myebooksbuy
My Books

The whole shelf

All free summaries — page 170

8,211 public-domain books, summarised. Page 170 of 172.

Cover of The Works of Frederick Schiller

The Works of Frederick Schiller

Friedrich Schiller

A grand clash between human freedom and absolute necessity echoes through history, drama, and philosophy, revealing how the human spirit achieves its ultimate dignity when pushed to the edge of ruin.

Essays, Letters & Speeches12 min read
Cover of The Wrong Box

The Wrong Box

Robert Louis Stevenson

Two scheming brothers, a missing corpse, and a mislaid piano converge in a Victorian farce where everyone is pursuing a fortune no one can quite manage to grasp.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of With the Boer Forces

With the Boer Forces

Howard Clemens Hillegas

An eye-opening, eyewitness account of ordinary farm families taking up arms to defend their homeland, offering an intimate and fair-minded chronicle of the Boer ranks during the South African War.

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of Wonderful Balloon Ascents

Wonderful Balloon Ascents

Fulgence Marion

A soaring chronicle of human ingenuity, Fulgence Marion’s work captures the brave, fragile beginnings of flight and the unyielding dream of navigating the sky.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of A Bunch of Cherries: A Story of Cherry Court School

A Bunch of Cherries: A Story of Cherry Court School

L. T. Meade

To win a life-changing prize, a schoolgirl must choose between absolute honesty and saving her impoverished mother from ruin.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Day's Ride: A Life's Romance

A Day's Ride: A Life's Romance

Charles Lever

A romantic young Irishman journeys across Europe, endlessly reimagining his own identity to escape his humble origins and chase an impossible, grander life.

Adventure8 min read
Cover of A Discourse Presented to the Most Serene Don Cosimo II., Great Duke of Tuscany, Concerning the Natation of Bodies Vpon, and Submersion In, the Water

A Discourse Presented to the Most Serene Don Cosimo II., Great Duke of Tuscany, Concerning the Natation of Bodies Vpon, and Submersion In, the Water

Galileo Galilei

An ancient debate over why objects float or sink becomes a masterclass in experimental physics, replacing vague philosophical assertions with precise mathematical principles.

Science - Physics5 min read
Cover of Castles of Ireland: Some Fortress Histories and Legends

Castles of Ireland: Some Fortress Histories and Legends

Constance Louisa Adams

Through ages of turbulent conflict and shifting political ties, Ireland’s stone strongholds served as crucial footholds for Norman barons, English deputies, and native Gaelic chieftains. This volume traces the physical and human histories behind these fortresses, documenting how medieval peels, sprawling royal…

Archaeology & Anthropology5 min read
Cover of Fairy Tales, Volume 1 (of 2)

Fairy Tales, Volume 1 (of 2)

Unknown

A carefully curated gathering of classic folklore strips away modern embellishments to reveal the stark, timeless beauty of traditional storytelling. In these unadorned tales, cleverness and kindness consistently overcome monstrous obstacles.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them

Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them

Edward Manning Ruttenber

A dense, painstaking piece of historic topography reconstructs the early geography of New York through the names indigenous inhabitants gave to its landscape.

Archaeology & Anthropology5 min read
Cover of How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves: Updated to 1900

How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves: Updated to 1900

William Henry Giles Kingston

A sweeping, plain-spoken chronicle tracks how a vulnerable island kingdom built, maintained, and repeatedly revolutionized the floating wooden and iron battlements that secured its global power.

History - British7 min read
Cover of Ideal Commonwealths

Ideal Commonwealths

Unknown

From ideal ancient republics to advanced scientific islands and satiric gluttonous lands, these foundational visionaries map out humanity's boldest attempts to engineer the perfect society.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of Illuminated manuscripts in classical and mediaeval times, their art and their technique

Illuminated manuscripts in classical and mediaeval times, their art and their technique

J. H. (John Henry) Middleton

A deep historical investigation reveals how ancient and medieval craftspeople created illuminated books, tracing the transformation of manuscript production from physical rolls to printed pages.

Art6 min read
Cover of Little Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor, Volume I

Little Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor, Volume I

Unknown

This vintage collection captures nineteenth-century American humor across its full spectrum, blending dry regional yarn-spinning, razor-sharp social satire, and affectionate observations of everyday domestic life.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Seventy years on the frontier

Seventy years on the frontier

Alexander Majors

A life spent hauling freight across uncharted plains reveals a West shaped by grueling labor, quiet diplomacy, and the steady march of industrial progress.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of Steamships and their story

Steamships and their story

E. Keble (Edward Keble) Chatterton

A century of human ingenuity transformed a simple wooden hull into a floating city of steel and steam.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of The Blood Covenant: A Primitive Rite and its Bearings on Scripture

The Blood Covenant: A Primitive Rite and its Bearings on Scripture

H. Clay (Henry Clay) Trumbull

A shared drop of blood seals an unbreakable bond between human beings across continents, establishing a primitive, universal rite that unveils the deepest theology of the Bible.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer

The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer

Charles Lever

An officer of light foot moves from mess-table to ballroom to duel-ground, chased by his own comical mistakes and the ladies he courts.

