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5,112 public-domain books, summarised. Page 103 of 107.

Cover of The Secret History of the Court of Justinian

The Secret History of the Court of Justinian

Procopius

Behind the glittering mosaic facade of sixth-century Byzantium lies a raw, venomous chronicle of greed, absolute power, and private betrayal.

History - Ancient6 min read
Cover of A collection of Latin maxims and phrases literally translated: Intended for the use of students for all legal examinations

A collection of Latin maxims and phrases literally translated: Intended for the use of students for all legal examinations

John N. Cotterell

Mastering the principles behind legal Latin gives a student a reliable blueprint to navigate the vast, chaotic sea of judicial precedents.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of A Wonder Book for Girls & Boys

A Wonder Book for Girls & Boys

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Immortal fables escape their ancient marble frames as a country college student spins six timeless Greek myths into lively, romantic tales for a houseful of eager children during a snowy berkshire winter.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)

Unknown

An exhaustive system of verbal record captures the English language as it stood at the turn of the twentieth century, organizing human knowledge from technical science to poetic archaisms.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference11 min read
Cover of Flagg's The Far West, 1836-1837, part 2

Flagg's The Far West, 1836-1837, part 2

Edmund Flagg

A sweeping journey through the American West captures a continent in transition, where wild landscapes, vanishing frontier posts, and devout missionary encounters meet.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Stories from Le Morte D'Arthur and the Mabinogion

Stories from Le Morte D'Arthur and the Mabinogion

Beatrice E. (Beatrice Elizabeth) Clay

A realm of magic, chivalry, and tragic betrayal comes alive through classic legends of Arthurian knights and ancient Welsh heroes.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Works of Martin Luther, with Introductions and Notes (Volume II)

Works of Martin Luther, with Introductions and Notes (Volume II)

Martin Luther

True spiritual freedom arises when faith dismantles human tyranny, restoring individual conscience to divine promise while binding the believer in voluntary, loving service to every neighbor.

Religion/Spirituality9 min read
Cover of Life and Letters of Charles Darwin

Life and Letters of Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Behind the formidable architecture of modern evolutionary theory lies a modest home in Kent, where an endlessly curious naturalist spent decades patiently interrogating pigeons, orchids, and earthworms.

Biographies8 min read
Cover of Narrative and Legendary Poems, Complete: Volume I of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

Narrative and Legendary Poems, Complete: Volume I of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier

A landscape of rugged coasts, dark woods, and quiet hearths comes to life in verse, where human faith and historical memory collide against the silence of the wilderness.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented

Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented

William Tebb

Terrifying documented accounts and precise medical observations illuminate the profound societal danger of mistaking profound suspended animation for actual death.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore

Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore

Elizabeth Mary Wright

Centuries of living local speech and communal memory come to life in a study that captures the precise, poetic ways working people across England name their world.

Language & Communication6 min read
Cover of Among Famous Books

Among Famous Books

John Kelman

Human history is defined by a perpetual, internal tug-of-war between basic worldly desires and the reach for higher spiritual truth.

Classics of Literature6 min read
Cover of Church History (Volumes 1-3)

Church History (Volumes 1-3)

J. H. (Johann Heinrich) Kurtz

A sweeping, rigorous record of Christian faith as it evolves across two millennia, contending with empire, intellectual schism, and the raw mechanics of worldly power.

History - Religious11 min read
Cover of Fundamental Philosophy, Vol. 2 (of 2)

Fundamental Philosophy, Vol. 2 (of 2)

Jaime Luciano Balmes

The mind does not merely absorb the world through sensory impressions; it possesses an active, rational structure capable of reaching fundamental, necessary truths.

Philosophy & Ethics7 min read
Cover of Mark Twain's Letters

Mark Twain's Letters

Mark Twain

A private life of high ambition, crushing debt, and unquenchable humor unfolds through the frank, unedited mail of an American master.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Short Stories for High Schools

Short Stories for High Schools

Unknown

A young country needs a literature that moves at its own breakneck pace. This collection captures American life through compact, vivid, and surprising narratives.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

A clever storyteller staves off execution by spinning endless tales of trickster cobblers, underwater kingdoms, and royal intrigue across the medieval Islamic world, bound together by exhaustive scholarly commentaries on Eastern culture.

