Free summaries
Adventure — page 40
4,189 public-domain adventure books, summarised. Page 40 of 88.
The Golden Galleon: Being a Narrative of the Adventures of Master Gilbert Oglander, and of how, in the Year 1591, he fought under the gallant Sir Richard Grenville in the Great Sea-fight off Flores, on board her Majesty's Ship the Revenge
Robert Leighton
A young man joins Sir Richard Grenville’s doomed crew aboard the *Revenge* to face the Spanish fleet, testing his courage and loyalty in one of history’s most celebrated naval stands.
The Recipe for Diamonds
C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne
A hunt for a legendary secret leads an unlikely band across the Mediterranean, where desperation and greed collide in a race against an aging anarchist.
The White Waterfall
James Francis Dwyer
A rugged sailor and a group of explorers find themselves trapped on a remote, sinister Pacific island, where ancient stone ruins and a mysterious, luminous waterfall hold the key to their survival.
Toby Tyler
James Otis
Toby Tyler follows a lonely orphan boy who runs away to join a traveling circus, only to discover that the glittering spectacle hides a harsh and grueling reality. It remains a poignant, enduring look at the ache of homesickness and the simple human need for belonging.
Under the Andes
Rex Stout
HOOK Two brothers vanish into a subterranean empire beneath the Andes, where an ancient, hostile civilization holds them captive alongside a woman whose beauty exerts a strange, magnetic power over king and commoner alike.
Working my Way Around the World
Harry Alverson Franck
A restless traveler traverses the globe on foot and by manual labor, trading his sweat and ingenuity for a raw, unvarnished look at life far from the tourist trail.
Zarah the Cruel
Joan Conquest
The desert holds secrets tighter than the quicksands surrounding the Mountains of Death, where a fierce, prophetic woman and her desperate captives face a collision of cultures, vengeance, and obsession.
A Bicycle of Cathay
Frank R. Stockton
A schoolteacher’s summer cycling holiday spirals into an increasingly complicated web of social entanglements, romantic misunderstandings, and encounters with a traveling bear.
Picked up at Sea: The Gold Miners of Minturne Creek
John C. (John Conroy) Hutcheson
This collection of maritime adventures captures the peril and camaraderie of life at sea and on the untamed American frontier. It follows the resilience of young men facing storms, outlaws, and the isolating cruelty of nature.
The Arabian Nights Entertainments
Jonathan Scott
The power of a well-told story can reshape a kingdom, proving that wit and imagination are the ultimate defenses against cruelty and despair. This sprawling collection of tales serves as both a testament to human ingenuity and a bridge between cultures.
The Legend of Monte della Sibilla
Clive Bell
A knight and his squire seek a legendary paradise hidden within a mountain, only to discover that the price of eternal pleasure is a haunting, irreversible commitment to the unknown.
The lost oases
Ahmad Muhammad Hasanayn
A lone Egyptian explorer traverses the vast, empty reaches of the Libyan Desert, seeking the secrets of hidden oases and the silent majesty of the unknown. This narrative documents a singular journey into the heart of the Sahara.
The Scout and Ranger: Being the Personal Adventures of Corporal Pike of the Fourth Ohio cavalry
James Pike
A rugged, firsthand account of life on the American frontier and the front lines of the Civil War, this narrative offers a gritty, unvarnished look at a soldier’s survival in a house divided.
The Third Officer: A Present-day Pirate Story
Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
After their merchant steamer is seized by a ruthless pirate cruiser, a small band of survivors must outwit their captors on a hidden island to reclaim their freedom and their lives.
Timothy's Quest: A Story for Anybody, Young or Old, Who Cares to Read It
Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin
A courageous young boy searches for a home for his baby charge, only to discover that the most unlikely hearts are often the ones most in need of opening.
