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All free summaries — page 156
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 156 of 988.
Edelweiss: A Story
Berthold Auerbach
A clockmaker and his bride face the wreckage of their marriage, only to be buried alive by a mountain storm that forces a final, desperate reckoning with their own pride and pasts.
Far off things
Arthur Machen
This is a luminous, introspective memoir capturing the quiet isolation of a Welsh childhood and the wide-eyed, often bewildered arrival of a young writer in the bustling, uncaring heart of London during the 1880s.
Laddie: A True Blue Story
Gene Stratton-Porter
A young girl chronicles the wholesome, rhythmic life of a large, hardworking family in rural Indiana, where secrets bloom and neighborly barriers finally break down.
Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
A vast, labyrinthine collection of folklore and artifice, these supplementary tales extend the reach of a legendary storytelling tradition into the shadowy corners of morality, wit, and the supernatural.
The Conquest of a Continent
Madison Grant
This work attempts a comprehensive racial history of the American continent, arguing that the character of the nation is fundamentally the product of its early European settlers.
The Exploits and Triumphs, in Europe, of Paul Morphy, the Chess Champion
Frederick Milnes Edge
A young American chess prodigy travels to Europe in 1858 to challenge the continent’s finest masters, dismantling their reputations with a style of play that is as swift and lethal as it is modest and gentlemanly.
The History of Pendennis
William Makepeace Thackeray
A young man’s journey from provincial innocence to the cynical sophistication of London, this expansive tale tracks the mistakes, heartbreaks, and hard-won maturation of a flawed but deeply human protagonist.
A Little Princess: Being the whole story of Sara Crewe now told for the first time
Frances Hodgson Burnett
A young girl’s vivid imagination becomes her only armor against poverty and cruelty after she is orphaned and abandoned at a harsh boarding school.
Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words
Ludwig van Beethoven
This collection offers a rare, intimate encounter with a genius, capturing his unfiltered thoughts on art, morality, and the isolating burden of his own extraordinary mind.
Letters of a Traveller
William Cullen Bryant
A seasoned observer of the mid-nineteenth century turns his discerning eye toward the landscapes and social rhythms of three continents, capturing the fleeting textures of life as he encounters them.
The Agony Column of the "Times" 1800-1870
Unknown
A window into the hushed, desperate, and often coded lives of nineteenth-century Londoners, this collection captures the fleeting secrets of strangers who turned to newspaper classifieds to signal, warn, and plead with one another.
The Assault: Germany Before the Outbreak and England in War-Time
Frederic William Wile
The professional observer of Europe’s descent into carnage offers a front-row seat to the collapse of diplomacy and the subsequent hardening of the British home front. This is an intimate, firsthand account of the transition from a decade of peace to the grim realities of total war.
The collected works of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. 07 (of 11)
Henrik Ibsen
This volume collects two of the most influential dramas of the nineteenth century, pairing a searing look at the illusions of domestic life with a haunting exploration of inherited sins.
The Saga of Grettir the Strong: Grettir's Saga
Unknown
A legendary Icelandic outlaw battles restless spirits and societal exile in this stark, heroic tale, ultimately finding his legacy avenged in the distant reaches of the Byzantine Empire.
The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation
Charles A. Eastman
A profound exploration of the spiritual life of the American Indian, this work reconstructs a philosophy of nature, stillness, and divine communion that existed long before the influence of the white man.
At Home and Abroad
Margaret Fuller
This collection offers an intimate, sharp-eyed chronicle of a nineteenth-century intellectual navigating the frontiers of both the American West and a revolutionary Europe. It is a work of profound observation, blending travelogue, political commentary, and deeply personal reflection.
First Footsteps in East Africa
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
A daring expedition into the forbidden city of Harar, this account captures the perilous journey of a nineteenth-century traveler through the largely uncharted Somali interior.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern
Unknown
This anthology serves as a vast, curated gateway to the human experience, gathering legendary voices from antiquity through the nineteenth century to celebrate the enduring power of the written word. It functions as both a scholarly record and a deeply personal invitation to explore the breadth of global literary…
Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th Centuries
Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew) Jones
The pursuit of a direct, inward connection with the Divine drove a courageous, often persecuted, lineage of thinkers to challenge the rigid dogmas of their age.
The book of witches
Oliver Madox Hueffer
The witch remains a persistent, haunting figure in human history, challenging our modern sense of order. This exploration traces her evolution from ancient myth to the shadow cast over the modern world.
The Song of Songs
Hermann Sudermann
Lilly Czepanek seeks beauty and status in a world that treats her as a commodity, finding that the paths to "respectability" are often as restrictive as those of the demimonde. This expansive novel charts the long, painful search for identity in a society that offers women only the roles of ornament or victim.
The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse
Beatrix Potter
A journey between a quiet garden and a bustling city reveals the clashing rhythms of two very different lives. Two mice discover that home is not merely a place, but a matter of temperament.
Dead Men Tell No Tales
E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
A sea voyage becomes a nightmare when a passenger discovers a deadly criminal conspiracy aboard. Survival and love collide in this tense, atmospheric tale of pursuit and redemption.
Dr. Allinson's cookery book, comprising many valuable vegetarian recipes
T. R. (Thomas Richard) Allinson
Wholemeal flour and fresh vegetables take center stage in this collection, which argues that a simple, plant-based diet is the surest path to physical vitality. It is a practical guide for the home cook seeking to replace meat-heavy traditions with nutrient-dense alternatives.
Emily Fox-Seton
Frances Hodgson Burnett
This portrait of a self-effacing woman who navigates the rigid hierarchies of Edwardian society reveals how kindness and quiet resilience can alter the course of a life. It is an intimate study of grace under pressure.
