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47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 144 of 988.

Cover of The Wars of Religion in France 1559-1576: The Huguenots, Catherine de Medici and Philip II

The Wars of Religion in France 1559-1576: The Huguenots, Catherine de Medici and Philip II

James Westfall Thompson

Sixteenth-century France fractures along lines of faith, ambition, and state finance, collapsing into civil war as noble dynasties and foreign powers fight for the mind of a young kingdom.

History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)10 min read
Cover of A Wanderer in Paris

A Wanderer in Paris

E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas

An open, observational stroll through Paris reveals a city built equally on grand art, turbulent revolution, and the daily, deliberate pursuit of personal pleasure.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of Canada: the Empire of the North: Being the Romantic Story of the New Dominion's Growth from Colony to Kingdom

Canada: the Empire of the North: Being the Romantic Story of the New Dominion's Growth from Colony to Kingdom

Agnes C. Laut

A vast wilderness unfolds into a continent-spanning nation as fur traders, forest runners, and beleaguered settlers carve a living from frozen shores, stormy rivers, and blood-soaked battlefields.

History - Ancient8 min read
Cover of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader

McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader

William Holmes McGuffey

A carefully curated anthology opens doors to centuries of world literature, transforming classroom practice into an enduring exercise in elocution, morality, and critical thought.

Children & Young Adult Reading5 min read
Cover of Other People's Money, and How the Bankers Use It

Other People's Money, and How the Bankers Use It

Louis Dembitz Brandeis

An unchecked concentration of financial power threatens American democracy, not through the personal fortunes of a few wealthy men, but because investment bankers control vast networks of enterprise using the public's accumulated savings.

Economics6 min read
Cover of Some Christmas Stories

Some Christmas Stories

Charles Dickens

A quiet room, a glowing hearth, and the sudden realization that time is slipping away between childhood memory and dusty mortality.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Lone Star Ranger: A Romance of the Border

The Lone Star Ranger: A Romance of the Border

Zane Grey

A young man in Texas fights the wildness in his own blood and the lawless border that threatens to consume him.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Scarecrow of Oz

The Scarecrow of Oz

L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

A plunge into an ocean whirlpool sweeps a young girl and an old sailor into a secret, subterranean world of strange beasts and tyrannical kings.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry

The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry

M. M. Pattison (Matthew Moncrieff Pattison) Muir

A long-standing human drive to comprehend and transform matter shifts slowly from mystical speculation into exact, quantitative natural science.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of The World's Best Poetry, Volume 04: The Higher Life

The World's Best Poetry, Volume 04: The Higher Life

Unknown

A weary heart finds quiet strength in spiritual verse that reaches across centuries to comfort, challenge, and elevate the soul.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of Youth

Youth

Tolstoy, Leo, graf

A young nobleman steps across the threshold of early manhood, where his high-minded resolutions instantly collide with the petty vanity, social anxiety, and awkward missteps of daily life.

Novels6 min read
Cover of An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent

An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent

John Henry Newman

A profound exploration of how the human mind moves from mere mental assent to the unshakeable personal convictions that define a life.

Philosophy & Ethics12 min read
Cover of Before Adam

Before Adam

Jack London

A modern man relives the primitive existence of a Pleistocene ancestor through an extraordinary chain of inherited genetic dreams.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 2.: The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century

Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 2.: The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century

Jules Verne

Across unknown oceans and untamed continents, eighteenth-century explorers map the physical realities of the globe while facing fierce seas, unfamiliar cultures, and extreme physical exhaustion.

Adventure10 min read
Cover of Edgar Saltus: The Man

Edgar Saltus: The Man

Marie Saltus

A hypersensitive man of letters flees the pain of reality through art, esoteric philosophy, and the fierce, protective devotion of his final companion.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of History of Rationalism Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology

History of Rationalism Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology

J. F. (John Fletcher) Hurst

Human intellect constantly attempts to dismantle divine revelation, replacing spiritual authority with the fleeting standards of individual reason.