Beyond the Frontier: A Romance of Early Days in the Middle West
Randall Parrish
The wilderness holds more than just danger for a young woman forced into a treacherous marriage. Amidst the untamed rivers of the early American frontier, she must outwit her husband and reclaim her future.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 64, No.394, August, 1848
Various
This collection of Victorian-era essays and narratives offers a wide-ranging survey of mid-nineteenth-century interests, from the harsh realities of frontier life and colonial survival to the political turbulence of a revolutionary Europe.
Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Sunny South
Laura Lee Hope
A pair of spirited siblings wanders from their parents’ care, finding themselves caught in a series of improbable mishaps during a winter journey to the American South.
Dead Man's Land: Being the Voyage to Zimbambangwe of certain and uncertain blacks and whites
George Manville Fenn
A group of English explorers seeking ancient treasures in the African interior discovers that survival is far more challenging—and perilous—than the thrill of archaeological discovery.
Jasper Lyle
Mrs. Ward
Amid the wild, untamed landscapes of the Cape of Good Hope, a young woman flees a disastrous marriage, caught in the violent collision between colonial expansion, indigenous resistance, and the relentless demands of the past.
Leonard Lindsay
Angus B. (Angus Bethune) Reach
HOOK A young man is swept from his ordinary life into the brutal, lawless world of the seventeenth-century Caribbean, where survival depends on wit, steel, and a willingness to defy the Spanish empire.
Noémi
S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
In the rugged cliff-dwellings of medieval France, a young woman’s quest for identity clashes with the brutal cycle of vengeance fueled by local warlords. This historical drama explores the weight of blood ties and the possibility of redemption.
On Guard: Mark Mallory's Celebration
Upton Sinclair
This is a sharp, spirited look at the high-stakes rivalries of West Point, where a band of underdog cadets fights to preserve their dignity against the cruel hazing of their upperclassmen. It captures the relentless, imaginative, and often hilarious war of attrition fought between the "plebes" and the "yearlings.
Our Little Swiss Cousin
Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade
A young boy learns the value of his heritage while tending cattle on the high slopes of the Swiss Alps. This gentle narrative invites readers into the daily rhythm of mountain life at the turn of the twentieth century.
The Adventures of Billy Topsail
Norman Duncan
This collection of sea-faring tales chronicles the maturation of a young Newfoundlander who encounters the lethal indifference of the North Atlantic. It is a portrait of resilience, forged in ice and saltwater.
The Flying Stingaree: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story
Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin
HOOK When a mysterious, ray-shaped object begins haunting the Chesapeake Bay and vanishing local crabbers, two curious teenagers take their houseboat into dangerous waters to uncover the truth.
The Great Hunger
Johan Bojer
A man of boundless ambition pursues a life of intellectual and material conquest, only to discover that the truest human victory lies in the quiet, painful work of forgiveness and reconciliation.
The history of the life and adventures of Mr. Duncan Campbell
Unknown
A man born without the senses of hearing or speech discovers he possesses the uncanny "second sight," navigating a skeptical eighteenth-century London by predicting the fates and fortunes of those who seek him out.
The Range Dwellers
B. M. Bower
A wealthy, aimless young man is exiled by his father to a rough Montana ranch, where he struggles to find his footing and wins the heart of his enemy's daughter.
The Romance of War
James Grant
This sprawling 1847 epic follows a young Highlander through the crucible of the Napoleonic Wars, blending harrowing battlefield realism with the ornate, suspenseful melodrama of a soldier’s life in the early nineteenth century.
The Sky Pilot in No Man's Land
Ralph Connor
This account of a young minister serving as a front-line chaplain during the Great War explores the intersection of faith, physical courage, and the heavy toll of duty. It remains a poignant, if stylized, artifact of the period’s effort to reconcile the horrors of industrialized slaughter with traditional notions…
The Tickencote Treasure
William Le Queux
A humble doctor’s quiet life is upended when a chance encounter at sea reveals a centuries-old maritime mystery and a hidden cache of Spanish gold.
