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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 23 of 714.

Cover of Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences

Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences

René Descartes

To think clearly is to dismantle the architecture of received wisdom, brick by brick, until only the unshakeable foundation remains. This journey demands nothing less than the total reconstruction of one’s own mind.

History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)7 min read
Cover of Humorous Ghost Stories

Humorous Ghost Stories

Dorothy Scarborough

When the veil between the living and the dead wears thin, it is not always a chilling hand that reaches through—sometimes, it is a comedian in a sheet.

Humour7 min read
Cover of Homer's Odyssey: A Commentary

Homer's Odyssey: A Commentary

Denton Jaques Snider

A singular, rigorous map of the ancient world’s most famous journey, revealing how Homer’s architecture of gods and men reflects the eternal struggle between human agency and divine decree.

Essays, Letters & Speeches8 min read
Cover of The Journal of Negro History, Volume 6, 1921

The Journal of Negro History, Volume 6, 1921

Various

Scholars and witnesses reconstruct a hidden history, challenging the distortions of their era to provide a rigorous, evidence-based account of the African American experience across centuries and continents.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Mearing Stones: Leaves from My Note-Book on Tramp in Donegal

Mearing Stones: Leaves from My Note-Book on Tramp in Donegal

Joseph Campbell

The road offers a singular promise: to those willing to walk it, the landscape reveals not just its stones and heather, but the ancient, quiet pulse of a people living in harmony with the earth.

Essays, Letters & Speeches8 min read
Cover of The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame

The world is vast, wild, and indifferent to our comfort, yet within the quiet corners of a riverbank, there exists a profound, unspoken pact of friendship that makes the struggle of existence bearable.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters: A Family Record

Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters: A Family Record

William Austen-Leigh

A quiet life lived in the corners of a country rectory reveals the hidden machinery behind some of the most celebrated novels in the English language. This family record offers an intimate, unadorned look at a literary life defined by devotion, domesticity, and a sharp, observant wit.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2: Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War

The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2: Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War

John Marshall

A young soldier faces the harsh realities of the frontier, eventually leading a fragile, disorganized army through the crucible of a revolutionary war against the greatest power on earth.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of The art of money getting

The art of money getting

P. T. (Phineas Taylor) Barnum

Wealth is a machine that anyone can learn to operate, provided they master the discipline of keeping more than they spend. True independence, however, requires a steady brain and the wisdom to know when to hold your ground.

Business/Management7 min read
Cover of Mansfield Park

Mansfield Park

Jane Austen

A quiet girl, displaced from her family to live with wealthy, indifferent relatives, learns that the greatest test of character is not grand gestures, but the steadfast quiet of doing what is right.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Crooked Trails and Straight

Crooked Trails and Straight

William MacLeod Raine

A dusty road holds more than one path for a man looking to make amends, and in the high desert, the difference between a life of crime and a life of grace is often just a matter of who you stand beside.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of Reels and Spindles: A Story of Mill Life

Reels and Spindles: A Story of Mill Life

Evelyn Raymond

A young girl discovers that character is the only currency that matters when her family’s life of refinement collapses into the demanding, soot-stained reality of a textile mill.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Famous Sea Fights, from Salamis to Tsu-Shima

Famous Sea Fights, from Salamis to Tsu-Shima

A. Hilliard (Andrew Hilliard) Atteridge

The history of naval warfare is a succession of desperate gambles on the open water, where the fate of empires often hinges on the turning of a single tide.

History - Ancient7 min read
Cover of Olive: A Novel

Olive: A Novel

Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

A life measured not by the symmetry of one’s face, but by the steady, unyielding light of a character forged in seclusion and tempered by the complex shadows of a family’s hidden past.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Theories of Darwin and Their Relation to Philosophy, Religion, and Morality

The Theories of Darwin and Their Relation to Philosophy, Religion, and Morality

Rudolf Schmid

How can modern scientific inquiry coexist with the ancient foundations of human faith? This exploration examines the tensions of the nineteenth century, seeking a bridge between the findings of biology and the truths of the soul.

Philosophy & Ethics8 min read
Cover of The best short stories of 1917, and the yearbook of the American short story

The best short stories of 1917, and the yearbook of the American short story

Unknown

A snapshot of a nation in flux, these stories capture the quiet desperation and sudden revelations of lives caught between the old world and the uncertainty of a new age.

