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All free summaries — page 179
9,354 public-domain books, summarised. Page 179 of 195.
The Road to Oz
L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum
A girl from Kansas and a curious stranger embark on a whimsical trek through magical lands, guided by a mysterious horseshoe that compels every living thing they encounter to love them.
The Storm
Daniel Defoe
A howling wind tears the roof from your home and pulls the very sea into the sky, leaving a nation to reckon with the sudden, violent fragility of human existence.
The Thirteen
Honoré de Balzac
This collection of three interconnected novellas explores the dark, hidden machinations of Parisian society, where secret alliances and unchecked passions collide with the rigid demands of 19th-century social order.
The World's Greatest Books
Unknown
This collection serves as a sweeping survey of the nineteenth-century literary imagination, acting as a curated gateway to the foundational novels of the Western canon. It provides a vital glimpse into the storytelling traditions that shaped the modern reader’s understanding of fiction.
A Joy For Ever (and Its Price in the Market)
John Ruskin
A thing of beauty is a joy forever, yet the modern market treats art as a perishable commodity rather than a permanent national legacy. This urgent appeal reimagines the political economy of art to serve human flourishing.
A Novelist on Novels
Walter Lionel George
The modern novel faces a precarious existence, caught between the indifference of a mass-market public and a restrictive, puritanical culture that stifles true artistic sincerity.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume 04: Imperial Antiquity
John Lord
The rise and fall of empires, viewed through the lens of individual greatness, reveal the enduring tension between human ambition and the inexorable tides of history. This volume chronicles the transition from the ancient pagan world to the dawning of the Middle Ages.
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 4 of 7
Edgar Thurston
A detailed chronicle of social structures in early 20th-century India, documenting the customs, rituals, and histories of the subcontinent’s diverse populations.
Commercial Law
Richard William Hill
Understanding the basic mechanics of American law is a vital form of protection for those managing money and commerce. This guide translates complex legal principles into practical, accessible knowledge for the everyday professional.
English Travellers of the Renaissance
Clare Howard
This scholarly study examines the transformation of the English gentleman through the lens of Renaissance travel, tracing how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century voyagers evolved from humanist students into sophisticated courtiers.
Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 2
François Rabelais
This sprawling, irreverent epic chronicles the coming-of-age of a giant prince, blending raucous satire, impossible feats of strength, and a deep, humanist thirst for knowledge. It is a work that refuses to take anything seriously, except perhaps the importance of wit and learning.
Jeanne d'Arc, Maid of Orleans, Deliverer of France: Being the Story of Her Life, Her Achievements, and Her Death, as Attested on Oath and Set Forth in the Original Documents
Unknown
A girl from a remote village leads armies, defies powerful churchmen, and meets a harrowing end, all captured in the stark, unadorned language of the original court records that condemned her.
Mr. Punch's History of the Great War
Charles L. (Charles Larcom) Graves
The war is not a tragedy to be analyzed in the abstract, but a lived experience of endurance, humor, and quiet sacrifice observed through the lens of a national institution.
Murder in Paris
Alice Campbell
A young American woman in Paris finds herself trapped in a lethal conspiracy, caught between a deceptive maid and a man she barely knows but desperately needs.
Parkhurst Boys, and Other Stories of School Life
Talbot Baines Reed
This collection captures the frantic, earnest, and often ridiculous spirit of late-Victorian schoolboy life. From the high-stakes tension of the football field to the absurdities of boarding school friendships, it offers a glimpse into a world governed by honor, ritual, and a fair amount of mischief.
Rugs: Oriental and Occidental, Antique & Modern: A Handbook for Ready Reference
Rosa Belle Holt
This handbook serves as a definitive guide for the early twentieth-century enthusiast, documenting the history, artistry, and technical nuances of rug weaving across the Orient and beyond. It demystifies the complex craft of the loom for the serious collector and the curious homemaker alike, bridging the gap…
The Children's Book of Christmas Stories
Unknown
This collection offers a curated window into the sentimental and moral landscape of the early 20th century. It is a mosaic of fiction, folklore, and historical sketches, gathered to capture the spirit of the season through the eyes of children and the people who care for them.