Federal Bureau of Investigation FOIA Documents - Unidentified Flying Objects
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation
The files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation offer an unvarnished window into the summer of 1947, when a sudden wave of "flying disc" sightings gripped the American public and forced the government to scramble for a response.
History of Ancient Civilization
Charles Seignobos
An exploration of the dawn of human progress, this work charts the rise of the great societies of antiquity from the primitive silence of the Stone Age to the administrative sprawl of the later Roman Empire.
Marion Harland's Autobiography: The Story of a Long Life
Marion Harland
A prolific nineteenth-century domestic author reflects on a life shaped by the traditions of Old Virginia, the fractures of the Civil War, and the demands of a public literary career.
Michael Faraday, His Life and Work
Silvanus P. (Silvanus Phillips) Thompson
A man of profound simplicity and sage wisdom, Michael Faraday transformed our understanding of the invisible forces governing the natural world. He dedicated his life to the pursuit of truth, valuing the labour far above the wage.
Mother
Maksim Gorky
The factory whistle bellows, the smoke-begrimed streets teem with exhausted laborers, and a quiet woman finds herself drawn into a dangerous, clandestine world of awakening. This is a story of a mother who moves from fear to a fierce, transcendent courage as her son embraces the revolutionary cause.
Motion pictures and filmstrips, 1970
Library of Congress. Copyright Office
This volume serves as an exhaustive official index of motion picture and filmstrip copyrights registered with the Library of Congress during the first half of 1970. It acts as a primary historical record, documenting the vast array of creative and educational media produced and legally protected in the United…
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
Mark Twain
This is a fictionalized memoir of a saint, told by a man who served as her secretary, page, and lifelong devotee. It captures the rise and tragic fall of a teenage peasant girl who transformed a broken nation through faith, iron will, and a singular, selfless vision.
Reprinted Pieces
Charles Dickens
The hearth is a perfect place to confront the wider world, as these essays prove that the most vivid human dramas—from the detective’s beat to the exile’s dream—are often found in the quietest corners of society.
Schools of Hellas: An Essay on the Practice and Theory of Ancient Greek Education from 600 to 300 B. C
Kenneth J. (Kenneth John) Freeman
This examination of ancient Greek education provides a meticulous reconstruction of how children were raised and taught between 600 and 300 B.C., exploring the rigid discipline of Sparta and the evolving intellectual life of Athens.
The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
A Victorian traveler documents his arduous trek across the American wilderness to the isolated, burgeoning capital of a controversial new faith, providing an unflinching look at a society on the edge of the frontier.
The Europeans
Henry James
A spirited, worldly brother and sister arrive in Boston to claim their American cousins, setting a quiet, tradition-bound family on a collision course with European sophistication. This comedy of manners explores how a stagnant, rigid culture responds to the unexpected intrusion of charm, fluidity, and the…
The Two First Centuries of Florentine History: The Republic and Parties at the Time of Dante. Fourth Impression
Pasquale Villari
This historical study examines the origins of the Florentine Republic, tracing its evolution from a chaotic collection of warring feudal factions into a sophisticated merchant-led power. It offers a rigorous, scholarly look at how the early city navigated the influence of the Empire, the Papacy, and its own…
Translations from the German (Vol 3 of 3): Tales by Musæus, Tieck, Richter
Thomas Carlyle
These tales map the strange borderlands between the waking world and the uncanny, where ordinary lives are suddenly upended by ancient folklore, spectral visitations, and the dizzying turns of fate.
A Righte Merrie Christmasse: The Story of Christ-Tide
John Ashton
A scholarly yet festive exploration of Christmastide, this collection gathers the history, folklore, and customs that have defined the winter season for centuries, tracing the holiday from its ancient origins to its Victorian revival.
After Dark
Wilkie Collins
The storyteller finds the truth of a person not in the pose they strike for a portrait, but in the unguarded tales they tell while sitting for it. These collected narratives, framed by the life of a traveling painter, turn the mundane act of posing into a gateway for mystery, suspense, and human confession.
History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. II
James Anthony Froude
The Reformation in England was not a single, clean event, but a slow, brutal unraveling of centuries of custom. This account traces that transformation through the power struggles, religious fervor, and political violence that defined the Tudor age.
Irish Fairy Tales
Unknown
This collection serves as a portal into a vanishing landscape, where the boundary between the mundane world and a mischievous, often perilous, supernatural realm remains dangerously thin. It gathers the voices of Ireland’s oral tradition, preserving tales that feel less like bedtime stories and more like warnings…
Marguerite
Anatole France
This reflection on memory and the fleeting nature of the self explores how the ghosts of our pasts shape the lives of those we hold dear. It is a quiet, haunting study of a man finding his own identity mirrored in the fragile existence of a child.
Memorabilia Mathematica
Unknown
Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and arithmetic the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations she is entitled to the first rank.
Out from the heart
James Allen
The human heart serves as the singular source of all life’s conditions, and its disciplined purification remains the only reliable gateway to enduring peace and enlightenment.
Rogers' Directory of Norwich and Neighbourhood
Edmund Dawson Rogers
This volume is a meticulous survey of 19th-century Norwich, capturing the social, economic, and geographic landscape of an English city at the height of the Victorian era. It serves as an essential record of a bustling urban center, preserving the names, trades, and habitations of thousands who lived and worked…
Seasoning of Wood
J. B. (Joseph Bernard) Wagner
Wood is a stubborn, living material that vigorously defies the efforts of human ingenuity to strip away its natural moisture without causing damage or destruction.
State of the Union Addresses
Theodore Roosevelt
These annual reports capture a transformative decade in American governance, chronicling the transition from a nineteenth-century republic to an emerging global power through the eyes of its most energetic executive.