History - Religious9 min read
Cover of Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill

Louisa May Alcott

Two young neighbors in a New England village suffer a disastrous sledding accident on a dangerous hill, turning a bright winter afternoon into months of painful confinement, slow recovery, and quiet moral growth.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume V, Indiana Narratives

Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume V, Indiana Narratives

United States. Work Projects Administration

An extraordinary collection of first-person testimonies captures the brutal realities of human bondage, the fragile triumph of emancipation, and the quiet dignity of surviving into old age.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Soliloquies in England, and Later Soliloquies

Soliloquies in England, and Later Soliloquies

George Santayana

Solitary reflection turns the casual observations of daily existence into enduring truths of human nature and culture.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Age of Justinian and Theodora: A History of the Sixth Century A.D., Volume 1 (of 2)

The Age of Justinian and Theodora: A History of the Sixth Century A.D., Volume 1 (of 2)

William Gordon Holmes

The sixth century marked a profound crossroads for the Mediterranean world, where the dying embers of classical antiquity collided with the emerging structures of the Middle Ages.

History - Ancient7 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

An ancient king's cruelty is stayed night after night by a clever woman, whose sprawling, interwoven tales of magic, trickery, and romance keep execution at bay.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Complete English Tradesman (1839 ed.)

The Complete English Tradesman (1839 ed.)

Daniel Defoe

Practical trade advice transforms into a razor-sharp survival guide for the early eighteenth-century shopkeeper.

Business/Management8 min read
Cover of The Lost Girl

The Lost Girl

D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

A woman's quiet rebellion against the suffocating respectability of an English mining town leads her from nursing wards to a traveling theatrical troupe, and finally to the stark, haunting solitude of the Italian mountains.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Melting-Pot

The Melting-Pot

Israel Zangwill

In a tiny New York apartment, a young Russian-Jewish violinist dreams that the vast, chaotic tide of world immigration will dissolve ancient hatreds and forge a unified human race.

American Literature9 min read
Cover of The Origin and Deeds of the Goths

The Origin and Deeds of the Goths

active 6th century Jordanes

A sweeping sixth-century chronicle traces a proud northern people from their ancestral northern home to their legendary triumphs, bitter divisions, and eventual collapse.

History - Ancient6 min read
Cover of The Path, Vol. I.—1886-'7.: A Magazine Devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, Theosophy in America, and the Study of Occult Science, Philosophy, and Aryan Literature

The Path, Vol. I.—1886-'7.: A Magazine Devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, Theosophy in America, and the Study of Occult Science, Philosophy, and Aryan Literature

Various

An exploration of ancient philosophies, esoteric traditions, and the untapped capacities of human consciousness offers a spiritual alternative to rigid dogmatism and materialist despair.

American Literature11 min read
Cover of The Physiology of Taste

The Physiology of Taste

Brillat-Savarin

The human palate is a delicate instrument, and the act of eating, when elevated by intelligence, transforms a simple physical necessity into a lifelong art.

Cooking & Drinking6 min read
Cover of The World Before the Deluge

The World Before the Deluge

Louis Figuier

An incandescent, cooling globe slowly hardens into stone, weaving a vast natural history of ancient seas, monstrous reptiles, and lost primeval forests.

Science - Earth/Agricultural/Farming7 min read
Cover of Brazilian Literature

Brazilian Literature

Isaac Goldberg

A single continent's literature comes alive through sweeping historical analysis, uncovering how a distinct national voice emerged from colonial ties and European forms.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Evidences of Christianity

Evidences of Christianity

William Paley

An unshakeable belief can survive severe trial, but only genuine historical truth explains why its first witnesses chose suffering over safety.

History - Religious7 min read
Cover of Good-bye to all that

Good-bye to all that

Robert Graves

A young poet grows up in the rigid world of English boarding schools, survives the horrors of the Western Front, and struggles to rebuild his life in a shattered postwar society.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen

Edmund Gosse

An impoverished, combative young clerk transforms himself through sheer force of will into a towering dramatist, reshaping modern theater while remaining a lifelong outsider.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of My Memoirs

My Memoirs

Marguerite Steinheil

An infamous scandal night, a dead President, and a double murder in a Parisian villa frame this astonishing true-crime memoir. Marguerite Steinheil transforms her lived nightmare into a brilliant, defensive narrative of political intrigue, high society, and survival.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2nd ed.) (1911): Based Originally on Bulfinch's "Age of Fable" (1855)

The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2nd ed.) (1911): Based Originally on Bulfinch's "Age of Fable" (1855)

Thomas Bulfinch

A world illuminated by divine fire loses its innocence, yet from that theft grows every songs, sorrow, and enduring wonder of mankind.

