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All free summaries — page 268
13,367 public-domain books, summarised. Page 268 of 279.
Seventy Years Among Savages
Henry S. Salt
A memoir of moral awakening, this work chronicles seventy years spent observing a society that mistakes its own lingering cruelties for the height of progress.
Soldiers of Fortune
Richard Harding Davis
HOOK A determined mining engineer, a high-society beauty, and the volatile politics of a fictional South American republic collide in this classic tale of ambition, loyalty, and romance.
Soldiers Three - Part 2
Rudyard Kipling
These stories capture the grueling, often surreal existence of British soldiers stationed in India, where the weight of empire meets the fragility of individual men.
Ten Tales
François Coppée
A retired soldier finds sudden purpose in the care of a crippled child, while elsewhere, a condemned man offers his own freedom to save a friend from the same tragic fate.
The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine
M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield
The Rhine is a river of deep history, and its banks are lined with the stone testaments of empires, saints, and master builders. This guidebook serves as a scholarly companion for the traveler who wishes to look closely at the architectural evolution of the great German churches.
The Coming of Bill
P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse
An impulsive marriage between a painter and a society woman faces a test of wills, complicated by the arrival of an infant and the rigid philosophies of an overbearing aunt.
The Cornet of Horse: A Tale of Marlborough's Wars
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
A spirited youth navigates the brutal battlefields of the War of the Spanish Succession and the deadly intrigues of the French court to secure his honor and his future.
The Deserted Village
Oliver Goldsmith
The gentle memory of a vanishing world is captured here, tracing the mournful transformation of a once-vibrant hamlet into a hollowed-out landscape of ruins. It serves as an enduring plea for the human soul over the cold accumulation of wealth.
The Dinner Year-Book
Marion Harland
A practical manual transforms the relentless domestic query of what to serve for dinner into an orderly, economical, and elegant art form for the household.
The Hidden Force: A Story of Modern Java
Louis Couperus
The colonial administration of Java serves as a crucible for personal and societal dissolution, where the veneer of European order is slowly eroded by an ancient, invisible, and unforgiving local power.
The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888
Ernest Favenc
The vast, sun-scorched interior of an unknown continent yields its secrets slowly, written in the journals of men who braved thirst, hostile terrain, and the crushing silence of the desert. This chronicle preserves the century-long struggle to map the heart of Australia, from the first colonial landings to the…
The History of the Prince of Wales' Civil Service Rifles
Anonymous
This account documents the transformation of a volunteer civilian corps into a battle-hardened infantry regiment, serving as a solemn, granular record of service in the trenches of France and the deserts of Palestine.
The Iron Puddler: My Life in the Rolling Mills and What Came of It
James J. (James John) Davis
This memoir documents a rise from the blistering, manual labor of a Welsh-immigrant steelworker to the heights of the United States Cabinet. It serves as a gritty, unapologetic testament to the American work ethic, individual responsibility, and the transformative power of fraternal solidarity.
The Ladies' Paradise: A Realistic Novel
Émile Zola
A young woman arrives in Paris with her two younger brothers, only to find that the city’s burgeoning retail revolution threatens to destroy her uncle’s small shop and consume the lives of those within it.
The Land-War in Ireland: A History for the Times
James Godkin
Ireland’s long history of land disputes is not merely a political struggle, but a persistent, recurring sickness that defies conventional remedy. The nation’s path toward stability requires a radical departure from centuries of failed intervention.
The Lay of the Cid
R. Selden (Robert Selden) Rose
This is the foundational epic of Spain, capturing the life of a legendary warrior who rises from unjust exile to forge his own destiny. It is a stirring, rhythmic portrait of loyalty, military prowess, and the endurance of honor.
The Leading Facts of English History
D. H. (David Henry) Montgomery
History is not merely a collection of dead events, but a living foundation upon which the present day is built. Through a sweeping survey of Britain’s long evolution, this volume traces how a collection of scattered tribes and contested lands gradually forged a unified nation defined by law, representative…
The New Magdalen
Wilkie Collins
A woman born into the margins of society seizes a chance at a new identity, only to find that the past is a ghost that refuses to be buried. This gripping tale of imposture and redemption explores the fragility of social standing and the radical power of forgiveness.
The Parent's Assistant
Maria Edgeworth
The instruction of children is a delicate art, requiring the gentle bending of the twig to ensure the tree grows straight. This collection of stories offers a moral compass for the morning of life.
The Pearl of India
Maturin M. (Maturin Murray) Ballou
The "Pearl of India" is a sprawling, observational account of 19th-century Ceylon, capturing a landscape of tropical abundance, ancient ruins, and colonial influence. It serves as a vivid time capsule for those curious about the history and natural beauty of a fabled island.
The Plastic Age
Percy Marks
College is a promise of discovery that often delivers a bewildering clash of high-minded tradition and hollow, performative social ritual. The transition into adulthood is rarely the clean, noble journey one expects.
The Preface to Aristotle's Art of Poetry
André Dacier
This foundational text reclaims the rigid structural integrity of classical drama, arguing that the true purpose of tragedy is to refine human passions through reason and moral instruction. It serves as a vigorous defense of the ancient rules of poetry.
The Weird Orient: Nine Mystic Tales
Henry Iliowizi
Across the arid landscapes of the East, ancient legends and spectral figures collide in a series of nine mystical narratives that blend history, folklore, and the supernatural. These tales explore the fragile boundary between the mortal realm and the unseen world, where vanity is punished, faith is tested, and the…
Thistledown: A Book of Scotch Humour, Character, Folk-lore, Story & Anecdote
Robert Ford
The Scottish character is a tapestry woven from wit, practicality, and an unshakable, often irreverent, belief in the spirit of the people. This collection gathers the sharpest threads of that heritage, capturing a nation through the voices of its own sons and daughters.
