a vivid picture of nineteenth-century Reconstruction and native assimilation efforts across the United States.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
In the midst of the American Civil War, the March 1864 issue of the Atlantic Monthly gathers historical oddities, romantic fiction, philosophical musings, and urgent military analysis into a vivid portrait of a nation in crisis.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 88, February, 1865: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
A collection of nineteenth-century American voices probes the arts, politics, domestic life, and the moral urgency of war.
The Autobiography of Thomas Platter, a schoolmaster of the sixteenth century
Thomas Platter
Driven by a desperate hunger for learning, a poor Swiss goat-boy travels Europe on foot to transform himself into a Renaissance master.
The Boarding School
Hannah Webster Foster
An elegant series of moral lectures transitions into a lively exchange of letters, detailing how young women must navigate vanity, improper literature, and male deceit to secure a virtuous life.
The Clock Strikes Thirteen
Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt
Masked night riders terrorize local farmers until a spunky teenage reporter manipulates a local clock tower to trap the culprits.
The Corner House Girls Among the Gypsies: How They Met, What Happened, and How It Ended
Grace Brooks Hill
Two young girls purchase a woven basket from nomadic women, only to discover an intricate silver heirloom hidden inside that draws their small town into a chaotic web of runaways, trickery, and abduction.
The Dance of Death
William (Author of The dance of death) Herman
A relentless moral crusade against the modern waltz, this scathing tract exposes the sensual perils hidden beneath the glittering surface of nineteenth-century high society.
The Diary of a Saint
Arlo Bates
A young woman's diary reveals her journey through love, loss, and self-discovery in a small New England town.
The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Hell, Volume 04
Dante Alighieri
A living pilgrim descends into the subterranean terrors of the underworld, relying entirely on a wise guide to navigate demonic monsters, divine judgments, and his own overwhelming dread.
The Essential Faith of the Universal Church
Harriet Martineau
A reasoned plea for spiritual freedom, this nineteenth-century tract strips away centuries of theological accretions to reveal a universal faith anchored solely in divine mercy and individual conscience.
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistles to the Thessalonians
James Denney
A foundational Christian community faces sudden persecution, internal friction, and deep anxieties over the end of the world. Through careful historical and spiritual exposition, this commentary unlocks Paul’s earliest letters to guide struggling believers toward quiet integrity and steady work.
The factory
Jonathan Thayer Lincoln
Before machine labor redefined human society, individual weavers sat in quiet cottages, laboring over manual looms to earn a meager living from hand-spun yarn.
The Feast of St. Friend
Arnold Bennett
Modern Christmas often feels like an exhausted obligation, but stripping away its ancient dogmas reveals a vital human necessity. By grounding the season in astronomical reality and active goodwill, we can reclaim its power to transform our daily relationships.
The Great Stone of Sardis
Frank R. Stockton
Deep within the earth, beneath fourteen miles of solid rock, lies a brilliant, unyielding shell of pure diamond that forms the true core of the world.
The Happy-go-lucky Morgans
Edward Thomas
A suburban London house becomes an unexpected refuge of Welsh warmth, eccentric talk, and endless boyhood adventure.
The Idol of the Blind: A Novel
Tom Gallon
A boy surrenders his fortune to shield the woman he loves, bearing the world's disdain so that her illusions might remain unbroken.
The Innocent Adventuress
Mary Hastings Bradley
A eighteen-year-old Italian aristocrat is sent to America to secure a wealthy husband, only to discover that her strict traditions clash head-on with jazz-age freedoms.
The Lady of Pleasure: A Comedie, as It Was Acted by Her Majesties Servants, at the Private House in Drury Lane
James Shirley
High-society extravagance collides with sharp-tongued wit when a country gentleman stages a theatrical display of squandering to save his wife from London's seductive vanity.
The Life and Adventures of Rear-Admiral John Paul Jones, Commonly Called Paul Jones
John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
Driven by an unyielding desire for glory and justice, a Scottish-born sailor navigates political petty jealousies and lethal naval battles to lay the groundwork for a new nation’s maritime power.
The Life Savers: A story of the United States life-saving service
James Otis
A young boy and his terrier wash ashore in a violent gale, finding an unexpected home among the rugged surfmen of the United States Life-Saving Service.
The Lion of Petra
Talbot Mundy
In the shadow of Edom's ancient red-rock cliffs, a rogue commander, an American agent, and a handful of desert bandits play a high-stakes game of bluff and survival.
The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Volume 14: Lives of the Poets
Suetonius
Behind the grandeur of ancient Rome's golden age of literature lies a human reality composed of imperial patronage, deadly political grudges, social climbing, and sudden, quiet tragedies.
The Merman and the Figure-Head
Clara F. (Clara Florida) Guernsey
A enchanted sea-creature mistakes a merchant ship's wooden figurehead for a living ocean goddess, giving up his sea home to follow an unrequited, wooden love around the globe.
The Mind of Jesus
John R. (John Ross) Macduff
A contemplative study of the inner life and character of Christ offers a framework for daily transformation. Readers are guided to move beyond mere doctrine and reflect upon a living, gentle exemplar.
The Ministry of the Spirit
A. J. (Adoniram Judson) Gordon
A systematic exploration reveals how the Holy Spirit functions as the active, personal vicar of Christ, transforming the church from an earthly organization into a spirit-filled vessel.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 542, April 14, 1832
Various
A miscellany of nineteenth-century British curiosities gathers landscape reviews, African exploration, American social critiques, and rural superstitions into a single continuous stream. It captures an expanding world through the lens of a newly literate, deeply inquisitive public.