Art14 min read
Cover of The Female Quixote

The Female Quixote

Charlotte Lennox

A young woman views her quiet world entirely through the grandiose lens of French romance novels, mistaking ordinary suitors for heroic suitors and simple misunderstandings for deadly courtly intrigues.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Hill of Dreams

The Hill of Dreams

Arthur Machen

A lonely young dreamer escapes the stifling routine of provincial England by retreating into an inner world of ancient mysteries and ecstatic artistic obsession.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of The History of England, from the Accession of James II

The History of England, from the Accession of James II

Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

A fragile new monarchy struggles to survive as foreign wars, domestic conspiracies, parliamentary friction, and financial transformation reshape the English state.

History - British13 min read
Cover of The Magic Fishbone: A Holiday Romance from the Pen of Miss Alice Rainbird, Aged 7

The Magic Fishbone: A Holiday Romance from the Pen of Miss Alice Rainbird, Aged 7

Charles Dickens

A seven-year-old narrator turns domestic hardship into a triumphant fairy tale where patience outshines magic and practical resourcefulness saves a royal family.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The principles of science

The principles of science

William Stanley Jevons

A rigorous, original treatise demonstrates that scientific discovery operates by testing hypothetical deductions against observable facts, placing probability and symbolic logic at the center of all empirical inquiry.

Philosophy & Ethics10 min read
Cover of The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes, Volume 03: The Rambler, Volume II

The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes, Volume 03: The Rambler, Volume II

Samuel Johnson

Observations on human flaw, moral duty, and the quiet absurdities of daily life converge in a voice that is as severe in its standards as it is deeply compassionate toward the frailties of existence.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Understood Betsy

Understood Betsy

Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Sheltered, over-protected nine-year-old Elizabeth Ann is sent away to live with distant, practical relatives on a Vermont farm, where she unexpectedly discovers her own independence, practical capability, and quiet self-reliance.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of West Point: An Intimate Picture of the National Military Academy and of the Life of the Cadet

West Point: An Intimate Picture of the National Military Academy and of the Life of the Cadet

Robert C. (Robert Charlwood) Richardson

Beneath the severe granite battlements along the Hudson, raw American youth transforms into a unified, disciplined officer corps bound by a singular code of honor.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Handbook of Medical Entomology

Handbook of Medical Entomology

William A. (William Albert) Riley

An essential bridge between biology and public health, this survey exposes the unseen arthropod vectors driving global disease. It offers a precise, grounded map of how microscopic parasites rely on insects to infect human hosts.

Health & Medicine5 min read
Cover of Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1904

Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1904

L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

A quiet rural community in eastern Canada frames a collection of small human dramas where mistaken identities, family feuds, and buried affection govern the daily pace of life.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Mother Earth, Vol. 1 No. 1, March 1906

Mother Earth, Vol. 1 No. 1, March 1906

Various

A radical inaugural journal challenges state force, religious dogma, and social hypocrisy, offering a vision where individual freedom, unhampered love, and collective liberation replace structural oppression.

Environmental Issues7 min read
Cover of Omnilingual

Omnilingual

H. Beam Piper

Across fifty million miles of void and fifty thousand years of silence, a human expedition to Mars uncovers a lost civilization—only to realize that every dead word remains locked in darkness until science reveals a Rosetta Stone hidden in plain sight.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Stories from The Arabian Nights

Stories from The Arabian Nights

Laurence Housman

When a woodcutter overhears a cave door swing open at a magic phrase, he unlocks a world where cunning servants outwit murderous thieves and ancient spells shape human destiny.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore7 min read
Cover of The art of travel

The art of travel

Francis Galton

A practical handbook written from experience, this manual turns raw wilderness into a manageable workshop for the self-reliant explorer.

Adventure6 min read