Top-of-the-World Stories for Boys and Girls: Translated from the Scandinavian Languages
Emilie Poulsson
These tales from the far North reveal a world where the line between the everyday and the enchanted is as thin as a winter frost. Through these stories, the wonders of the Scandinavian landscape meet the universal dreams and struggles of childhood.
Visits to Monasteries in the Levant
Robert Curzon
The search for ancient, forgotten texts provides an excuse for adventure across the Levant. Amidst the shifting sands and crumbling ruins of the nineteenth-century East, a traveler uncovers history hidden in the silence of remote cloisters.
William E. Burton: Actor, Author, and Manager: A Sketch of his Career with Recollections of his Performances
William L. (William Linn) Keese
This archival portrait reconstructs the life and theatrical dominance of an influential nineteenth-century actor-manager, whose comedic genius and scholarly devotion to the stage defined a golden era of New York performance.
William Harvey and the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood
Thomas Henry Huxley
A rigorous examination of how intellectual honesty and experimental method transformed our understanding of the human body, tracing the life and monumental achievement of the man who discovered the circulation of the blood.
With the Doughboy in France: A Few Chapters of an American Effort
Edward Hungerford
A testament to American logistical ingenuity and humanitarian zeal, these pages chronicle the monumental effort to sustain the spirit and health of soldiers on foreign soil during the First World War.
Wolfville Nights
Alfred Henry Lewis
A weathered cattleman recounts the rugged, often violent, and darkly humorous chronicles of an Arizona frontier camp, where justice is swift and a man’s word is his only currency.
A Brief History of Element Discovery, Synthesis, and Analysis
Glen W. Watson
This chronicle traces the evolution of human knowledge regarding the chemical elements, from ancient philosophy to the sophisticated nuclear synthesis of the modern era. It balances the wonder of scientific discovery with the stark realities of atomic-age technology.
A Confession of St. Augustine
William Dean Howells
The fading winter sun of a bypassed era illuminates this meditative account, where the quiet rhythms of an aging city offer more solace than the frantic progress of the modern world.
A Supplication for the Beggars
Simon Fish
This is a fierce, polemical petition disguised as a plea from the destitute, aimed at dismantling the immense wealth and influence of the English clergy on the eve of the Reformation. It is a bold, early blast against the monastic system, written with the focused intensity of a man who believed the nation’s…
American Rural Highways
T. R. (Thomas Radford) Agg
Building a functional nation requires more than just ambition; it demands the literal, physical infrastructure to connect field to market and community to community. This technical manual serves as a foundational blueprint for developing the American rural highway system.
An Essay on the Trial by Jury
Lysander Spooner
The true power of a jury lies not in its duty to obey the law, but in its absolute right to judge the justice of the law itself. A trial by jury is the only barrier between the individual and the unchecked tyranny of government.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, October 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899
Various
This collection of scientific and social inquiry captures the intellectual pulse of the turn of the century, offering a panoramic view of late-Victorian thought on progress, charity, and the natural world. It stands as a primary record of an era grappling with the transition from traditional knowledge to empirical…
Bella Donna: A Novel
Robert Hichens
A manipulative woman seeks escape from her failing marriage and social standing, only to find herself ensnared by the dark, alluring mysteries of a stranger in the Egyptian desert.
"Bethink Yourselves!"
Tolstoy, Leo, graf
A profound, searing indictment of humanity’s capacity for self-destruction, this work challenges the moral legitimacy of war during the Russo-Japanese conflict. It remains a timeless, urgent plea for individual conscience over national obedience.
Bonnie Scotland: Painted by Sutton Palmer
A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope) Moncrieff
This fireside tour of the Scottish mainland offers a literary and historical survey of a nation, peeling back surface-level tourist impressions to reveal a complex, multifaceted cultural identity.
Boys and Girls from Thackeray
Kate Dickinson Sweetser
This collection gathers the formative years of celebrated literary figures, peeling back the layers of adult complexity to reveal the spirited, vulnerable, and often defiant children beneath.
Breton Legends: Translated from the French
Anonymous
HOOK These tales capture the wild, rugged spirit of a coastal land where ancient stone monoliths stand guard over a world deeply anchored in Christian faith.
Cinderella Jane
Marjorie Benton Cooke
A quiet, independent woman finds her secret ambitions tested by a marriage built on convenience and a society shifting beneath her feet.
Diary in America, Series Two
Frederick Marryat
A skeptical British naval officer tours the young United States and Canada, documenting the volatile social habits, political dangers, and rapid expansion of a nation he views with profound suspicion.
Dr. Sevier
George Washington Cable
The struggle of a young couple to maintain their dignity and love amidst the crushing poverty and shifting tides of Civil War-era New Orleans serves as the backdrop for an unlikely, redemptive friendship.
Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne
The ultimate guide to the self, these meditations offer a mirror to the human condition, inviting readers to examine their own contradictions through the lens of a mind that is as restless as it is honest.
From Powder Monkey to Admiral: A Story of Naval Adventure
William Henry Giles Kingston
From the grime of the powder magazine to the dignity of the quarterdeck, this tale traces the rise of a common sailor through the crucible of the Napoleonic Wars. It is a classic study of character rewarded by service, written with an earnest focus on duty and the transformative power of integrity.
Great Indian Chief of the West
Benjamin Drake
The Sauk leader Black Hawk defends his ancestral home in a final, doomed struggle against American expansion, navigating a landscape of broken treaties, colonial encroachment, and the slow erasure of his people's way of life.
History of the State of California: From the Period of the Conquest by Spain to Her Occupation by the United States of America
John Frost
This chronicle captures the rapid, often violent transformation of California from a Mexican territory into a cornerstone of the American Union, fueled by the explosive discovery of gold.