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All free summaries — page 390
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 390 of 988.
A Grandmother's Recollections
Ella Rodman Church
A spirited, headstrong girl navigates the perils of childhood mischief, romantic delusions, and family expectations while coming of age in the early 19th century.
A greater than Napoleon
Liddell Hart, Basil Henry, Sir
Scipio Africanus, the architect of Rome’s world-dominion, remains the supreme master of the art of generalship, blending tactical innovation with an understanding of grand strategy that outstrips even the military titans of history.
A Popular History of Ireland : from the Earliest Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics
Thomas D'Arcy McGee
Ireland’s long, turbulent journey from the dawn of its earliest legends to the hard-won political recognition of the nineteenth century remains a singular testament to national resilience. Through centuries of shifting alliances and external pressures, the old land persistently asserts its identity, emerging from…
A Rough Shaking
George MacDonald
A young boy’s journey from orphaned poverty to a life of quiet dignity, guided by an unwavering heart and a profound, instinctive connection to the natural world.
A Shepherd's Life: Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs
W. H. (William Henry) Hudson
This meditative account of the South Wiltshire Downs captures a vanishing world, revealing the profound connection between the land, the shepherd, and the ancient, rhythm-driven life of the English countryside.
A Tramp Abroad
Mark Twain
This account of a walking tour through Europe navigates the tension between the sublime beauty of the Old World and the absurd, sometimes violent, traditions of its inhabitants. It remains a definitive study in how a traveler’s expectations collide with the stubborn reality of foreign customs.
A Tramp Abroad
Mark Twain
A restless traveler wanders through the heart of Europe, documenting the absurdities of foreign customs, the rigors of pedestrianism, and the unpredictable comedy of his own incompetence.
All's Well That Ends Well
William Shakespeare
A persistent, intelligent woman pursues a reluctant husband through a desperate scheme of deception, testing the limits of devotion and honor. This complex drama finds grace in the unlikeliest of places.
All's Well That Ends Well
William Shakespeare
A determined young woman pursues the man she loves, refusing to let his rejection define their future. Through clever schemes and persistence, she navigates the complexities of class, honor, and desire to claim her place.
An American Hobo in Europe: A True Narrative of the Adventures of a Poor American at Home and in the Old Country
Ben Goodkind
An irrepressible wanderer recounts his life on the rails and his eventual, curious odyssey across the Atlantic. This is a gritty, unvarnished portrait of an American hobo finding his way through two worlds.
An Aviator's Field Book: Being the field reports of Oswald Bölcke, from August 1, 1914 to October 28, 1916
Oswald Boelcke
This collection of field reports offers an intimate, unvarnished look at the birth of aerial combat through the eyes of one of its most pivotal practitioners. It captures the rapid evolution of flight from a simple reconnaissance tool into a lethal instrument of war.
Animal Carvings from Mounds of the Mississippi Valley: Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 117-166
Henry W. (Henry Wetherbee) Henshaw
A skeptical naturalist dismantles long-standing myths about ancient Mississippi Valley artifacts, proving that exotic animal carvings were often misidentified, poorly executed, or simply absent from the archaeological record.
Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society
L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum
A wealthy benefactor’s attempt to introduce his three nieces to the exclusive circles of New York society results in a harrowing abduction and a dramatic race against time. This novel explores the friction between old-money pride and the ambitions of those attempting to climb the social ladder.
Beatrix of Clare
John Reed Scott
A young knight’s vow to the House of York draws him into a dangerous web of political intrigue and a fated romance amidst the turbulent rise of Richard III.
Beginners' Book in Language. A Book for the Third Grade
Harry Jewett Jeschke
This guide offers a structured, socialized approach to teaching English, replacing dry grammar lessons with imaginative scenarios that encourage children to speak and write with natural confidence. By rooting instruction in play, the book invites young students to view language as a tool for connection rather than…
Big People and Little People of Other Lands
Edward R. (Edward Richard) Shaw
This educational primer invites young readers to look beyond their own horizons, offering a glimpse into the daily lives, customs, and environments of children living in diverse cultures around the world. It serves as a gentle bridge between the familiar and the foreign, emphasizing the universal aspects of…
Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe: Founder of the Colony of Georgia, in North America
Thaddeus Mason Harris
This account recovers the life of an 18th-century visionary whose singular mission was to carve a new society out of the American wilderness. It is a portrait of a man defined by his unyielding public spirit.
Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies, from Parrots to Bluebirds
Chester A. (Chester Albert) Reed
This practical, pocket-sized guide serves as a foundational field companion for identifying land birds east of the Rocky Mountains. It distills extensive ornithological observation into a portable format designed for active use in the field.
Breaking the Wilderness
Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh
The vast, untamed expanse west of the Mississippi is brought into focus through the eyes of those who first mapped its rivers, traversed its mountains, and fought to claim its soil.
Essays on things
William Lyon Phelps
Observations on the mundane and the magnificent often reveal more about the human condition than formal philosophy. A seasoned observer finds the pulse of life in everything from morning coffee to the mystery of the skylark.