Adventure10 min read
Cover of The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 01

The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 01

Robert Louis Stevenson

A young Scottish writer wanders through foreign riverways, French mountain trails, and his own storied hometown, transforming simple observation into a masterclass in atmospheric travel prose.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Cat" to "Celt": Volume 5, Slice 5

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Cat" to "Celt": Volume 5, Slice 5

Various

A vast array of knowledge spans from ancient catacombs and forgotten poets to modern warfare and prehistoric stone tools. It captures the human impulse to record, classify, and comprehend every corner of the known world.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference12 min read
Cover of The Theory of Psychoanalysis

The Theory of Psychoanalysis

C. G. (Carl Gustav) Jung

Human psychological distress stems not from long-buried childhood shocks, but from an individual's immediate hesitation when facing the daunting tasks of adult life.

Psychiatry/Psychology6 min read
Cover of Armenia, Travels and Studies (Volume 1 of 2): The Russian Provinces

Armenia, Travels and Studies (Volume 1 of 2): The Russian Provinces

H. F. B. (Harry Finnis Blosse) Lynch

A high-altitude expedition across mountainous borderlands reveals how landscape, imperial policy, and ancient religious memory shape a resilient, imperiled civilization.

History - Other12 min read
Cover of History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Edward Gibbon

Power crumbles not in a single catastrophic instant, but through the slow erosion of institutions, the rise of competing faiths, and the unrelenting pressure of foreign forces across centuries of transformation.

History - European12 min read
Cover of Maud, and Other Poems

Maud, and Other Poems

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron

A bitter young man mourns his father's ruined life and violent death in a dark hollow, nursing hatred for the wealthy estate owner whose financial schemes drove his family to disaster.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of My Ántonia

My Ántonia

Willa Cather

An orphaned Virginia boy moves to the Nebraskan frontier, where his bond with a bold Bohemian girl defines the landscape of his memory and the trajectory of his life.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Rewards and Fairies

Rewards and Fairies

Rudyard Kipling

Across the ancient fields of the English countryside, two children step into whispered encounters with figures summoned from three thousand years of forgotten history.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous in Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists

Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous in Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists

George Berkeley

Stripping away physical substance to leave only perception, two thinkers walk a summer garden and rebuild reality from the ground up.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of Ask a Foolish Question

Ask a Foolish Question

Robert Sheckley

An all-knowing cosmic entity waits for creatures to ask the truth of the universe, only to realize that true knowledge remains forever unreachable to those who lack the understanding to frame the proper inquiry.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of Essays in the Art of Writing

Essays in the Art of Writing

Robert Louis Stevenson

Great writing depends on hidden mechanics, absolute moral honesty, and the unvarnished realities of the creative life.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Fairies and Fusiliers

Fairies and Fusiliers

Robert Graves

Youthful daydreams of fairies and ancient legends clash violently with the cold, muddy horrors of the Western Front, forcing a wounded soldier to rebuild his shattered world through verse.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Heartbreak House

Heartbreak House

Bernard Shaw

In a eccentric English country house on the eve of the Great War, a collection of cultured, romantic, and cynical aristocrats drift through life, blissfully oblivious to their impending doom.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Music and Some Highly Musical People

Music and Some Highly Musical People

James M. Trotter

This landmark nineteenth-century volume combines a reflective history of global music with detailed biographies, recording how Black instrumentalists, vocalists, and ensembles built illustrious careers despite systemic prejudice.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins: Now First Published

Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins: Now First Published

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Faith, sensory wonder, and deep psychological distress collide in a body of verse that remakes the cadences of traditional English poetry into something altogether new, urgent, and radically alive.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Senescence, the Last Half of Life

Senescence, the Last Half of Life

G. Stanley (Granville Stanley) Hall

Aging is neither a sudden collapse nor a quiet harbor, but a vast, uncharted continent of human experience that demands its own rigorous psychological and biological understanding.

