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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 640 of 714.

The Last Generation: A Story of the Future
James Elroy Flecker
This haunting vision of the end of humanity explores what happens when a society achieves all its material desires but loses its soul. It is a brief, chilling meditation on the emptiness of a world without struggle, purpose, or children.

The Little Spanish Dancer
Madeline Brandeis
A young girl in Seville struggles to support her ailing grandfather by selling her mother's cherished keepsakes, only to find that some treasures hold a power beyond their monetary value.

The Livestock Producer and Armour
Unknown
The modern meat industry is a complex machine, and its survival relies entirely on a delicate, often misunderstood partnership between the farmer and the processor.

The Long Arm
Franz Nabl
A man returns to his hometown after decades away, only to be trapped in a terrifying conversation with an old acquaintance who confesses to murdering people through a horrific, supernatural reach.

The Man Who Hated Mars
Randall Garrett
HOOK A desperate exile on a frozen, hostile Mars plots an impossible escape to Earth, fueled by an obsession with the home he lost and a hatred for the world that holds him captive.

The Man Who Played to Lose
Laurence M. Janifer
The job is to dismantle a rebellion not by crushing it, but by giving the rebels exactly what they ask for until they destroy themselves. This is a story about the lethal irony of getting one’s own way.

The man with the hoe, and other poems
Edwin Markham
This collection of verse acts as a bridge between Victorian lyrical tradition and the awakening of American social conscience, framing the struggle of the laboring class as a fundamental spiritual crisis.

The Manor House of Lacolle: A description and historical sketch of the Manoir of the Seigniory
W. D. (William Douw) Lighthall
This historical sketch examines the architectural and social legacy of a frontier manor, tracing the intersection of American inheritance law, Canadian land development, and the vestiges of the feudal seigniorial system.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 323, July 19, 1828
Various
HOOK This collection functions as an intellectual cabinet of curiosities, preserving the diverse reports, folklore, and scientific observations that captivated the nineteenth-century British imagination.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 529, January 14, 1832
Various
A Victorian miscellany of history, science, and wit, this collection offers a window into the intellectual life of early nineteenth-century England.

The Missouri Archaeologist, Volume 34, No. 1 and 2, December 1972
Various
This collection of archaeological reports offers a meticulous, grounded look at the material lives of Missouri’s past, from 18th-century pipe manufacturing to the funerary practices of indigenous cultures. It is a vital record of regional history, preserved through the patient work of specialists and dedicated…

The Mystery Ship: A Story of the 'Q' Ships During the Great War
Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
A tense drama of the high seas, this story follows the crews of British "Q-ships"—disguised merchant vessels hunting German submarines during the final, desperate years of the Great War.

The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
This collection gathers the rhythmic, witty, and deeply contemplative verses of a quintessential nineteenth-century man of letters. It serves as a bridge between the structured formality of the era and the inquisitive, skeptical spirit of a modern mind.

The Red Cross Girls with Pershing to Victory
Margaret Vandercook
This chronicle follows a group of young American Red Cross nurses as they transition from the battlefields of France to the occupied territory of Germany, navigating the complex emotional aftermath of the Great War. It is a story of service, burgeoning independence, and the quiet, personal recalibrations required…

The Silverton Story
Mary Ann Olsen
Silverton, Colorado, emerges from the rugged San Juan Mountains as a mining camp that refused to die. This chronicle of a high-altitude town captures the relentless spirit of pioneers battling snow, isolation, and the volatile economics of precious metals.

The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. II., No. 4, March, 1836
Various
This collection serves as a vibrant, kaleidoscopic window into the intellectual and social preoccupations of the mid-1830s American South. It captures a moment where high-minded classical pedagogy collides with the burgeoning regional identity of a young nation.

The Squirrel Inn
Frank R. Stockton
A peaceful summer retreat becomes a stage for shifting social allegiances, where scholarly eccentricities and whispered reputations collide with the arrival of a mysterious, high-born nursemaid.

The Stoker and the Stars
Algis Budrys
The stars hold no room for the defeated, unless they are willing to earn a new place among the victors. This story explores how a single, quiet act of persistence can begin to mend the pride of a broken species.

The Story of My Mind
M. M. (Mangasar Mugurditch) Mangasarian
The pursuit of truth demands the courage to discard inherited dogma, even when that dogma is the foundation of one’s own life and livelihood.

The Unbidden Guest
E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
HOOK A charismatic stranger descends upon an isolated Australian farm, masquerading as a long-lost friend’s daughter. Her presence sparks a quiet, desperate drama of identity, deception, and the struggle to belong.

The Voyage of the "Steadfast": The Young Missionaries in the Pacific
William Henry Giles Kingston
The young crew of a whaling ship finds their seafaring ambitions transformed by shipwreck, encounters with Pacific islanders, and the influence of dedicated missionaries in this Victorian tale of faith and maritime adventure.

The Wine Press and the Cellar: A Manual for the Wine-Maker and the Cellar-Man
Emmet H. (Emmet Hawkins) Rixford
Cultivating fine wine in the untamed vineyards of 19th-century California required a marriage of pioneer grit and rigorous laboratory science. This technical manual remains a fascinating testament to that era’s transition from folk tradition to systematic viticulture.

The works of Richard Hurd, volume 6 (of 8)
Richard Hurd
This collection of sermons offers a rigorous, intellectual engagement with Christian doctrine, inviting the reader to weigh the moral claims of faith against the demands of human reason. It serves as a window into the thoughtful, structured pulpit oratory of the eighteenth-century Church of England.

