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All free summaries — page 142
7,238 public-domain books, summarised. Page 142 of 151.
Student's Hand-book of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous
Thomas Taylor
HOOK This technical guide serves as an early, systematic attempt to demystify the fungal kingdom for American students, bridging the gap between scientific observation and the practical, often dangerous, task of foraging.
Swan Song
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
The stage is a cavern of shadows where an aging actor confronts the hollow echo of his own life. Behind the greasepaint lies a man realizing that his greatest performance has been the slow erasure of his soul.
The Master of Game: The Oldest English Book on Hunting
of Norwich Edward
This foundational guide defines the art and ethics of medieval venery, preserving a vanished world where hunting was the supreme test of a gentleman's skill, patience, and character.
The Princess of Cleves
Madame de (Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne) La Fayette
The Princess of Cleves is a masterpiece of psychological precision, chronicling the internal life of a woman who values her own integrity above her deepest desires. It serves as a foundational text of the modern novel, stripping away the ornamentation of court life to reveal the stark, often painful, reality of…
The Symbolist Movement in Literature
Arthur Symons
This critical survey illuminates the emergence of a revolutionary literary aesthetic, tracing how a generation of French poets and novelists shifted focus from the outer world to the elusive, inward landscape of the soul.
Two Little Savages: Being the adventures of two boys who lived as Indians and what they learned
Ernest Thompson Seton
Two boys trade the constraints of turn-of-the-century farm life for the freedom of the wilderness, mastering the arts of tracking, archery, and self-reliance to forge a life as "savages" in the woods.
Valerius Terminus: Of the Interpretation of Nature
Francis Bacon
This collection of philosophical fragments serves as a foundational blueprint for a new way of thinking, challenging the traditional reliance on ancient authority to instead favor the active discovery of nature’s secrets. It is a rigorous, demanding call to reshape the human mind for the sake of practical progress.
A Treatise on Relics
Jean Calvin
This work serves as a sharp, polemical examination of the historical origins and logical absurdities surrounding the veneration of holy objects. It functions as a pointed critique of superstition, challenging the authenticity of claims made by various traditions.
Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology
Audrey B. Davis
This meticulously documented study examines the evolution of phlebotomy through the artifacts held in the Smithsonian's collection, tracing the transition from ancient medical orthodoxy to modern obsolescence.
Marion Harland's Complete Etiquette: A Young People's Guide to Every Social Occasion
Marion Harland
This guide provides a rigorous blueprint for navigating the social obligations of the early twentieth century, blending practical instruction with a moral philosophy centered on consideration and restraint.
Montreal, 1535-1914. Vol. 2. Under British Rule, 1760-1914
William H. (William Henry) Atherton
A dual civilization carved a metropolis out of a frontier garrison, balancing two languages and two faiths beneath a single flag.
Political Ideals
Bertrand Russell
Political ideals must prioritize the flourishing of the individual over the rigid demands of the state. By fostering creative rather than possessive impulses, society can move toward a future defined by liberty and international cooperation.
Robert's Rules of Order: Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies
Henry M. (Henry Martyn) Robert
Effective meetings require a structured language for disagreement, ensuring that the will of the majority is clear while the rights of the minority remain protected. This systematic guide provides the precise mechanics for navigating that balance.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume XIV, South Carolina Narratives, Part 3
United States. Work Projects Administration
This collection of oral histories captures the intimate, unvarnished memories of formerly enslaved people in South Carolina, preserving the cadence of their voices and the complexity of their lived experiences during and after the era of bondage. Through these interviews, the past is not merely recounted as a…
The Fall of Troy
Quintus, Smyrnaeus, active 4th century
The ancient walls of Troy are destined to fall, but between the death of Hector and the burning of the city lies a final, desperate chapter of myth.
The Last Words (Real and Traditional) of Distinguished Men and Women
Frederic Rowland Marvin
The final utterances of the famous reveal more than mere endings; they offer a window into the souls of those who shaped history. This collection explores the composure, defiance, and sudden clarity that define humanity’s last moments.