American Literature8 min read
Cover of The conspirators

The conspirators

Alexandre Dumas

A young aristocrat stakes his life on a desperate political gamble, only to find that his fate is entwined with a quiet, unsuspecting copyist and the woman he loves.

French Literature7 min read
Cover of A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume II

A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume II

Augustus De Morgan

A curious archive of scientific obsession, this collection examines the persistent, often humorous, and always human struggle to solve the unsolvable.

Humour7 min read
Cover of The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume I

The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume I

Jules Lermina

A shadow of the legendary Count of Monte-Cristo looms over a new generation, where the sins of long-buried villains resurface to test the courage of their children and the mettle of a mysterious protector.

Historical Novels7 min read
Cover of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

When the earth splits open, home is the last thing you will find at the bottom of the crack.

American Literature8 min read
Cover of The Adventures of Maya the Bee

The Adventures of Maya the Bee

Waldemar Bonsels

Maya is born into a world of rigid order, but she is a creature of curiosity and spirit, refusing to be defined by the dark, claustrophobic hive. She longs to see the sunlight and discover the secrets of the vast, blooming world outside.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of Creative Evolution

Creative Evolution

Henri Bergson

Life is not a machine assembling itself from spare parts, but an erupting fountain of creative change that constantly defies the static predictions of science.

Philosophy & Ethics8 min read
Cover of Madeline Payne, the Detective's Daughter

Madeline Payne, the Detective's Daughter

Lawrence L. Lynch

A young woman, haunted by a past she cannot escape, returns to the home of her childhood nemesis to dismantle his life with the cold, calculated precision of a master detective.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Odd Numbers: Being Further Chronicles of Shorty McCabe

Odd Numbers: Being Further Chronicles of Shorty McCabe

Sewell Ford

The city is a puzzle, but Shorty McCabe knows where the pieces fit.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Diamond Coterie

The Diamond Coterie

Lawrence L. Lynch

A cold, calculated robbery leaves a wealthy heiress under suspicion, while a dark family secret threatens to destroy everyone she loves. In this tangled web of high-society crime, the truth is the most dangerous possession of all.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery7 min read
Cover of Happy Days

Happy Days

A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne

The world is rarely as grand or as tragic as we imagine it, and in these lighthearted sketches, even the smallest daily friction becomes a reason to smile.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of When Life Was Young: At the Old Farm in Maine

When Life Was Young: At the Old Farm in Maine

C. A. (Charles Asbury) Stephens

The world of a boy is a romance still unread, where every field holds a secret and the rhythm of the seasons dictates the true measure of a life well lived.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Impressions of America During the Years 1833, 1834 and 1835. Volume 2 (of 2)

Impressions of America During the Years 1833, 1834 and 1835. Volume 2 (of 2)

Tyrone Power

A traveler’s keen eye captures the rhythm of a young, restless nation, mapping the vast landscapes and social currents of a continent finding its own defiant voice.

History - American8 min read
Cover of A Sailor of King George

A Sailor of King George

Hoffman, Frederick, Captain

A career spent chasing fortune across the waves, only to be met by yellow fever, shipwrecks, and the iron grip of a French prison. This is the unvarnished account of life on the front lines of the Napoleonic Wars.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons

Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons

John McElroy

The silence of the dead often speaks louder than the proclamations of the living, and this account brings the forgotten voices of an American tragedy into the light of day.

Biographies8 min read
Cover of George at the Fort

George at the Fort

Harry Castlemon

The frontier is a place where a boy’s past can be buried in the dust, but where character is eventually dragged into the light by the harsh demands of survival and duty.

Adventure8 min read
Cover of Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf

Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf

George W. M. (George William MacArthur) Reynolds

A cursed man stalks the forest in the skin of a beast, while a silent, vengeful noblewoman plots to dismantle her own family’s legacy. This is a tale of dark bargains, hidden motives, and the heavy price of blood.

Historical Novels8 min read
Cover of Pygmalion

Pygmalion

Bernard Shaw

A flower girl learns to speak like a lady, but discovers that transforming one’s voice is far easier than changing one’s soul or the rigid class boundaries of a city.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 03

The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 03

Unknown

The Roman Empire does not fall in a day, but through centuries of shifting frontiers, religious fervor, and the relentless rise of those it once called barbarians.