The Hymns of Prudentius
Prudentius
HOOK This collection of Latin hymns offers a rare, intimate window into the fourth-century mind as it bridges the divide between the fading grandeur of Rome and the rising light of the Christian faith.
The Lady from the Sea
Henrik Ibsen
The restless pull of the ocean and the crushing weight of domestic expectation collide in this drama of a woman caught between her marriage and a phantom from her past. A haunting choice defines whether a life can truly be called one’s own.
The Samuel Butler Collection at Saint John's College, Cambridge: A Catalogue and a Commentary
Henry Festing Jones
This guide serves as a permanent memorial to a complex literary life, mapping the physical and intellectual artifacts of a writer who challenged the Victorian establishment. It acts as both a rigorous inventory and an intimate, annotated map of a man’s creative world.
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 161, May 1904
Various
A rich treasury of Edwardian imagination, this collection blends the sharp deductions of Sherlock Holmes with tales of magical rugs, theatrical memoirs, and the curiosities of a changing world.
The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales
Richard Garnett
These stories offer a wry, erudite look at the foibles of gods, philosophers, and historical figures. They suggest that human wisdom is often just a fragile mask for absurdity.
The World's Desire
Andrew Lang
An aging hero sets sail across a sea of ghosts to find the woman who was once the beauty of the world. He discovers that some desires are curses, and some loves are only meant to be found in death.
The World's Progress, Vol. 01 (of 10): With Illustrative texts from Masterpieces of Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Modern European and American Literature
Delphian Society
This expansive survey of early human civilization chronicles the rise and fall of the great powers of the ancient world, from the Nile Valley to the Euphrates, through a synthesis of archaeological discovery and foundational literature.
Tyrol and Its People
Clive Holland
This exploration of the Austrian Alps balances the grandeur of mountain scenery with the intimate, often tragic, pulse of the region’s long-standing traditions. It invites readers into a landscape where ancient stone castles and humble village rituals coexist.
Woman's Work in Music
Arthur Elson
A survey of feminine influence in musical history, this work reclaims the narratives of forgotten creators and examines the societal barriers that shaped their output. It serves as a bridge between myth and modern professionalization.
Autobiography: Truth and Fiction Relating to My Life
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This memoir captures the formative evolution of a literary giant, blending the clarity of retrospection with the raw, impressionable intensity of a young mind navigating the cultural currents of eighteenth-century Europe.
Brown of Moukden: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War
Herbert Strang
A young man navigates the perilous landscape of the Russo-Japanese War to rescue his father from a Siberian prison camp. It is a classic tale of endurance, resourcefulness, and the shifting loyalties of wartime.
Colors of Life: Poems and Songs and Sonnets
Max Eastman
A collection of verse that favors the raw, immediate pulse of individual experience over the rigid demands of political or social dogma. It captures a restless, observant mind navigating the transition from early-century idealism to the harsh realities of a changing world.
Elements of arithmetic
Augustus De Morgan
This classic instructional text strips arithmetic down to its logical foundations, transforming calculation from a series of rote chores into an exercise of consistent, reflective thought.
Marriage and Divorce Laws of the World
Hyacinthe Ringrose
This global survey of matrimonial jurisprudence offers a systematic record of how different societies defined and governed the union of marriage at the dawn of the twentieth century. It provides an essential look at the legal machinery that once shaped, limited, and dissolved the most fundamental of human…
Pictures and Stories from Uncle Tom's Cabin
Unknown
A mother’s desperate flight across frozen waters and a faithful man’s journey through profound sorrow reveal the human cost of a nation’s most grievous sin.
Secret Service Under Pitt
William J. (William John) Fitz-Patrick
The shadows of the late eighteenth century conceal a treacherous web, where the line between Irish patriot and government informant blurs into a landscape of moral ruin and political betrayal.