The Lost Prince
Frances Hodgson Burnett
A story of two boys traversing a continent to restore a fallen kingdom, this narrative explores the power of legacy and the quiet, steady courage required to change the world. It centers on the secret mission of a young exile and his unlikely companion, a disabled street urchin, as they carry a message that could…
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 44, 1700-1736: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
Unknown
Archival records from the early eighteenth century reveal a colonial frontier defined by fragile religious missions, volatile political violence, and the relentless, often corrupt, machinery of trans-Pacific trade. These documents illuminate the friction between imperial mandates and the harsh realities of life in…
The Shanty Book, Part I, Sailor Shanties
Unknown
This collection preserves the fading echoes of a maritime era, capturing the rhythmic labor songs that once defined life aboard the great wooden sailing ships.**
The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri
Emperor of Hindustan Jahangir
An emperor sits upon the throne of the Mogul Empire, meticulously recording the grandeur of his court, the curiosities of his natural world, and the weight of his imperial responsibilities.
Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China during the years 1844-5-6. Volume 1
Evariste Régis Huc
A perilous trek across the vast, forbidden landscapes of Central Asia, these accounts capture the encounters and endurance of two missionaries navigating the complex, often inscrutable world of nineteenth-century Tartary, Tibet, and China.
A History of American Literature
Percy Holmes Boynton
Tracing the development of American thought through its most significant voices, this survey maps the evolution of a national identity from the rigid sermons of the Puritans to the modern experiments of the twentieth century.
A Wanderer in Holland
E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas
Holland invites us not merely to see it, but to live within its quiet canals and vibrant history, where every cobblestone whispers of artists, explorers, and the relentless struggle against the sea. This travelogue captures the essence of a nation through the eyes of a wanderer who finds beauty in the mundane and…
Auguste Comte and Positivism
John Stuart Mill
Positivism emerges from the shadows of niche philosophical circles to demand a reckoning, challenging the intellectual foundations of the nineteenth century through the ambitious, controversial lens of one singular, uncompromising thinker.
Belford's Magazine, Vol 2, December 1888
Various
This collection of late-19th-century voices captures the volatile intersection of Victorian social formality, frontier grit, and the burgeoning industrial anxieties of a nation in transition. It is an evocative record of a world where grand political debate and intimate, often brutal, domestic dramas shared the…
Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators
Marcus Tullius Cicero
A master of the Roman Forum reflects on the evolution of his craft, mapping the history of public speech from its Greek origins to the heights of his own career.
Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium
Jessie H. (Jessie Hubbell) Bancroft
This comprehensive reference volume curates hundreds of traditional, physical, and parlor games, providing clear instructions for organizing play across diverse environments, from the schoolroom and gymnasium to the country club and summer camp.
Genius in Sunshine and Shadow
Maturin M. (Maturin Murray) Ballou
The lives of history’s most brilliant minds often reveal a striking paradox: those who illuminate the world with their genius frequently dwell in the deepest shadows of personal suffering, poverty, or eccentricity.
History of the American Negro in the Great World War: His Splendid Record in the Battle Zones of Europe
William Allison Sweeney
This chronicle documents the crucial contributions and battlefield heroism of African American soldiers during the First World War, arguing that their service secured a permanent claim to full citizenship and national honor.
Karl Ludwig Sand: Celebrated Crimes
Alexandre Dumas
A young student, driven by a vision of national liberation, travels to Mannheim to commit a single, calculated act of political violence. His life ends on the scaffold, yet his memory lingers in the conscience of a nation.
Legends of Florence: Collected from the People, First Series
Charles Godfrey Leland
The stones and streets of an ancient city hold memories that never truly fade, whispering tales of witches, saints, and miracles to those who know how to listen.
New England and the Bavarian Illuminati
Vernon Stauffer
When a fledgling American republic faced political upheaval, fears of a shadowy, anti-religious conspiracy—the Bavarian Illuminati—swept through New England’s pulpits, igniting a hysteria that tested the limits of reason and civil order.