History - Ancient8 min read
Cover of Macbeth

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

When the shadows of ambition stretch across a weary man’s path, the choice to seize a crown or hold to honor determines everything that follows.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Book-Hunter: A New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author

The Book-Hunter: A New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author

John Hill Burton

The true bibliophile does not merely own books; he enters into a lifelong, often obsessive, and deeply curious dialogue with the printed word. To hunt for a volume is to hunt for a piece of the world itself.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of The Goose Man

The Goose Man

Jakob Wassermann

A man of fierce, uncompromising genius and a world that demands he trade his soul for comfort: this is the story of a spirit in constant, abrasive conflict with the banality of his surroundings.

German Literature7 min read
Cover of Socialism: A Summary and Interpretation of Socialist Principles

Socialism: A Summary and Interpretation of Socialist Principles

John Spargo

A rigorous, measured guide to an economic theory often misunderstood, this work separates the cold mechanics of industrial production from the impassioned dreams of those who seek to redefine the social order.

Economics8 min read
Cover of Searchlights on Health: Light on Dark Corners: A Complete Sexual Science and a Guide to Purity and Physical Manhood, Advice To Maiden, Wife, And Mother, Love, Courtship, And Marriage

Searchlights on Health: Light on Dark Corners: A Complete Sexual Science and a Guide to Purity and Physical Manhood, Advice To Maiden, Wife, And Mother, Love, Courtship, And Marriage

B. G. (Benjamin Grant) Jefferis

Knowledge is the ultimate safety, providing a guiding light through the physical and moral pitfalls that threaten the health and character of the individual.

Health & Medicine7 min read
Cover of The Children's Garland from the Best Poets

The Children's Garland from the Best Poets

Unknown

A ferryman encounters a mischievous, winged boy who cannot see, while elsewhere, a mouse pleads for its life and a sailor attempts a desperate, solitary voyage home. These are the quiet, often haunting echoes of a world captured in verse.

Children & Young Adult Reading8 min read
Cover of Colleges in America

Colleges in America

John Marshall Barker

Higher education in America, once a fragile experiment, has become the bedrock of national progress and moral leadership. This exploration traces how a scattered network of colonial schools blossomed into the vast, influential university system of the nineteenth century.

History - American8 min read
Cover of The Yacht Club

The Yacht Club

Oliver Optic

The wind is rising on Penobscot Bay, and a young man’s reputation is caught in the squall. Between the building of swift yachts and the sting of false accusations, true character finds its way home.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

David Hume

To understand the world, we must first accept that our most certain beliefs are not products of logic, but habits of the mind—instincts evolved to help us survive in an uncertain universe.

History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)7 min read
Cover of Manures and the principles of manuring

Manures and the principles of manuring

Charles Morton Aikman

The soil is not a passive vessel but a living, chemical engine, and its capacity to sustain life depends entirely on the hidden, systematic replenishment of the elements we so often take for granted.

Science - Earth/Agricultural/Farming7 min read
Cover of The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2)

The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2)

William James

The mind is not a static vessel, but a restless, surging stream; discover how your own consciousness constructs the world and defines the persistent "I" that travels through it.

Philosophy & Ethics7 min read
Cover of The Border Watch: A Story of the Great Chief's Last Stand

The Border Watch: A Story of the Great Chief's Last Stand

Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

The wilderness offers no mercy to those who hesitate, and for these scouts, survival depends on a keen eye, a silent tread, and the courage to face an enemy that outnumbers them ten to one.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of They Who Knock at Our Gates: A Complete Gospel of Immigration

They Who Knock at Our Gates: A Complete Gospel of Immigration

Mary Antin

The light of the Statue of Liberty still burns, yet some fear the shadows of those who seek her flame. This is a call to return to the original promise of a nation built on universal ideals.

History - American7 min read
Cover of A Treatise on Domestic Economy

A Treatise on Domestic Economy

Catharine Esther Beecher

In an era of shifting frontiers and rapid social change, one woman sets out to codify the domestic sphere as the vital, intellectual bedrock of a functioning democracy.

American Literature8 min read
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