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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 320 of 714.

Cover of The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume I

The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume I

Theophilus Cibber

A sweeping chronicle of British literary heritage, this collection documents the lives and professional struggles of legendary poets, from the dawn of the craft to the era of Dean Swift.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Maid of the Whispering Hills

The Maid of the Whispering Hills

Vingie E. (Vingie Eve) Roe

HOOK A fierce-hearted woman journeys to the untracked Canadian wilderness, where her obsession with a pioneer dream collides with a desperate struggle for survival and an unexpected, all-consuming love.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The man-eaters and other odd people

The man-eaters and other odd people

Mayne Reid

This survey of global cultures examines the diverse, sometimes harsh, and often misunderstood lives of remote peoples, from the Arctic to the Amazon. It acts as an anthropological field guide for the nineteenth-century reader.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Modern Clock: A Study of Time Keeping Mechanism

The Modern Clock: A Study of Time Keeping Mechanism

Ward L. Goodrich

Precision in timekeeping is the foundation of mechanical mastery, demanding that a watchmaker move beyond guesswork toward an exacting, scientific understanding of his craft. This technical manual serves as an essential guide for the practitioner seeking to bridge the gap between mediocre repair and true…

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of The monk and the hangman's daughter

The monk and the hangman's daughter

Ambrose Bierce

This tale of devotion and ruin explores the thin, dangerous line between spiritual ecstasy and human obsession. It serves as a haunting meditation on how the most fervent piety can mask, or even catalyze, a tragic, earthly destruction.

Novels7 min read
Cover of The Old Printer and the Modern Press

The Old Printer and the Modern Press

Charles Knight

A dedicated chronicler of the written word traces the evolution of printing from a merchant’s craft to a revolutionary force that forever democratized human knowledge.

History - British6 min read
Cover of The Open Question: A Tale of Two Temperaments

The Open Question: A Tale of Two Temperaments

Elizabeth Robins

This story of two cousins whose lives are entwined by family inheritance and forbidden desire is a quiet, atmospheric exploration of the costs of idealism. It follows the pair from childhood through a tragic, inevitable conclusion.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Spell of the White Sturgeon

The Spell of the White Sturgeon

Jim Kjelgaard

A young man casts his lot with a daring fisherman on the turbulent, unforgiving waters of Lake Michigan. Together, they battle both the elements and the ruthless bullies threatening their livelihood.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Story of the Duchess of Cicogne and of Monsieur de Boulingrin: 1920

The Story of the Duchess of Cicogne and of Monsieur de Boulingrin: 1920

Anatole France

A cynical, elegant retelling of the Sleeping Beauty myth, this prose narrative suggests that even when destiny strikes with supernatural force, human beings will stubbornly insist on finding a rational—or political—explanation.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The tale of Cuffy Bear

The tale of Cuffy Bear

Arthur Scott Bailey

This children’s book follows the daily life and minor moral lapses of a young bear as he learns the dangers and delights of the Blue Mountain woods. It is a gentle, episodic tale of a cub navigating the boundary between his wild home and the encroaching world of "Farmer Green.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Turned-About Girls

The Turned-About Girls

Beulah Marie Dix

A daring plan to trade places offers two girls a glimpse of a different life, but the secret burden of their swap proves far more transformative than the change of scenery itself.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Two Noble Kinsmen

The Two Noble Kinsmen

William Shakespeare

HOOK Two noble cousins, bound by blood and a shared oath, find their brotherhood shattered when both fall in love with the same woman. Their devotion to each other and to their competing desires leads to a fateful combat.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Through the Fray: A Tale of the Luddite Riots

Through the Fray: A Tale of the Luddite Riots

G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

HOOK Amidst the violent labor unrest of the Industrial Revolution, a young man must clear his name of a murder he did not commit.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Travels in Morocco, Volume 2

Travels in Morocco, Volume 2

James Richardson

HOOK This account captures the mid-19th-century Moroccan frontier through a lens of sharp political critique and meticulous, often weary, observation.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Two Ghostly Mysteries: A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family

Two Ghostly Mysteries: A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

The shadows of an Irish manor conceal secrets more lethal than any ghost. Two women, trapped by the machinations of powerful men, must confront the terrifying realization that the real monsters are those who share their blood and home.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Unique Ghost Towns and Mountain Spots

Unique Ghost Towns and Mountain Spots

Caroline Bancroft

This guidebook traverses the rugged, high-altitude remnants of Colorado’s mining era, blending historical accounts with the quiet, evocative atmosphere of towns left to the elements.

History - American6 min read
Cover of What Was the Religion of Shakespeare?

What Was the Religion of Shakespeare?

