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All free summaries — page 324
34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 324 of 714.
Michael
E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson
The heavy, awkward Michael Comber seeks a life of music and independence, only to find his path shattered by the brutal collision of national loyalties during the First World War.
Milch Cows and Dairy Farming: Comprising the Breeds, Breeding, and Management, in Health and Disease, of Dairy and Other Stock, the Selection of Milch Cows, with a Full Explanation of Guenon's Method
Charles Louis Flint
This comprehensive manual offers a window into the nineteenth-century dairy industry, blending scientific observation, practical instruction, and agricultural philosophy to guide the management of cattle.
Moni the Goat-Boy
Johanna Spyri
The story follows a young mountain shepherd whose pure, song-filled life is upended by a moral crisis and the threat of losing his favorite goat. It is a meditation on conscience and the weight of secrets.
Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence
Louis Arundel
A group of teenage friends sets out for a summer of adventure on the St. Lawrence River, only to stumble into a dangerous smuggling operation. They must rely on their wits and their motorboats to outpace both their local rivals and a gang of desperate criminals.
My Knitting Book
Miss (F.) Lambert
This instructional manual offers a quiet, methodical invitation to the craft of Victorian knitting. It serves as a practical archive of patterns for garments, household accessories, and delicate lace, preserving the domestic rhythms of the mid-nineteenth century.
Narrative of the Overland Expedition of the Messrs. Jardine from Rockhampton to Cape York, Northern Queensland
Frank Lascelles Jardine
This chronicle details the grueling 1864 overland expedition to drive livestock from Rockhampton to the nascent settlement at Cape York, marking a triumph of colonial perseverance over an unforgiving tropical wilderness.
Oracles from the Poets: A Fanciful Diversion for the Drawing Room
Unknown
A parlor game of chance becomes a literary séance, inviting friends to summon the muses through a curated, interactive map of the English poetic tradition.
Pantheism, Its Story and Significance: Religions Ancient and Modern
J. Allanson (James Allanson) Picton
The quest to discern the divine presence within the fabric of nature offers a bridge between the ancient wisdom of the East and the rigorous inquiries of modern philosophy.
Peggy Parsons at Prep School
Annabel Sharp
A spirited boarding school student tackles strict rules, matchmaking, and a local mystery with irrepressible charm. Her adventures prove that a little daring goes a long way toward turning a quiet year into an unforgettable one.
Rhymes and Jingles
Mary Mapes Dodge
This collection of verse captures the fleeting joys and small struggles of childhood with rhythmic grace. It serves as a gentle, observational companion to the daily lives of the young.
Russia: Its People and Its Literature
Pardo Bazán, Emilia, condesa de
An intellectual bridge between the Latin spirit and the vast, enigmatic Russian soul, this survey navigates the intersection of history, politics, and the profound literary innovations that emerged from the frozen, autocratic North.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 481, March 21, 1885
Various
A technical chronicle of Victorian ingenuity, this weekly compendium maps the frontiers of late 19th-century mechanical progress and industrial sociology. It serves as a fascinating, grounded snapshot of an era obsessed with invention.
Scotland in Pagan Times
Joseph Anderson
This rigorous archaeological study peels back the layers of Scotland’s Iron Age, revealing how material remnants—from towering stone fortresses to grave-goods—reconstruct a lost, complex society.
Selections from the Writings of Lord Dunsany
Lord Dunsany
This collection of plays and short stories serves as a doorway into a realm where the laws of our world dissolve, replaced by the inexorable, rhythmic power of Time. It is a portrait of a writer who does not merely tell stories, but constructs entire mythologies out of shadow, desert sand, and the fading echoes of…
Snarleyyow, or, the Dog Fiend
Frederick Marryat
A corrupt naval officer and his seemingly supernatural canine companion terrorize the crew of a cutter while navigating a treacherous web of international espionage.
Spanish America, Its Romance, Reality and Future, Vol. 1 (of 2)
C. Reginald (Charles Reginald) Enock
Spanish America is a sweeping, evocative examination of the history, landscape, and social character of the Latin American republics. It serves as both a travelogue of the early twentieth century and a sober meditation on the legacy of colonial conquest and the promise of future progress.