Adventure8 min read
Cover of The Elizabethan Stage, Vol. 1

The Elizabethan Stage, Vol. 1

E. K. (Edmund Kerchever) Chambers

Power, bureaucracy, and public spectacle collide as Tudor and Stuart monarchs construct the apparatus that shapes early modern English drama.

History - British9 min read
Cover of The French Revolution of 1789, as Viewed in the Light of Republican Institutions

The French Revolution of 1789, as Viewed in the Light of Republican Institutions

John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott

A bitter, desperate peasantry rises against centuries of feudal oppression, transforming a star-crossed bid for constitutional reform into a fiery, total reconstruction of European society. Written from an explicit American republican perspective, this account frames the uprising as an inevitable explosion against…

History - European9 min read
Cover of The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Masterpieces of German Literature Vol. 19

The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Masterpieces of German Literature Vol. 19

Unknown

A panoramic tapestry of modern German literature, this monumental anthology captures a culture caught between rustic tradition and the surging currents of twentieth-century modernity. Across eleven varied works of prose and scholarship, the collection exposes the quiet heartbreaks, social frictions, and…

Classics of Literature11 min read
Cover of The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 01

The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 01

Unknown

Ancient ambition, law, and slaughter collapse into a single sweep of time as humanity stumbles toward civilization.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography

Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography

William Roscoe Thayer

A lifelong friend charts how a fiery, near-sighted idealist transformed himself into a fearless champion of civic duty and American honor.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Three Years' Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China: Including a visit to the tea, silk, and cotton countries

Three Years' Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China: Including a visit to the tea, silk, and cotton countries

Robert Fortune

Stepping off the beaten path into mid-nineteenth-century China, a Scottish botanist navigates forbidden canals, coastal gales, and suspicious officials to unearth the horticultural secrets of tea, silk, and cotton.

Nature/Gardening/Animals5 min read
Cover of U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1972 July - December

U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1972 July - December

Library of Congress. Copyright Office

A catalog of U.S. copyright renewals from July to December 1972.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines: containing a clear exposition of their principles and practice

A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines: containing a clear exposition of their principles and practice

Andrew Ure

A comprehensive guide to the industrial arts of the early 19th century.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference10 min read
Cover of A history of economic doctrines

A history of economic doctrines

Charles Gide

A history of economic thought reveals that our current financial world is not a set of eternal truths, but a series of passionate human arguments.

Economics12 min read
Cover of A Political History of the State of New York, Volumes 1-3

A Political History of the State of New York, Volumes 1-3

De Alva Stanwood Alexander

Behind the grand narratives of national democracy lies a complex engine of personal rivalries, party machinery, and political maneuvering that shapes a state and defines American power across more than a century.

History - American12 min read
Cover of Accounting theory and practice, Volume 2 (of 3)

Accounting theory and practice, Volume 2 (of 3)

Roy B. (Roy Bernard) Kester

Modern enterprise relies on the silent, rigorously ordered architecture of financial accounting to translate physical reality into manageable data. Roy B. Kester’s classic textbook unveils the structural mechanics that allow complex businesses to track value, measure risk, and remain solvent.

Business/Management10 min read
Cover of In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times (Volume 2 of 2)

In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times (Volume 2 of 2)

Fridtjof Nansen

A vast, unforgiving expanse of northern ice shields the earliest chapters of Western exploration, where myth, misread cartography, and high-seas endurance slowly gave way to historical fact.

Archaeology & Anthropology7 min read
Cover of Richard Carvel

Richard Carvel

Winston Churchill

A young Whig heir in colonial Maryland is cheated of his inheritance by a treacherous uncle, tossed into a life of high-seas adventure, and tested in the fashionable drawing rooms of Georgian London.

American Literature8 min read
Cover of Spanish and Indian place names of California: Their Meaning and Their Romance

Spanish and Indian place names of California: Their Meaning and Their Romance

Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez

A landscape mapped in light and memory emerges as the original Spanish and Native titles of the Far West yield up their roots, revealing how closely geography, history, and forgotten lives are bound to every valley, peak, and stream.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference7 min read
Cover of The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined

The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined

John Mollard

A practical, down-to-earth manual for Georgian dining, where precise ratios, simple technique, and kitchen economy take precedence over ostentation and fluff.

