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All free summaries — page 149
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 149 of 988.
Ten Days in a Mad-House
Nellie Bly
An undercover journalist feigns mental illness to enter a women’s asylum, exposing systemized cruelty and securing lasting institutional reform.
The A B C of Relativity
Bertrand Russell
Reconstructing our imaginative picture of the physical world requires trading ingrained habits of thought for a reality where space and time are bound together.
The Little Review, March 1914 (Vol. 1, No. 1)
Various
An early American modernist magazine dares readers to look past rigid conventions and embrace life through a higher, unyielding standard of artistic appreciation.
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
James Hogg
A fanatic's self-righteousness curdles into madness when a mysterious stranger convinces him that his status as one of God's chosen gives him absolute license to commit murder.
Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 2: Luther on Sin and the Flood
Martin Luther
When guilt presses on the conscience, fleeing from God only brings his vengeance closer, but running directly toward him with a humble confession turns his judgment into mercy.
Five Children and It
E. (Edith) Nesbit
When four English children and their baby brother dig into a local sand-pit, they unearth an ancient, short-tempered creature capable of granting one magnificent wish every day—always with unforeseen, chaotic consequences.
Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 4
François Rabelais
Sail into a riotous Renaissance sea voyage where giant princes, crude friars, and coward fools chase oracle-wisdom across a surreal ocean of bizarre islands and absurd dogmas.
Life and Letters of Robert Browning
Robert Browning
A boyhood spent roaming a family library gives way to standard-setting poetry, an iconic literary romance, and a quiet, steadfast old age.
Publications of William Rider & Son, Ltd
Anonymous
A curated gateway into early twentieth-century esoteric thought unfolds through an extensive publishing list. It maps the era's fascination with mental mastery, spiritualism, philosophy, and occult science.
Social Transformations of the Victorian Age: A Survey of Court and Country
T. H. S. (Thomas Hay Sweet) Escott
A vast society sheds its old aristocratic insularity, transforming through iron, steam, democratic reform, and cosmopolitan wealth into a modern urban empire.
The Story of the Odyssey
Homer
A long journey home turns into a decade-long battle against monstrous beasts, treacherous seas, and vengeful suitors.
Views A-foot
Bayard Taylor
A young American printer sets off across Europe with five hundred dollars earned along the way, traversing historic landscapes on foot with only a knapsack and staff.
Letters to His Children
Theodore Roosevelt
A dedicated father navigates the demands of the American presidency while sharing an unshakable, joyful bond with his growing children.
The Englishman in China During the Victorian Era, Vol. 1 (of 2): As Illustrated in the Career of Sir Rutherford Alcock, K.C.B., D.C.L., Many Years Consul and Minister in China and Japan
Alexander Michie
A surgeon-turned-consul navigates thirty years of violence, gunboat diplomacy, and political paralysis as Great Britain forcefully carves out its commercial empire across Victorian East Asia.
The History of Trade Unionism: (Revised edition, extended to 1920)
Sidney Webb
A century of industrial friction and secret assemblies transforms a disenfranchised working class into a formidable force capable of shaping national policy and challenging the foundations of economic power.
The Suffragette: The History of the Women's Militant Suffrage Movement, 1905-1910
E. Sylvia (Estelle Sylvia) Pankhurst
When the peaceful appeals of British women are met with cynical delay, a small group of activists turns to direct action, transforming political protest into an unyielding war of endurance against the state.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 2 (of 2)
David Starr Jordan
A sweeping taxometric journey reveals the hidden structures, ancient lineages, and intricate adaptations of the world's aquatic life. From deep-sea dwellers to mountain brook dwellers, a vast underwater world unfolds in meticulous scientific detail.
A History of the Gipsies: with Specimens of the Gipsy Language
Walter Simson
A detailed account of Scottish Romani life combines field observations, local lore, and language studies to trace a secretive diaspora.
An Antarctic Mystery
Jules Verne
A obsessed sea captain leads an expedition into the icy Antarctic to rescue a long-lost crew, only to discover that a famous literary fiction is chillingly real.
British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIII: January and April, 1871
Various
Mid-nineteenth-century intellectual vigor animates this volume, where rigorous British minds dissect global politics, scripture, press ethics, and monetary policy through deeply argued, sweeping reviews.
Railroad Reorganization
Stuart Daggett
In the nineties, American rail lines buckled under billions in debt, forcing corporate giants into receivership and sparking an unprecedented wave of financial restructuring.
Rookwood
William Harrison Ainsworth
A ancient family curse, a secretive crypt, and an elusive highwayman driving his horse to absolute exhaustion across the English countryside frame this fiery story of inheritance and revenge.
The Amateur Cracksman
E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
A charming gentleman thief and his desperate former schoolmate pull off daring late-Victorian heists, testing the limits of loyalty, honor, and law.
The Expositor's Bible: The Second Book of Kings
F. W. (Frederic William) Farrar
Spiritual decay and political collapse collide as ancient kingdoms crumble under royal folly, violent usurpers, and overwhelming foreign empires. Divine warnings go unheeded, forcing an unsparing historical reckoning through moral and prophetic analysis.