Spiritualism and the New Psychology: An Explanation of Spiritualist Phenomena and Beliefs in Terms of Modern Knowledge
Millais Culpin
This investigation explores the psychological origins of occult phenomena, arguing that mediums and spiritualists are often manifesting dissociated mental states rather than communicating with the beyond.
The American Type of Isthmian Canal: Speech by Hon. John Fairfield Dryden in the Senate of the United States, June 14, 1906
John F. (John Fairfield) Dryden
The Panama Canal stands today as a testament to early twentieth-century American engineering, but its construction was nearly derailed by a fierce, high-stakes debate over whether the waterway should be built at sea level or with locks.
The anatomy of the domestic fowl
B. F. (Benjamin Franklyn) Kaupp
This rigorous reference work provides a foundational exploration of the biological structures of poultry, serving as a comprehensive anatomical guide for the student and the agricultural researcher.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 10, August, 1858: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
The pursuit of knowledge, whether through the meticulous study of nature or the quiet reflection of the scholar, remains a timeless human endeavor. This collection captures the mid-nineteenth-century intellectual spirit, offering a diverse window into the cultural, social, and political preoccupations of its era.
The Baron's Sons: A Romance of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Mór Jókai
The iron-willed widow of a noble house commands her three sons to honor their father’s legacy by serving their country, sparking a sweeping saga of loyalty, betrayal, and sacrifice during the Hungarian Revolution.
The Boy's Book of the Sea
Eric Wood
The sea is a stage for the extremes of human nature, where the line between hero and villain vanishes in the spray. This collection of accounts captures the relentless struggle for survival against the indifferent deep.
The Brass Bound Box
Evelyn Raymond
The quiet village of Marsden harbors a long-lost secret, binding an impoverished gentlewoman’s estate to a mysterious brass-bound box that promises to restore her family’s shattered fortunes.
The case against evolution
George Barry O'Toole
This scholarly critique systematically dismantles the foundational arguments for transformism, arguing that the evidence cited by evolutionary theorists—from paleontology to comparative anatomy—frequently collapses under rigorous logical and scientific scrutiny.
The First and the Last: A Drama in Three Scenes
John Galsworthy
A desperate confession, a brother’s cold ambition, and a final act of tragic defiance collide in this stark, high-stakes drama. It is a haunting exploration of how the law, when wielded by the rigid, can leave no room for the broken.
The Flaming Sword in Serbia and Elsewhere
M. A. (Mabel Annie) Stobart
A woman challenges the traditional boundaries of wartime service by commanding a field hospital unit in Serbia, witnessing the harrowing realities of total war and a desperate retreat across the Balkan mountains.
The fugitive
Rabindranath Tagore
The universe is an eternal traveler, an "Eternal Fugitive" whose frantic, rhythmic movement breathes life into the stillness of space. This dance of light and shadow, urgency and peace, forms the heartbeat of a collection that explores the intersection of the divine, the human, and the natural world.
The Head of the House of Coombe
Frances Hodgson Burnett
London in the years before the Great War is a glittering facade, a world of rigid social codes and profound human neglect. This narrative explores the intersection of a shallow, beautiful socialite and the quiet, observant daughter she willfully ignores.
The Heavens Above: A Popular Handbook of Astronomy
W. J. (William James) Rolfe
A systematic tour of the cosmos, this handbook translates the complex mechanics of the night sky into accessible prose for the curious Victorian-era observer. It remains a fascinating relic of a time when the universe felt both vast and newly quantifiable.
The history and poetry of finger-rings
Charles Edwards
The history of the finger-ring is a vast, sparkling collection of legend, superstition, and social record. It reveals how a simple band of metal can anchor the weight of human identity, law, and myth.
The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy, and other essays in contemporary thought
John Dewey
To think is to act, and to act is to transform the world—a radical shift in perspective that defines the intellectual legacy of a changing modern age.