The Young Franc Tireurs, and Their Adventures in the Franco-Prussian War
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
The teenage brothers Ralph and Percy Barclay plunge into the chaos of the Franco-Prussian War, proving that courage and common sense can sometimes outmatch the might of an invading army.
Beyond the Old Frontier: Adventures of Indian-Fighters, Hunters, and Fur-Traders
George Bird Grinnell
The vast, untamed territory between the Mississippi and the Pacific once stood as a formidable, unknown frontier, where survival depended upon the steady aim of a rifle and an intimate knowledge of the land. This collection of historical accounts brings to life the era when fur traders, scouts, and young…
Famous Flyers and Their Famous Flights
Jack Wright
Two inseparable friends find their lives transformed when an adventurous pilot shares the heroic tales of aviation’s greatest pioneers. Their journey from fearful spectators to capable flyers mirrors the daring progress of the early twentieth century.
In Times of Peril: A Tale of India
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
In the sweltering, unstable environment of colonial India, two brothers endure the harrowing violence of the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion. Their survival through siege and skirmish becomes a test of grit, loyalty, and the endurance of the British spirit.
Molly Brown's Orchard Home
Nell Speed
A young woman from Kentucky embarks on a European journey that transforms her from a sheltered girl into an independent traveler ready to embrace the life—and love—she has secretly desired all along.
Peggy Raymond's Vacation
Harriet L. (Harriet Lummis) Smith
This story of a summer retreat captures the spirit of early twentieth-century girlhood, where character development, simple mischief, and the quiet bonds of friendship form the backdrop for a memorable vacation.
Tarzan, lord of the jungle
Edgar Rice Burroughs
A man raised by apes traverses the African interior, crossing paths with a stranded American and a lost civilization of medieval crusaders trapped in a hidden valley.
The Light That Lures
Percy James Brebner
The life of a young Virginian is upended by the chaos of the French Revolution when he ventures into the heart of Paris to rescue a woman from the shadow of the guillotine.
The Plant Hunters: Adventures Among the Himalaya Mountains
Mayne Reid
A botanical expedition into the remote Himalayas turns into a desperate struggle for survival when three explorers find themselves trapped behind a shifting glacier.
The Three Bears of Porcupine Ridge
Jean M. (Jean May) Thompson
These vignettes capture the secret lives of forest creatures, painting a portrait of the wilderness where survival, instinct, and sudden violence shape every waking hour.
Wild Beasts and Their Ways, Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa and America
Baker, Samuel White, Sir
The wilderness is a place of absolute accountability, where the wrong rifle or a momentary lapse in judgment can transform a hunter into the hunted. This immersive account of Victorian-era big game tracking balances technical precision with a profound, almost reverent respect for the animal kingdom.
Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross
L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum
The story of three American women navigating the harrowing realities of the Great War, this account offers a sobering look at the intersection of youthful idealism and the brutal necessities of medical relief.
Foxholme Hall, and Other Tales
William Henry Giles Kingston
This collection of tales captures the Victorian spirit of adventure, blending moral instruction with the thrilling, often supernatural, experiences of young men navigating a vast and unpredictable world.
Latitude 19°: A Romance of the West Indies in the Year of Our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Twenty
Crowninshield, Schuyler, Mrs.
A stranded ship’s company faces the perils of the Haitian wilderness and the court of the infamous King Christophe. Survival demands both courage and a quick wit in this journey through a treacherous, tropical landscape.
Outward Bound Or, Young America Afloat: A Story of Travel and Adventure
Oliver Optic
The voyage of the Young America is a journey of moral navigation, where a shipful of spirited students must learn that true authority is earned through character rather than force.
Tales of Daring and Danger
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
Even a small, seemingly insignificant threat can carry a lethal sting, much like the deceptive dangers faced by those venturing into the wild unknown. These accounts of peril illustrate that true character is forged only when the margin between survival and disaster vanishes.