myebooksbuy
My Books

The whole shelf

All free summaries — page 172

46,038 public-domain books, summarised. Page 172 of 960.

Cover of My Autobiography: A Fragment

My Autobiography: A Fragment

F. Max (Friedrich Max) Müller

Formed in grief, tempered by raucous student days, and refined in European libraries, a brilliant philologist constructs an unvarnished account of his journey toward unlocking ancient Eastern texts.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Pioneers in Canada

Pioneers in Canada

Harry Johnston

Dense forests, treacherous icy waterways, and vast unmapped territories frame a centuries-long struggle to unlock a continent.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Railway Construction

Railway Construction

William Hemingway Mills

Engineers who build iron highways must master earth, water, and steel long before the first locomotive rolls down the track.

Engineering & Technology5 min read
Cover of Selling Things

Selling Things

Orison Swett Marden

The world always listens to a man with a will in him. Mastering the art of commerce requires less manipulation than internal transformation, as success in sales is not a matter of tricks, but a reflection of character and unwavering belief.

Business/Management6 min read
Cover of Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights

Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights

Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

A world of hidden doors, transformative curses, and relentless sibling envy opens when nighttime storytelling becomes a matter of life and death.

Classics of Literature8 min read
Cover of The Certain Hour (Dizain des Poëtes)

The Certain Hour (Dizain des Poëtes)

James Branch Cabell

Poets and artists across the centuries discover that while their creative devotion elevates them to heights of passion, it ultimately isolates them from the ordinary world.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Dark Ages, 476-918

The Dark Ages, 476-918

Charles Oman

A fierce and chaotic continent emerges from the ashes of the Western Roman Empire to build the foundation of medieval Europe.

History - European9 min read
Cover of The Gods are Athirst

The Gods are Athirst

Anatole France

A fanatic’s idealism is a quiet, deadly force, capable of turning the gentlest soul into a monster of state-sanctioned terror.

French Literature7 min read
Cover of The Last Letter

The Last Letter

Fritz Leiber

A single hand-written love letter chokes the hyper-automated postal system of twenty-fifth-century New York, causing mechanical breakdowns, administrative panic, and an emergency military deployment.

Romance6 min read
Cover of The Last Voyage: To India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam'

The Last Voyage: To India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam'

Annie Brassey

A grand, globe-spanning voyage turns unexpectedly poignant as a famous travel writer records her final journey across tropical seas and colonial frontiers.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of Zoölogy: The Science of Animal Life: Popular Science Library, Volume XII (of 16), P. F. Collier & Son Company, 1922

Zoölogy: The Science of Animal Life: Popular Science Library, Volume XII (of 16), P. F. Collier & Son Company, 1922

Ernest Ingersoll

A meticulous taxonomic journey reveals how nature constructs its vast tapestry, tracing the silent, inexorable movement of life from single-celled organisms to the highest vertebrates.

Science - Biology7 min read
Cover of Alexander's Bridge

Alexander's Bridge

Willa Cather

A brilliant engineer divided between a cultured wife in Boston and a long-lost love in London finds his double life collapsing alongside his greatest masterpiece.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Calvin Morgan McClung historical collection

Calvin Morgan McClung historical collection

Lawson McGhee Library, Knoxville, Tenn.

This compiled catalog records a vast, meticulous assembly of early Southern history, tracing the lands, lives, and documents that built Tennessee and its neighboring border states.

History - American5 min read
Cover of Custom and Myth: New Edition

Custom and Myth: New Edition

Andrew Lang

Mythology is best understood not through high-minded philology, but by observing the living customs of world cultures.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of History of the Fan

History of the Fan

G. Woolliscroft (George Woolliscroft) Rhead

Simple tools for threshing grain and tending sacred fires evolved over centuries into symbols of royal authority, complex instruments of social etiquette, and miniature canvases for Western art.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Stephen Crane

Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane

A restless observer of the human condition, these collected works navigate the perilous intersection of individual agency and indifferent nature. Through unflinching realism, they strip away the romantic veneer from life, war, and the city.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure

William Shakespeare

A corrupt deputy enforces a forgotten law against mortal passion, triggering a dark sequence of moral coercion, disguised authority, and back-room trade-offs.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Moon-Face, and Other Stories

Moon-Face, and Other Stories

Jack London

A dark current runs beneath everyday life, where petty malice, unseen forces, and untamed ambition slowly undo the human mind. Across circus arenas, lab shadows, and dangerous canyons, men and women wrestle helplessly with fate.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Notes on My Books

Notes on My Books

Joseph Conrad

Cruising through the origins of a master’s literary universe reveals how personal memory, chance encounters, and real-world perils transform into timeless fiction.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Penguin Island

Penguin Island

Anatole France

An absurd, short-sighted mistake transforms an arctic bird colony into a mirror of human history, tracing the rise and inevitable collapse of an entire civilization.