Old Age & the Elderly10 min read
Cover of An introduction to philology

An introduction to philology

Clement Wood

Language is not a fixed monument but a living tide, reshaped daily by human need, migration, and accidental invention.

General5 min read
Cover of Jane Austen and Her Country-house Comedy

Jane Austen and Her Country-house Comedy

W. H. (William Henry) Helm

A rare blend of good-natured satire and quiet observation transforms the domestic world of early nineteenth-century country houses into an enduring canvas of human folly, social ambition, and understated moral truth.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Principles of literary criticism

Principles of literary criticism

I. A. (Ivor Armstrong) Richards

A rigorous attempt to rescue literary judgment from vague mysticism, this work grounds art and reading in the concrete mechanics of human psychology, language, and emotional impulse.

Language & Communication7 min read
Cover of Sailing ships

Sailing ships

E. Keble (Edward Keble) Chatterton

Human ingenuity takes to the water, tracing how a simple bundle of papyrus evolved over millennia into majestic, multi-masted vessels of oak, iron, and canvas.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Sylvie and Bruno

Sylvie and Bruno

Lewis Carroll

Two realm-bound visions collide in a feverish, shape-shifting landscape where political palace coups melt into sweet fairy encounters and high-minded Victorian tea-parlor debates.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of "Everyman," with other interludes, including eight miracle plays

"Everyman," with other interludes, including eight miracle plays

Unknown

A universal human journey unfolds as a dying man discovers that his wealth, friends, and strength vanish, leaving only his neglected good deeds to stand before his Creator.

Classics of Literature6 min read
Cover of Illustrated history of ancient literature, oriental and classical

Illustrated history of ancient literature, oriental and classical

John D. (John Duncan) Quackenbos

An expansive survey traces human expression across centuries, following the rise and decay of ancient literary traditions from the courts of Asia to the forums of Greece and Rome.

History - Ancient8 min read
Cover of Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon

Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon

Louis Constant Wairy

A servant's eye view strips the global conqueror of his myth, revealing the human engine that drove an empire.

Biographies10 min read
Cover of Stories from the Odyssey

Stories from the Odyssey

Homer

A long-lost king battles monsters, wrathful gods, and treacherous seas to return to an island realm overrun by insolent invaders.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Theresa Raquin

Theresa Raquin

Émile Zola

A suppressed, passionate woman and a brutal, sluggish man murder a sickly husband, only to discover that the dead man's memory poisons their passion into mutual terror and inescapable hatred.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 240: Contributions From the Museum of History and Technology

Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 240: Contributions From the Museum of History and Technology

Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)

Through eleven detailed monographic studies, this volume reconstructs the practical ingenuity, mathematical rigor, and physical craft that transformed raw materials and physical laws into the foundation of modern technical civilization.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5)

The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5)

Theodor Mommsen

From a handful of agrarian clans tilling the banks of the Tiber to the master of the Mediterranean world, one city reshapes human history through administrative genius, ruthless military ambition, and eventual internal decay.

History - Ancient12 min read
Cover of The Philosophy of Mystery

The Philosophy of Mystery

Walter Cooper Dendy

What appears to be a ghost, a prophetic vision, or a supernatural spell is almost always the natural product of an excited brain, a trick of light, or a body subjected to stress.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of Books in chains, and other bibliographical papers

Books in chains, and other bibliographical papers

William Blades

Old books carry the physical marks of human hands, from the heavy iron chains that anchored them to cathedral desks to the tiny guide letters written at the margins.

History6 min read
Cover of Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America

Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America

Edmund Burke

A passionate plea for political pragmatism, this famous parliamentary address argues that holding an empire together requires honoring the inherent spirit of liberty in its people rather than demanding absolute submission through force.

Essays, Letters & Speeches7 min read
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