The Writer, Volume VI, April 1892.: A Monthly Magazine to Interest and Help All Literary Workers
Various
This collection of essays and columns offers a candid, professional window into the late nineteenth-century literary marketplace, serving as a practical handbook for those navigating the transition from creative ambition to commercial reality.

The Young Rajah
William Henry Giles Kingston
A young man journeys to India to secure his father’s legacy, only to find himself thrust into the role of a reluctant ruler during the turbulent buildup to the Indian Mutiny.

The Youngest Sister: A Tale of Manitoba
Bessie Marchant
In this spirited tale of pioneer resilience, a young woman finds her strength while navigating the punishing, isolated beauty of the Canadian frontier. It is a story of grit, self-discovery, and the bonds that sustain a family.

Through the mill: The life of a mill-boy
Frederic Kenyon Brown
This autobiography captures the suffocating reality of the American textile industry at the turn of the 20th century through the eyes of a boy who refuses to let the machinery grind his spirit down.

Toy Shop
Harry Harrison
A clever toy rocket that seemingly defies gravity becomes a catalyst for scientific breakthrough when it lands in the hands of the very people who might solve its mystery.

Trooper 3809: A Private Soldier of the Third Republic
Lionel Decle
A raw, firsthand account of the brutal realities facing a private soldier in the French cavalry, this narrative exposes a system where institutional cruelty and arbitrary punishment effectively dismantle the spirit of the rank-and-file.

Two Decades: A History of the First Twenty Years' Work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of the State of New York
Frances W. Graham
This chronicle documents the first two decades of a powerful grassroots movement, tracking the rise of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in New York from local prayer groups to a statewide political force.

Under the Ocean to the South Pole
Roy Rockwood
A crew of explorers ventures into the unknown reaches of the deep, piloting a cutting-edge submarine toward the South Pole to confront monstrous sea life and the mysteries of the frozen frontier.

Walter Harland
Harriet S. (Harriet Sophia) Caswell
A quiet, earnest reflection on the passage of time, this narrative traces the steady moral development of a young man as he navigates the hardships of poverty and the complex temperaments of those around him.

Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 18
Unknown
This volume gathers a diverse collection of tales set against the rugged backdrop of the Scottish Borders, weaving together threads of folklore, historical tragedy, and the domestic struggles of the nineteenth century.

Wolf's Head: 1911
Charles Egbert Craddock
In a remote wilderness where the law is often a death warrant, a young woman’s impulsive mercy becomes the only shield for a man branded as a beast. She risks everything to rewrite a narrative that was never hers to judge.

York
George Benson
York serves as a vivid, living portal into England’s medieval past, where ancient stone walls and towering cathedrals guard the secrets of kings, rebels, and saints.

A Cabinet Secret
Guy Boothby
A gripping tale of political intrigue and high-stakes kidnapping, this thriller follows a British cabinet minister’s desperate struggle against a secret conspiracy threatening the heart of the Empire during the South African War.

A Catalogue of Books Published by Methuen and Company, November 1907
Methuen & Co.
This volume serves as a deliberate portrait of the Edwardian intellectual and commercial landscape, preserving a meticulously organized snapshot of the books and ideas that shaped the reading habits of the early twentieth century.

A Child of the Sea
Elizabeth Whitney Williams
HOOK A child’s perspective anchors this vivid memoir of life in a nineteenth-century frontier settlement, where the wild beauty of the Great Lakes meets the encroaching influence of a controversial religious colony.

A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 1, part 4: James Madison
Unknown
This historical record serves as an essential primary source, capturing the formal voice and administrative challenges of the fourth American president as he navigated a young nation through war, diplomacy, and internal growth.

A Key to the Knowledge of Church History (Ancient)
John Henry Blunt
This chronicle traces the trajectory of the Christian Church from its apostolic origins to the eve of the Reformation, offering a dense, structured overview of institutional development and theological strife. It serves as a concentrated manual for understanding the historical foundations of Western ecclesiastical…

A Life for a Life, Volume 1 (of 3)
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
This intricate Victorian narrative explores the moral weight of the past, as a reserved physician and a spirited young woman attempt to reconcile their private histories with the demands of an honorable life.

A Masque of Days: From the Last Essays of Elia: Newly Dressed & Decorated
Charles Lamb
The New Year, fresh from his father's passing, hosts a grand dinner party for every day of the calendar, leading to a chaotic, whimsical, and revelrous gathering of time itself.

A Phantom Lover
Vernon Lee
A portrait painter’s commission at a secluded English manor house descends into a harrowing psychological nightmare of obsession, historical reenactment, and tragic delusion.

A Prairie Courtship
Harold Bindloss
A young woman strikes out for a new life on the harsh Canadian frontier, where she encounters a man reinventing himself through the punishing labor of the homestead.

A Theory of the Mechanism of Survival: The Fourth Dimension and Its Applications
W. Whately (Walter Whately) Smith
Can a mathematical concept solve the mystery of what happens after we die? This inquiry explores whether higher spatial dimensions provide a bridge between the physical world and the afterlife.

A West Point Treasure
Upton Sinclair
A group of defiant West Point newcomers finds themselves caught between the brutal hazing of upperclassmen and a dangerous, real-world mystery hidden in the caves near the Hudson River.

Admiral Peters: Odd Craft, Part 14
W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs
A quiet naval pensioner finds his peaceful retirement shattered when an old acquaintance arrives, forcing him into a web of elaborate lies that quickly spiral out of control.

An Uncrowned King: A Romance of High Politics
Sydney C. Grier
A reluctant aristocrat is swept into the chaotic politics of a fictional Balkan state, discovering that the crown he never wanted is guarded by intrigue, danger, and a woman who refuses to be his queen.