The Irrational Knot: Being the Second Novel of His Nonage
Bernard Shaw
An engineer and an aristocratic woman attempt to bridge their vast social divide through marriage, only to find that their differing values turn their union into an impossible, tangled calculation.
The Kangaroo Hunters
Bowman, Anne, active 19th century
A shipwrecked family finds themselves stranded in the wild, uncharted Australian bush, forced to rely on their wits, moral fortitude, and the strange, untamed nature surrounding them to survive and eventually find their way home.
The Land of the Kangaroo: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through the Great Island Continent
Thomas Wallace Knox
Two young travelers embark on a wide-ranging expedition across Australia, documenting the geography, wildlife, and societal quirks of a rapidly modernizing frontier.
The Meaning of Evolution
Samuel Christian Schmucker
Evolution is a process of unfolding, a grand narrative that reconciles the rigorous observations of natural science with a deeply held belief in divine purpose. It frames the development of life not as a series of accidents, but as a deliberate and continuous journey toward higher complexity.
The Metropolis
Upton Sinclair
The gilded promise of a new life in New York quickly dissolves into a moral labyrinth for a naive newcomer navigating the treacherous, decadent world of the ultra-wealthy.
The Old Merchant Marine: A Chronicle of American Ships and Sailors
Ralph Delahaye Paine
The story of American seafaring is a forgotten epic of blue water, where a people with a native genius for the ocean once ruled the waves before turning their gaze permanently inland.
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation
Richard Hakluyt
This expansive collection chronicles the ambitious, often perilous quest of English merchants to map the frozen reaches of the North-East and secure direct trade routes to the fabled riches of Muscovy and beyond.
The Psychology of Beauty
Ethel Puffer Howes
The human urge to justify why we find certain things beautiful is a fundamental tension between emotional transport and intellectual rigor. This inquiry bridges that divide, seeking a unified psychological principle to ground our aesthetic judgments.
The Religion of Ancient Palestine in the Second Millenium B.C
Stanley Arthur Cook
This scholarly investigation reconstructs the spiritual landscape of ancient Palestine, drawing upon archaeological discoveries and non-biblical records to illuminate a world of sacred sites, ritual practices, and divine kingship.
The Restless Sex
Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
The restless nature of the human spirit—and the specific, often turbulent ways it manifests in the young—drives this portrait of lives in transition. It is a story of how we search for meaning through art, love, and the pursuit of independence.
The Riddle of the Rhine: Chemical Strategy in Peace and War
Victor Lefebure
The modern battlefield is no longer defined by geography alone, but by the laboratory; this work serves as an urgent warning that the chemistry of peace is inextricably linked to the mechanics of total war.
The Story of the Cotton Plant
Frederick Wilkinson
This book offers a comprehensive, technical examination of the cotton plant, tracing its journey from botanical origin and global cultivation to its systematic transformation into finished yarn through industrial machinery.
The Teaching of History
E. C. (Ernest Clark) Hartwell
This compact guide offers a rigorous, practical framework for teaching history in secondary schools, focusing on the techniques that transform a passive classroom into an active laboratory of investigation and critical thought.
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. I. Being the First of the First Voyage
James Cook
The vast, uncharted Pacific becomes a theater of discovery, danger, and cultural collision under the steady hand of a master navigator. This account maps the early stages of a journey that forever altered the world’s geography.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice
Stephen Leacock
The world stands at a crossroads, caught between the crushing weight of an outdated status quo and the perilous, utopian promises of those who would dismantle society entirely to build it anew.
The Young Lady's Equestrian Manual
Anonymous
This is a foundational 1838 treatise on the art of feminine horsemanship, serving as a comprehensive instructional guide for the Victorian lady. It details the mechanical, physical, and moral requirements for achieving graceful control over a horse while riding in the side-saddle style.
Two maiden aunts
Mary H. (Mary Harriette) Debenham
Two young sisters suddenly find themselves the guardians of an orphaned nephew, struggling to reconcile their own youth with the immense responsibility of raising a gentleman in a changing world.