Cooking & Drinking5 min read
Cover of The Bed-Book of Happiness: Being a colligation or assemblage of cheerful writings brought together from many quarters into this one compass for the diversion, distraction, and delight of those who lie abed,—a friend to the invalid, a companion to the sleepless, an excuse to the tired

The Bed-Book of Happiness: Being a colligation or assemblage of cheerful writings brought together from many quarters into this one compass for the diversion, distraction, and delight of those who lie abed,—a friend to the invalid, a companion to the sleepless, an excuse to the tired

Harold Begbie

An ideal bedside anthology gathers lighthearted literature to soothe the mind, banish dark thoughts, and bring gentle laughter to the quiet hours of the night.

Literature - Other5 min read
Cover of The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne

The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander) Bonar

A young minister’s brief, burning career in nineteenth-century Scotland reveals how radical devotion and selfless labor can transform an entire community.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;: In Which will Be Found a Large Collection of Original Receipts. 3rd ed

The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;: In Which will Be Found a Large Collection of Original Receipts. 3rd ed

Bury, Charlotte Campbell, Lady

A comprehensive Regency-era culinary manual balances high-society luxury with practical household economy, presenting sixteen hundred meticulously cataloged historical recipes across every dining category.

Cooking & Drinking8 min read
Cover of The Life of Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson

The Life of Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson

Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez

A pioneer girl’s terrifying childhood gives way to a restless life of art, migration, and fierce devotion beside a legendary writer.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala: Selected from his Luzum ma la Yalzam and Suct us-Zand

The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala: Selected from his Luzum ma la Yalzam and Suct us-Zand

Abu al-Ala al-Maarri

A blind tenth-century Syrian philosopher rejects the world’s religious orthodoxies, choosing radical reason, ascetical compassion, and fearless doubt instead.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of The Other World

The Other World

Unknown

A steady, reverent defence of the unseen realm pushes back against modern skepticism, gathering century upon century of extraordinary testimony to show that heaven, hell, and the miraculous remain present in human affairs.

History - Other5 min read
Cover of The Rise of the Dutch Republic

The Rise of the Dutch Republic

John Lothrop Motley

A bloody, desperate fight for religious and political liberty erupts when sixteenth-century Holland resists the murderous tyranny of imperial Spain.

History - European8 min read
Cover of U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1953 January - June

U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1953 January - June

Library of Congress. Copyright Office

A systematic mid-century registry converts creative output into legal record, capturing the exact moment when thousands of early twentieth-century American and international works secured their second generation of copyright protection.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of And the Kaiser abdicates: The German Revolution November 1918-August 1919

And the Kaiser abdicates: The German Revolution November 1918-August 1919

S. Miles (Stephen Miles) Bouton

A nation built on unyielding state authority and obedience collapses under the weight of hunger, military defeat, and ideological division, giving birth to an unsteady democratic republic.

History - European5 min read
Cover of Buddhism and Christianity: A Parallel and a Contrast

Buddhism and Christianity: A Parallel and a Contrast

Archibald Scott

A patient, comparative study reveals how two world-shaping faiths independently addressed humanity’s deepest moral questions, uncovering profound parallels alongside irreconcilable views on God, human effort, and ultimate destiny.

Religion/Spirituality7 min read
Cover of Gestalt psychology

Gestalt psychology

Wolfgang Köhler

Perception is not a collection of isolated sensations, but an organized whole where mind and environment actively shape one another.

General6 min read
Cover of Great Disasters and Horrors in the World's History

Great Disasters and Horrors in the World's History

Allen Howard Godbey

Nature operates by immutable physical principles, yet human beings routinely mistake its violent shifts for deliberate, unexplainable horrors. Across centuries of catastrophic storms, volcanic outbursts, and sudden earth tremors, human negligence and ignorance consistently amplify natural forces into deadly disasters.

Environmental Issues7 min read
Cover of Half a Hundred Hero Tales of Ulysses and The Men of Old

Half a Hundred Hero Tales of Ulysses and The Men of Old

Unknown

Told through fifty vibrant tales, these classic myths capture the timeless drama of Greek and Roman antiquity, where courageous mortals and willful deities clash in a world driven by fate, ambition, and tragic desire.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of Historic Tales: The Romance of Reality. Vol. 12 (of 15), Japanese and Chinese

Historic Tales: The Romance of Reality. Vol. 12 (of 15), Japanese and Chinese

Charles Morris

From ancient heroic legends to nineteenth-century military clashes, centuries of Eastern history unfold through vivid, legendary tales.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci

Maurice W. Brockwell

A comprehensive study of a Renaissance master reveals a thinker whose restless intellect constantly sought to decipher the physical world through art, mechanics, and philosophy.

Art6 min read
Advertisement