M. M. (Mangasar Mugurditch) Mangasarian

The question of Shakespeare’s piety is not a search for church membership, but a deep inquiry into the poet’s worldview and his understanding of human destiny. By examining the patterns within his tragedies, a portrait emerges of a mind that sought truth in the natural world rather than the supernatural.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of When Africa awakes: The "inside story" of the stirrings and strivings of the new Negro in the Western world

When Africa awakes: The "inside story" of the stirrings and strivings of the new Negro in the Western world

Hubert H. Harrison

The dawn of a new consciousness is breaking across the African diaspora, signaling an era where the struggle for dignity and self-determination can no longer be ignored by the powers of the Western world.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Who Cares? A Story of Adolescence

Who Cares? A Story of Adolescence

Cosmo Hamilton

HOOK A young girl’s impetuous rebellion against a stifling, elderly household collides with a man’s silent, profound grief, sparking a volatile romance that tests the limits of youth, pride, and the meaning of love.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of With Fire and Sword

With Fire and Sword

S. H. M. (Samuel Hawkins Marshall) Byers

A young soldier’s visceral passage from the front lines of the American Civil War into the depths of Confederate prisons, capturing the brutal reality of survival and the desperate hope for liberation.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Women's Suffrage: A Short History of a Great Movement

Women's Suffrage: A Short History of a Great Movement

Fawcett, Millicent Garrett, Dame

This chronicle traces the arduous, decades-long progression of the British movement to secure the parliamentary vote for women. It serves as both a historical record and a reasoned defense of democratic inclusion.

Gender & Sexuality Studies7 min read
Cover of Young Knights of the Empire

Young Knights of the Empire

Baden-Powell of Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, Baron

A manual for building character through outdoor adventure, this guide frames the Boy Scout movement as a modern revival of ancient chivalry for a new generation.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of A Description of the Bar-and-Frame-Hive: With an Abstract of Wildman's Complete Guide for the Management of Bees Throughout the Year

A Description of the Bar-and-Frame-Hive: With an Abstract of Wildman's Complete Guide for the Management of Bees Throughout the Year

William Augustus Munn

This technical manual introduces an innovative wooden hive design intended to modernize nineteenth-century apiary management. It provides practical instructions for bee-keepers seeking to maximize honey production through observation and careful environmental control.

How To ...5 min read
Cover of A Rambler's lease

A Rambler's lease

Bradford Torrey

The world belongs to those who find joy in its quiet corners. This collection of essays invites readers to claim a personal lease on the natural world, regardless of who holds the legal deed.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of A Spring Walk in Provence

A Spring Walk in Provence

Archibald Marshall

The traveler finds the soul of the landscape not in its grand monuments, but in the quiet, dusty paths that bridge the centuries between ancient legend and modern spring sunshine.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of A tour through some parts of France, Switzerland, Savoy, Germany and Belgium, during the summer and autumn of 1814

A tour through some parts of France, Switzerland, Savoy, Germany and Belgium, during the summer and autumn of 1814

Richard Boyle Bernard

A young Englishman chronicles his journey across post-Napoleonic Europe, offering a vivid, observant portrait of a continent tentatively opening its borders to travelers after decades of war and revolutionary upheaval.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of A Walk from London to John O'Groat's: With Notes by the Way

A Walk from London to John O'Groat's: With Notes by the Way

Elihu Burritt

This travelogue records a solitary, foot-bound journey from London to the northern tip of Scotland, offering an intimate, ground-level study of mid-19th-century British agriculture, rural life, and the changing landscape.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Baby Mine

Baby Mine

Margaret Mayo

The shadow of a single white lie grows until it threatens to consume two households, transforming a simple misunderstanding into a frantic, farcical race to procure enough babies to satisfy a suspicious husband.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Beechcroft at Rockstone

Beechcroft at Rockstone

Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

The sprawling, multi-generational lives of the Mohun and Merrifield families unfold with quiet intensity, examining how individual character is forged through duty, family connection, and the slow maturation of the heart.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Birds of the wave and woodland

Birds of the wave and woodland

Phil Robinson

These essays explore the habits of wild birds, blending careful natural observation with a deep appreciation for the way poets and folklore have shaped our understanding of the winged world.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of Blacky the Crow

Blacky the Crow

Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess

Blacky the Crow is an inquisitive, sharp-witted opportunist who believes he knows the world better than anyone else. His relentless search for food and mischief leads him on a series of adventures that test his arrogance against the wisdom of the Green Forest’s other residents.