Rambles in Dickens' Land
Robert Allbut
The streets of Victorian London and the winding roads of Kent hold ghosts of fiction, where every corner reveals a phantom from a beloved page. This guide bridges the divide between the map and the novel, inviting readers to walk where imagination once took shape.
Shandygaff: A number of most agreeable Inquirendoes upon Life & Letters, interspersed with Short Stories & Skits, the whole most Diverting to the Reader
Christopher Morley
The literary life is a grand, rambling walk through the city streets and the pages of favorite books. This collection celebrates the joy of reading, the quirks of writers, and the simple pleasures of an observant mind.
The Boy's Book of New Inventions
Harry E. (Harry Edward) Maule
This collection of accounts captures the feverish, optimistic spirit of the early twentieth century, detailing how engineers and scientists harnessed fundamental natural forces to reshape human existence. It documents a transformative era where the impossible—flight, wireless communication, and silent power—became…
The Century Cook Book
Mary Ronald
Good taste in food and hospitality relies on fundamental principles that outlast passing culinary fashions. Master the foundational methods of the kitchen, and every meal becomes an act of care, efficiency, and quiet elegance.
The Leavenworth Case
Anna Katharine Green
A wealthy merchant is found murdered in his library, drawing a young lawyer into a complex web of family secrets, hidden wills, and a race to save the innocent from the gallows.
The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Born into the royal family of Nomansland, a baby prince named Dolor enters the world with a physical disability that changes his life—and his nation’s history—forever. This tale of endurance follows his transformation from an isolated boy in a hidden tower to a wise and beloved monarch.
The Manóbos of Mindanáo: Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII, First Memoir
John M. Garvan
The Manóbos of Mindanao provides an intimate, exhaustive ethnographic survey of the indigenous peoples of the Agúsan Valley and surrounding regions in the early twentieth century.
The Prose Tales of Alexander Pushkin
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin
This collection of prose fiction captures the soul of nineteenth-century Russia, blending romantic idealism with a sharp, often fatalistic eye for social reality. These stories move between the rigid hierarchies of the imperial court and the lawless chaos of the frontier, painting a portrait of a nation in flux.
Treatise on Parents and Children
Bernard Shaw
This is a rigorous, iconoclastic examination of the fraught relationship between generations, arguing that current systems of rearing and schooling serve the convenience of adults at the expense of human liberty.
Tuskegee & Its People: Their Ideals and Achievements
Unknown
The pride of a self-made community shines through these accounts of transformation, where education in industry serves as the bedrock for personal dignity, economic independence, and lasting social contribution.
Vice in its Proper Shape
Anonymous
Children and their parents are invited on a guided tour of a menagerie, where every animal is actually a wayward child suffering a permanent, bestial transformation.
With Trapper Jim in the North Woods
Lawrence J. Leslie
A group of adventurous boys ventures into the North Woods to live alongside an experienced trapper, discovering that the wilderness holds both dangerous wildlife and valuable life lessons.
A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson
Watkin Tench
This account chronicles the grueling, precarious early years of the British penal colony at Port Jackson, offering an intimate, ground-level perspective on the struggles of convicts, soldiers, and the Indigenous people they encountered.
A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future
John Jacob Astor
Science can reshape the world, and perhaps the heavens themselves, if humanity only possesses the courage to leave the Earth behind. This vision of a technological future explores the boundary between mortal ambition and the eternal spirit.
A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick
Robert Herrick
This collection gathers the lyrical voice of a seventeenth-century poet whose verses are as enduring as the natural cycles they celebrate. It offers a rare, intimate encounter with a master of the short, musical form, preserved for a modern audience that seeks both elegance and brevity in its reading.
Athens: Its Rise and Fall, Complete
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
Long before modern democracies took shape, a tiny Mediterranean city forged a radical political experiment, balancing delicate civic freedom, sublime artistic splendour, and fierce imperial ambition against the overwhelming power of an autocratic world.