The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 214
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 214 of 988.
The Bee-Man of Orn and Other Fanciful Tales
Frank R. Stockton
A world of dryly logical absurdities unfolds across nine fairy tales, where monstrous griffins seek companionship and stubborn travelers march strictly in straight lines.
The Brethren
H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
A medieval lady is torn from her Essex home by her powerful uncle, forcing her twin knightly suitors into a desperate Crusader rescue.
The Colloquies of Erasmus, Volume I
Desiderius Erasmus
Wit cuts through dogma faster than anger, turning the everyday conversations of sixteenth-century Europe into a quiet revolution of common sense.
The Doctor's Dilemma: Preface on Doctors
Bernard Shaw
When medical care is run as a commercial trade, doctors profit from illness rather than health, turning surgeons into financially incentivized mutilators and elevating routine, untested treatments into unquestioned dogmas.
The Great Shadow and Other Napoleonic Tales
Arthur Conan Doyle
A young Scotsman’s peaceful life is torn apart by the shadow of the Napoleonic Wars when an alluring stranger comes ashore. Love, deception, and war force him from his quiet farm onto the blood-soaked field of Waterloo.
The History of Antiquity, Vol. 4 (of 6)
Max Duncker
Through an exhaustive synthesis of early texts, inscriptions, and classical accounts, this study details the evolution of ancient Indian civilization, tracing its transformation from pastoral Vedic origins through the rigid development of Brahmanic law, philosophy, and the Buddhist reformation.
The History of Chivalry
Charles Mills
A world of iron armor and courtly grace comes alive as the ideals, rituals, and martial exploits of medieval knighthood are traced from their ancient origins to their eventual decline.
The Modern Woman's Rights Movement: A Historical Survey
Käthe Schirmacher
The struggle for female emancipation is a global conflict against the ancient law of might, driven by the enduring truth that human nature fundamentally resists oppression.
The Red Thumb Mark
R. Austin (Richard Austin) Freeman
A young man faces prison when a bloodstained thumb-print inside a locked safe seems to seal his fate, leaving a pioneering medico-legal expert to prove the physical evidence has been forged.
The room in the tower, and other stories
E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson
A nocturnal knocking at the door, an inexplicable cloud of road-dust, or an uncanny presence on the stairs can shatter the calmest evening. E. F. Benson’s tales suggest that the invisible world is always waiting just beyond the shadow.
The Sea (La Mer)
Jules Michelet
A poetic and scientific exploration of the ocean, blending natural history with philosophical musings.
The Secrets of a Kuttite: An Authentic Story of Kut, Adventures in Captivity and Stamboul Intrigue
Edward O. (Edward Opotiki) Mousley
Captive soldiers endure a brutal, endless march across scorched plains while internal military intrigue and dangerous escape attempts shape their survival in wartime Turkey.
The unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
Dorothy L. (Dorothy Leigh) Sayers
An elderly general dies in his armchair at a London club, leaving a massive fortune that depends entirely on the exact minute he drew his last breath.
The Women of Mormondom
Edward W. (Edward William) Tullidge
Persecuted, exiled, and misunderstood, the female pioneers of early Mormonism built an empire in the desert while establishing a radical spiritual vision of female authority.
A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf
John Muir
A nature lover's journey through the American South, Cuba, and California, filled with vivid descriptions of landscapes, flora, and fauna.
Alice, grand duchess of Hesse, princess of Great Britain and Ireland: Biographical sketch and letters. With portrait
Alice, Grand Duchess, consort of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt
Behind official court gazettes and royal portraits lies the private life of a British princess navigating war, loss, and public duty in her adopted German homeland.
An Introduction to Yoga
Annie Besant
A comprehensive guide to the principles and practices of Yoga, exploring its philosophical foundations and practical applications.
Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895: Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 519-744
Jesse Walter Fewkes
Underneath the towering cliffs and ancient mesas of the American Southwest lies a rich history waiting to be unraveled through the remnants of stone, bone, and painted clay.
In the Track of R. L. Stevenson and Elsewhere in Old France
J. A. (John Alexander) Hammerton
Follow in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson through the Cévennes Mountains and other enchanting regions of old France.
King Coal
Upton Sinclair
A privileged young man enters a brutally exploitative coal town under an assumed name, only to have his eyes opened to the dark, hidden machinery of industrial slavery.
Malthus and his work
James Bonar
Human populations expand at a geometric rate, but their food supply grows only in simple arithmetical steps, trapping societies in a endless cycle of scarcity.
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume 4 (of 10)
J. G. (John Gibson) Lockhart
Navigating a high-stakes financial crisis, a beloved poet rejects official crowns, sails the rugged northern seas, and quietly publishes the book that changes prose fiction forever.
Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman: With Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War
James Harvey Kidd
A firsthand account of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade's Civil War campaigns, offering a vivid portrayal of life on the front lines.
The Analysis of Beauty: Written with a view of fixing the fluctuating ideas of taste
William Hogarth
A comprehensive guide to understanding and appreciating the principles of beauty in art and nature.