Children & Young Adult Reading5 min read
Cover of British Castles

British Castles

Charles Henry Ashdown

The imposing stone ruins that dot the British landscape are not merely picturesque relics; they are the enduring, hardened witnesses to centuries of territorial struggle, evolving from simple earthen mounds to the sophisticated fortresses of a warring kingdom.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of Captain Brand of the "Centipede": A Pirate of Eminence in the West Indies: His Love and Exploits, Together with Some Account of the Singular Manner by Which He Departed This Life

Captain Brand of the "Centipede": A Pirate of Eminence in the West Indies: His Love and Exploits, Together with Some Account of the Singular Manner by Which He Departed This Life

H. A. (Henry Augustus) Wise

A ruthless pirate stalks the Caribbean, pursued by the iron-willed officers of the U.S. Navy. This atmospheric sea tale captures the brutal collision of criminal ambition and naval duty in the nineteenth-century West Indies.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Captain Desmond, V.C

Captain Desmond, V.C

Maud Diver

The Frontier is a testing ground for character, where the thin veneer of social convention falls away to reveal the raw edges of duty, desire, and the heavy cost of personal integrity. This is a story of a soldier’s internal siege, caught between a faltering marriage and an unspoken, enduring devotion to a woman…

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Cast Away in the Cold: An Old Man's Story of a Young Man's Adventures, as Related by Captain John Hardy, Mariner

Cast Away in the Cold: An Old Man's Story of a Young Man's Adventures, as Related by Captain John Hardy, Mariner

I. I. (Isaac Israel) Hayes

A veteran of the high seas shares his harrowing youth with three curious children, transforming a tale of shipwreck and arctic isolation into a lesson on survival, faith, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Darwiniana

Darwiniana

Asa Gray

A scholarly champion of early evolutionary theory reconciles the biological mechanisms of natural selection with a deep, enduring faith in a purposeful, divinely ordered universe.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Doña Clarines y Mañana de Sol

Doña Clarines y Mañana de Sol

Serafín Álvarez Quintero

These two plays capture the quiet dramas of Spanish life, finding profound emotional truth in the everyday encounters of ordinary people.

Humour6 min read
Cover of Down the Yellowstone

Down the Yellowstone

Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome) Freeman

A restless traveler navigates the powerful, untamed Yellowstone River in a small steel boat, seeking the pulse of the American West.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Dulcibel: A Tale of Old Salem

Dulcibel: A Tale of Old Salem

Henry Peterson

A quiet village descends into madness as fear and suspicion dismantle the bonds of community. This story explores the human cost of a hysteria that once gripped the heart of colonial New England.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of En Route

En Route

J.-K. (Joris-Karl) Huysmans

A cynical man of letters attempts to bridge the chasm between his jaded, worldly existence and the absolute, terrifying silence of a Trappist monastery.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History

Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History

Antonio Labriola

Historical materialism is not a rigid decree of destiny, but a method for uncovering the hidden economic foundations beneath the surface of human events, laws, and cultural shifts.

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of Exiles: A Play in Three Acts

Exiles: A Play in Three Acts

James Joyce

A man invites his own betrayal, yearning to be wounded by his wife and his best friend to test the limits of his own intellectual freedom. This domestic drama explores the heavy price of radical honesty in love.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Graustark

Graustark

George Barr McCutcheon

This sweeping romance follows an American traveler who stumbles into an accidental, high-stakes entanglement with royalty, proving that sometimes the most improbable adventures begin on a train.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of History of Friedrich II of Prussia

History of Friedrich II of Prussia

Thomas Carlyle

This monumental work chronicles the rise of one of history’s most disciplined and enigmatic figures, mapping the transformation of an eccentric, tension-filled Prussian household into the heart of a rising European power. It is a dense, panoramic study of how personality, duty, and international instability forge a…

History - European7 min read
Cover of Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Thackeray

Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray

A prolific master of Victorian literature, this expansive collection gathers the diverse output of a writer who chronicled the vanities, ambitions, and social intricacies of his era with sharp-eyed wit.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference6 min read
Cover of Jack Wright and His Electric Stage

Jack Wright and His Electric Stage

Luis Senarens

A young inventor and his armored, electric-powered vehicle pursue the infamous James gang across the American West in a rapid-fire collision of historical legend and turn-of-the-century science fiction.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Kari the elephant

Kari the elephant

Dhan Gopal Mukerji

A boy and his elephant grow up together in the Indian jungle, sharing adventures, spiritual awakenings, and the harsh realities of a world where human encroachment tests the bond between man and beast.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Legends of the Northwest

Legends of the Northwest

Hanford Lennox Gordon

The past lingers like a ghost in the Minnesota woods, where spirits walk the shores and the echoes of a vanishing culture still haunt the river’s mist.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
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