The philosophical and mathematical commentaries of Proclus on the first book of Euclid's elements (Vol. 1 of 2)
Proclus
Geometry serves not merely as a practical tool for measuring the earth, but as the soul's ladder to divine truth.
Three Philosophical Poets: Lucretius, Dante, and Goethe
George Santayana
Great philosophy requires the breadth of imagination to encompass the entire human experience, transforming cold observations into a vision that speaks the language of the gods. This work explores how poetry serves as the ultimate vehicle for such wisdom.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 06
Voltaire
A sharp, irreverent assault on superstition, institutional power, and intellectual conceit, delivered through a sequence of biting alphabetical entries that range from ancient myth to modern religious politics. <Image alt="Portrait of Voltaire, the French Enlightenment philosopher and author" caption="Voltaire,…
A Sicilian Romance
Ann Ward Radcliffe
A mysterious monk in a ruined Sicilian castle hands a traveler an ancient manuscript, unlocking a haunting saga of imprisoned noblewomen, dark family secrets, and tyrannical noble power.
Mark Twain: A Biography. Volume III, Part 2: 1907-1910
Albert Bigelow Paine
An aging humorist faces the gathering shadows of his final years, finding solace in quiet pastimes, public adoration, and the steady companionship of a devoted biographer.
Smoke Bellew
Jack London
Soft San Francisco dilettante Kit Bellew goes north to the Klondike for a brief excursion and stays to become a trail-hardened sourdough whose strength matches the wild country.
Studies in the History and Method of Science, vol. 1 (of 2)
Unknown
A deep dive into the historical shifts of scientific inquiry, tracing how humanity built its knowledge of the natural world and the human body across centuries.
Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
A vast, late-nineteenth-century repository of Middle Eastern lore, presenting newly translated tales of wonder, rogue trickery, and courtly intrigue with meticulous anthropological notes.
The Forerunner, Volume 1 (1909-1910)
Unknown
An audacious, one-woman monthly journal from the turn of the twentieth century reimagines the structures of domestic labor, marriage, and culture to chart a path toward genuine human equality.
The Garden, You, and I
Mabel Osgood Wright
A group of passionate American friends spend a transformative summer swapping practical plant advice, establishing a rustic camp on an abandoned farm, and nurturing both flowers and sudden romances.
The Man of Genius
Cesare Lombroso
A razor-thin boundary separates the highest reaches of human intellect from the severe pathologies of the brain.
The poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Haunted by grief, unrequited desire, and the terrifying beauty of decay, a mind wrestles with loss through icy melodies, brooding landscapes, and analytical musings on the pure essence of art.
World Stories Retold for Modern Boys and Girls: One Hundred and Eighty-seven Five-minute Classic Stories for Retelling in Home, Sunday School, Children's Services, Public School Grades and "The Story-hour" in Public Libraries
William James Sly
A master storyteller gathers nearly two hundred brief, moral tales to help parents and educators nurture character, imagination, and a lifelong love of truth in growing children.
Captain Fracasse
Théophile Gautier
A penniless Gascon baron abandons his decaying ancestral ruin to join a troupe of traveling actors, exchanging his noble name for a wooden sword to defend a virtuous actress from a ruthless duke.
Cosmic symbolism
Sepharial
This esoteric work reveals how numerical ratios, planetary movements, and ancient geometric laws secretly govern the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of human existence.
Critical, Historical, and Miscellaneous Essays
Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron
A masterclass in intellectual portraiture, this volume dissects the motives, moral failings, and grand political movements that shaped the modern Western world.
Georgina's Reasons
Henry James
A handsome young naval officer weds a cold, ambitious New York beauty in secret, only to find himself trapped in a web of deceit that spans continents and shapes the rest of his life.
Old French Fairy Tales
Ségur, Sophie, comtesse de
Bound by trial, enchanted sacrifice, and patient devotion, the children in these tales must outlast dark magic, terrible transformations, and their own missteps to secure a lasting peace.
Roman Legends: A collection of the fables and folk-lore of Rome
Rachel Harriette Busk
Centuries of oral storytelling echo through Rome's cobblestone streets, preserving local versions of classic fairy tales, humorous urban anecdotes, and devout religious lore.
The Best Psychic Stories
Unknown
Bound by invisible threads, the living and the dead cross paths in moments of terror, grief, and revelation.
The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)
Dean C. (Dean Conant) Worcester
An insider’s record of early American colonial governance reveals the complex, contentious, and raw reality of administering a newly acquired tropical archipelago.
Villani's Chronicle: Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani
Giovanni Villani
A sweeping, vivid portrait of medieval Florence emerges from the pages of a 14th-century merchant, who captures a rising city-state torn between classical grandiosity, papal politics, and relentless blood feuds.
A History of the Reformation (Vol. 1 of 2)
Thomas M. (Thomas Martin) Lindsay
A religious upheaval does not spring from a vacuum; it takes root in the anxieties, economic shifts, and spiritual longings of ordinary people long before it finds its voice.
Epicoene
Ben Jonson
A misanthropic uncle marries a supposedly silent woman to disinherit his nephew, only to discover that his new household is loud, chaotic, and entirely out of his control.