The Diamond Lens
Fitz James O'Brien
A monomaniacal scientific obsession drives a young man to commit murder for a flawless diamond, through which he discovers an ethereal, microscopic woman living inside a single drop of water.
The Great Apostasy, Considered in the Light of Scriptural and Secular History
James E. (James Edward) Talmage
A comprehensive exploration of the Great Apostasy, its causes, and its impact on Christianity, as seen through the lens of scriptural and historical analysis.
The meaning of a liberal education
Everett Dean Martin
Real education is not an easy shortcut to career advancement, but a lifelong, self-directed struggle to free the human mind from herd opinion, dogma, and cheap propaganda.
The Princess and Curdie
George MacDonald
A young miner embarks on a magical quest to save a kingdom, aided by a mysterious princess and a peculiar animal companion.
The Provinces of the Roman Empire, from Caesar to Diocletian. v. 1
Theodor Mommsen
Beyond the halls of Rome, a sprawling empire built its true foundation not through gladiatorial games, but through border forts, provincial taxes, and regional administration.
The Remains of Hesiod the Ascræan, Including the Shield of Hercules: Translated into English rhyme and blank verse
Hesiod
Labor and order shape survival under fickle gods.
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare's Plays
Thomas Keightley
A quiet, meticulous scholar sits with the original printings of William Shakespeare, intent on rescuing every lost beat of meter and fixing every error left behind by early printers.
The State: Its History and Development Viewed Sociologically
Franz Oppenheimer
A sharp sociological exploration of how political states emerge through violent subjugation rather than peaceful social contracts. The book traces humanity’s institutional reliance on conquest from ancient nomads to modern times, offering a path toward a cooperative, stateless future.
The Story of Geronimo
Jim Kjelgaard
A young Apache boy watches from the high grass, learning how to steal horses, hunt deer, and outwit enemy trackers. From these quiet beginnings rises a legendary war leader whose name will echo across the Southwest.
The Upward Path: A Reader For Colored Children
Unknown
A curated anthology designed to provide young readers with a mirror of Black achievement, dignity, and literary skill across poetry, historical accounts, and classic storytelling.
The Wallet of Kai Lung
Ernest Bramah
A collection of enchanting tales from ancient China, filled with wisdom, humor, and adventure, as told by the itinerant storyteller Kai Lung.
The White Queen of Okoyong: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism and Faith
W. P. (William Pringle) Livingstone
A factory girl from Scotland trades the poverty of her youth for the African bush, facing down armed warriors, deadly epidemics, and ancient customs with nothing more than fierce faith, a quick wit, and a loving heart.
The Yellow Claw
Sax Rohmer
Under the glowing streetlamps and dark alleys of Edwardian London, an invisible mastermind pulls the strings of a deadly, addictive underworld.
Three Years in Western China: A Narrative of Three Journeys in Ssu-ch'uan, Kuei-chow, and Yün-nan
Hosie, Alexander, Sir
A British consular officer ventures deep into the rugged hinterlands of late nineteenth-century China, mapping unchartered trade routes, documenting indigenous cultures, and recording the intricate rhythms of daily life along the upper Yang-tsze.
Wallace
active 1470-1492 Blind Hary
A long-lost leader rises from the ashes of a conquered kingdom to wage relentless, bloody guerrilla warfare against an occupying English tyrant.
Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, Vol. 6 of 6
Unknown
High energy, unfiltered wit, and the rhythmic beat of street performance pulse through this definitive collection of popular Restoration-era songs and tavern ballads.
A Day with Keats
May Byron
A fragile young poet paces a sunlit Hampstead garden, transforming his inner turmoil and devotion into immortal verse.
A Manual of Wood Carving
Charles Godfrey Leland
An accessible, hands-on instructional manual that elevates wood carving from a delicate hobby into a bold, universal art of domestic and architectural decoration.
Akbar, Emperor of India: A Picture of Life and Customs from the Sixteenth Century
Richard Garbe
A visionary sixteenth-century ruler transforms a fractured realm into a unified empire through radical tolerance, administrative genius, and unyielding personal courage.
Art Principles with Special Reference to Painting: Together with Notes on the Illusions Produced by the Painter
Ernest Govett
A thoughtful brushstroke can reveal the mechanics of visual beauty, proving that true art relies on universal laws rather than mere fleeting fashion.
Authors and their public in ancient times
George Haven Putnam
Before printing presses existed, every book was an act of manual labor, shaped by the material limits of clay, papyrus, or parchment, and by the precarious economic bonds between authors, patrons, and copyists.
Chap-books of the Eighteenth Century: With Facsimiles, Notes, and Introduction
John Ashton
A nation’s popular imagination lives not in its elite treatises, but in the cheap, battered pamphlets peddled across the countryside to readers hungry for wonders, morals, and miracles.
Clover
Susan Coolidge
For a sister who never intended to leave her family, a brother's failing lungs make a journey west the only choice—and a turn of fate she never planned for.
Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 2: A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc
American School of Correspondence
A window into the dawn of the global telecommunications grid, this early technical survey maps the intricate apparatus, switchboard logic, and automated systems that first enabled voice and signal to travel vast distances over copper.