French Literature7 min read
Cover of Reminiscences of Scottish Life & Character: And a Memoir of Dean Ramsay by Cosmo Innes

Reminiscences of Scottish Life & Character: And a Memoir of Dean Ramsay by Cosmo Innes

Edward Bannerman Ramsay

A warm, vivid celebration of a vanishing world, capturing the unyielding wit, eccentric piety, and sharp phrasing of old Scottish life.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star: War-time Editorials

Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star: War-time Editorials

Theodore Roosevelt

A former president uses a regional newspaper column to demand absolute preparation, condemn political half-measures, and urge an uncompromising victory during America's entry into World War I.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Ruth

Ruth

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

An orphaned apprentice dressmaker is seduced, abandoned, and left pregnant in North Wales, only to find redemption and purpose through quiet devotion in an unforgiving Victorian society. <Image alt="Penguin Classics cover edition of Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell" caption="Gaskell's poignant tale of redemption"…

British Literature8 min read
Cover of Seraphita

Seraphita

Honoré de Balzac

Across the frozen precipices of Norway, a enigmatic figure moves between worlds, drawing two seekers into a dizzying realm of Swedenborgian mysticism and divine transformation.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses

The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses

Robert Louis Stevenson

Underneath the clashing swords of the Wars of the Roses, a young orphan discovers that the guardian he trusted murdered his father.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The book of the ancient Greeks: An introduction to the history and civilization of Greece from the coming of the Greeks to the conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C

The book of the ancient Greeks: An introduction to the history and civilization of Greece from the coming of the Greeks to the conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C

Dorothy Mills

Across more than a millennium of classical history, the Greek world moves from the shadowy heroics of legend to the hard-fought realities of city-state rivalries and imperial expansion.

History - Ancient5 min read
Cover of The Crest-Wave of Evolution: A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19

The Crest-Wave of Evolution: A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19

Kenneth Morris

To trace the invisible currents of human history, one must look beyond the noise of battles and examine the quiet, recurring rhythms of the spirit.

History - Other10 min read
Cover of The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work

The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work

Ernest Favenc

Bridging colonial archives and inland paths, Ernest Favenc frames the conquest of Australia not as a single grand sweep, but as an agonizing series of foot-by-foot encounters with an unyielding landscape.

History - Other5 min read
Cover of The journal of the American-Irish Historical Society, Vol. III, 1900

The journal of the American-Irish Historical Society, Vol. III, 1900

Various

This collection serves as a meticulous record of the early twentieth-century mission to codify the Irish contribution to the American narrative. It provides a window into the self-conception of an ethnic organization determined to ensure that its historical legacy remains visible, documented, and beyond the reach…

History - American7 min read
Cover of We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run

We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run

Jim Kjelgaard

Crossing the line before the gun sounds means risking everything, but holding back might cost a family their future.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of A California Girl

A California Girl

Edward Eldridge

A visionary local preacher and his brilliant wife challenge the social conventions of turn-of-the-century California, sparking a sweeping movement for spiritual enlightenment, sexual reform, and woman’s suffrage.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of A History of Science

A History of Science

Henry Smith Williams

From prehistoric survival skills to the sophisticated mathematical systems of antiquity, human progress relies on a continuous chain of discovery where every foundational idea reshapes civilization's future.