Sketches from Eastern History
Theodor Nöldeke
These historical portraits navigate the complex currents of the Near East, blending the rise of empires with the intimate lives of saints and rulers. They offer a grounded, scholarly examination of the forces that shaped a civilization.
Sleight of Hand: A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs & Others
Edwin Thomas Sachs
This comprehensive guide to the art of deception transforms the parlor trick into a rigorous discipline, blending technical manual dexterity with the psychology of misdirection. It remains a definitive masterclass in the mechanics of wonder.
Steel Traps: Describes the Various Makes and Tells How to Use Them, Also Chapters on Care of Pelts, Etc
A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding
This practical guide serves as a foundational manual for the turn-of-the-century woodsman, detailing the mechanics, selection, and field application of various steel traps.
The Black Robe
Wilkie Collins
A man haunted by a past tragedy finds his quiet life dismantled by the calculated machinations of a shadowy priest. This is a story of how secrets and religious fervor erode the foundations of a marriage.
The Countess of Saint Geran: Celebrated Crimes
Alexandre Dumas
A nobleman’s daring escape from custody initiates a tangled web of deceit, where a cold-blooded conspiracy seeks to steal a family’s lineage and inheritance. This account chronicles the harrowing struggle of a mother to reclaim the son she was told never existed.
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 02: (From the Rise of Greece to the Christian Era)
Unknown
This collection gathers seminal accounts of ancient history, tracing the rise of Greek democracy, the expansion of the Roman Republic, and the eventual transition into an empire through the eyes of classical and modern historians.
The illustrated Tarzan book no. 1
Edgar Rice Burroughs
A refined English lord, orphaned in the African wilderness and raised by a tribe of great apes, must navigate the chasm between his savage upbringing and his true, hidden identity.
Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon Law: Being an Essay Supplemental to (1) 'The English Village Community', (2) 'The Tribal System in Wales'
Frederic Seebohm
Legal codes are the hidden fossils of a civilization, preserving the structure of societies long before they were recorded by traditional historians. This study reconstructs the vanished tribal frameworks of early Anglo-Saxon and Continental European life by decoding their complex laws of kinship and compensation.
Under Fire: The Story of a Squad
Henri Barbusse
A visceral, unflinching account of the Great War, this narrative follows a squad of ordinary men as they are ground into the mud of the trenches and slowly awakened to the true nature of their sacrifice.
Why Men Fight: A method of abolishing the international duel
Bertrand Russell
A profound exploration of human psychology and the structures of power, this work offers a timeless meditation on why societies choose conflict over creation. It provides a radical, deeply compassionate blueprint for dismantling the mechanisms that sustain global violence.
American Merchant Ships and Sailors
Willis J. (Willis John) Abbot
The story of the American merchant marine is a chronicle of audacity, from the early days of wooden sailing ships to the rise of steel steamers and the conquest of the poles.
File No. 113
Emile Gaboriau
A prominent Paris banker faces ruin when his vault is emptied, sparking a desperate investigation that uncovers long-buried secrets and tests the limits of loyalty.
Metropolis
Thea von Harbou
The mediator between brain and muscle must be the heart. This classic vision of a future city-world explores the struggle for human soul amidst the relentless machinery of a technological age.
Pictures of German Life in the XVth, XVIth, and XVIIth Centuries, Vol. II
Gustav Freytag
A harrowing portrait of seventeenth-century Germany, where the devastating Thirty Years’ War dismantled the fabric of daily life and left the survivors to reconstruct a shattered civilization from its own ruins.
Seven Centuries of Lace
Maria Margaret Pollen
This visual and technical survey serves as a definitive guide to the history of lace, tracing the evolution of thread-work from its early ecclesiastical roots to the refined, filmy textures of the eighteenth century. It bridges the gap between historical artifact and physical craft, offering a scholar’s perspective…