History - Ancient6 min read
Cover of An Introduction to Machine Drawing and Design

An Introduction to Machine Drawing and Design

David Allan Low

A systematic Victorian manual reveals how drafting precision and mechanical understanding turn lines on paper into operational engine components.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of Brown Wolf and Other Jack London Stories: Chosen and Edited By Franklin K. Mathiews

Brown Wolf and Other Jack London Stories: Chosen and Edited By Franklin K. Mathiews

Jack London

A world of raw muscle, sudden violence, and fierce loyalty awaits beneath the calm surface of civilized life.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 3: With His Letters and Journals

Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 3: With His Letters and Journals

Thomas Moore

A fiery celebrity, a whirlwind courtship, and an exile spent wandering Alpine lakes and Italian ruins shape this intimate record of romantic triumph and personal disaster. Drawn directly from private letters, detailed journals, and candid editorial notes, it catches a master poet at the height of his fame and the…

Biographies6 min read
Cover of London Clubs: Their History & Treasures

London Clubs: Their History & Treasures

Ralph Nevill

A window onto a vanishing world, this survey captures the smoke-filled rooms and eccentric rituals that defined the elite social architecture of London’s most storied institutions.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Public Speaking

Public Speaking

Clarence Stratton

Mastering the art of public speaking requires far more than projection; it demands disciplined logic, careful audience analysis, and the seamless alignment of vocal technique with clear thought.

How To ...7 min read
Cover of Roumania Past and Present

Roumania Past and Present

James Samuelson

Bridging the gap between a rising Danubian state and an indifferent Western public, this comprehensive account transforms a little-understood European realm into a vivid tapestry of ancient Roman legacy, regional warfare, and modern nation-building.

History - European6 min read
Cover of Tales from the Fjeld: A Second Series of Popular Tales

Tales from the Fjeld: A Second Series of Popular Tales

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen

Magic, clever trickery, and rugged wildness collide across the Norwegian mountains as clever peasants, adventurous youngest sons, and cunning beasts outwit overbearing monarchs, vengeful trolls, and fate itself.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of The Adventures of Sally

The Adventures of Sally

P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

A young New York woman inherits a fortune, loses it to theatrical dreamers and bad luck, and finds her way through heartbreaks and misadventures to a quiet, genuine happiness.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The American Railway: Its Construction, Development, Management, and Appliances

The American Railway: Its Construction, Development, Management, and Appliances

Thomas Curtis Clarke

American railways emerged from a spirit of defiant innovation, transforming a rugged landscape into a connected nation through engineering ingenuity and rapid, often brutal, industrial evolution.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 1 (of 8): Poems Lyrical and Narrative

The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 1 (of 8): Poems Lyrical and Narrative

W. B. (William Butler) Yeats

This collection of early verse offers a gateway into a world where ancient Irish myth and personal longing collide. These poems map the transformation of a young poet as he moves from romantic idealism toward a more austere, hard-won wisdom.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Discovery of Guiana

The Discovery of Guiana

Walter Raleigh

Dense jungle waterways, volatile river swells, and the glittering promise of unmapped empires shape a high-stakes bid to win the favor of a Tudor monarch.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims. Volume 1 (of 2)

The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims. Volume 1 (of 2)

Andrew Steinmetz

A sweeping, unsparing chronicle reveals how the universal itch to hazard a fortune reshaped European society, ruining lords, corrupting monarchs, and turning quiet streets into dens of financial desperation.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of The Life of a Conspirator: Being a Biography of Sir Everard Digby by One of His Descendants

The Life of a Conspirator: Being a Biography of Sir Everard Digby by One of His Descendants

Thomas Longueville

A young, wealthy knight falls under the spell of a charismatic fanatic, risking his fortune, his family, and his head for a doomed gunpowder conspiracy against the English crown.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Man of Feeling

The Man of Feeling

Henry Mackenzie

Life is too harsh for Harley, a young Scottish gentleman whose extraordinary empathy leaves him utterly defenseless against a mercenary world.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Women of The American Revolution, Vol. 1

The Women of The American Revolution, Vol. 1

E. F. (Elizabeth Fries) Ellet

When war sweeps across a continent, history records the movements of armies while quietly erasing the women who held the home front together. This classic history restores those forgotten lives, showing how domestic fortitude proved as decisive as military strategy.

Gender & Sexuality Studies6 min read
Cover of Tomato Culture: A Practical Treatise on the Tomato

Tomato Culture: A Practical Treatise on the Tomato

W. W. (William Warner) Tracy

In a world of agricultural manuals that offer rigid formulas, this text stands apart by teaching growers how to observe their plants rather than simply follow a recipe.

How To ...5 min read