Gambia
Frederick John Melville
HOOK A guide to the delicate art of collecting Gambian postage, this work examines the evolution of the colony's stamp issues from the inaugural 1869 cameo series to the emergency provisionals of the early twentieth century.
George Selwyn
George Augustus Selwyn
This volume offers an intimate, unguarded glimpse into the private life and social sphere of a legendary eighteenth-century wit. Through his own letters, a man once defined by public reputation reveals a surprisingly tender, deeply domestic, and observant human heart.
Half Hours With Modern Scientists: Lectures and Essays
John Tyndall
This collection of lectures and essays serves as a window into the intellectual fermentation of the nineteenth century, capturing the moment when the physical sciences began to fundamentally reshape humanity’s understanding of its own origins and nature.
Harlem shadows
Claude McKay
The poems within these pages are an urgent, unflinching cry against systemic cruelty and a deeply personal testament to the ache of displacement. They capture the spirit of a writer caught between the vibrant, sun-drenched memory of the Caribbean and the cold, often hostile, reality of American city life.
Holiday Romance
Charles Dickens
This collection of four interconnected tales offers a playful, satirical subversion of Victorian family life, told entirely from the perspective of children who are mimicking—and mocking—the world of their elders. It is a whimsical experiment in role-reversal that delights in the absurdity of adult social conventions.
"I Believe" and other essays
Guy Thorne
A collection of Edwardian essays that critiques modern society through a fiercely orthodox lens. These polemics challenge the reader to reconcile their personal conduct with the demands of Christian faith and traditional duty.
In a Glass Darkly, v. 2/3
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
The seductive charm of a mysterious woman and the dark allure of a forgotten château lead an unsuspecting traveler into a web of lethal deception.
In Search of El Dorado: A Wanderer's Experiences
Alexander MacDonald
A restless traveler recounts his life-altering pursuit of wealth across the frozen Klondike and the brutal Australian outback, where gold is often found only at the edge of ruin.
Ireland and the Home Rule Movement
McDonnell, Michael, Sir
This scholarly examination dissects the structural failures of British governance in Ireland, arguing that systemic ignorance and economic inequality fueled the enduring struggle for national autonomy.
King Lear
William Shakespeare
HOOK An aging king foolishly divides his realm among his daughters, triggering a descent into madness and a brutal, sweeping collapse of his family and state.
Laboratory Manual of Glass-Blowing
Francis C. (Francis Cowles) Frary
Mastering the flame requires equal parts patience, steady hands, and a deep, intuitive understanding of how glass behaves under pressure and heat.
Legends of the Saxon Saints
Aubrey De Vere
These verses weave the ancient history of England’s conversion into a tapestry of mythic wonder and spiritual devotion. They capture the transition from the old gods of the North to the dawn of the Christian era.
Lizzy Glenn
T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur
Hard work alone cannot protect a family from the grinding machinery of an unforgiving economy. This narrative exposes the fragility of life for the urban poor in nineteenth-century Philadelphia.
Maps of Old London
Unknown
The evolution of a world capital is captured here, tracing London from its early panoramic depictions through its total transformation by fire and into the sprawling, recognizable metropolis of the eighteenth century.
Mark Hurdlestone
Susanna Moodie
A miser’s legacy of greed and cruelty poisons the lives of his two nephews, setting them on divergent paths of virtue and vice. This Victorian moral drama explores how the corrosive power of wealth distorts the human spirit.
Men, Women and Guns
H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
This collection of interconnected tales captures the raw, disorienting experience of the Great War, blending the camaraderie of the front lines with the jarring, surreal shifts of returning to civilian life. It is a work of immediate, visceral observation from the trenches of the Ypres salient.
More Fables
George Ade
This collection of satirical vignettes serves as a sharp, unsentimental mirror held up to the absurdities of American social life at the turn of the twentieth century. It offers a series of cautionary tales where the moral is often less about virtue and more about the inevitable cost of pretense.
Mrs. Bindle: Some Incidents from the Domestic Life of the Bindles
Herbert George Jenkins
In this observant portrait of a marriage, a sharp-tongued, socially ambitious woman clashes with her husband’s easygoing nature, proving that domestic peace is a hard-won, fleeting victory.
Niebuhr's lectures on Roman history, Vol. 2 (of 3)
Barthold Georg Niebuhr
The relentless rise of Rome and the methodical dismantling of Carthage define an era of iron-willed expansion and shifting political morality. These lectures capture the transformation of a city-state into a Mediterranean hegemon.
Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking by Night: And of Straunge Noyses, Crackes, and Sundrie Forewarnings, Which Commonly Happen Before the Death of Men: Great Slaughters, and Alterations of Kingdoms
Ludwig Lavater
Whether spirits are spectral remnants of the dead or merely deceptions of the senses, they demand not our fear, but our vigilance against superstition. This inquiry serves as a reasoned defense of the rational mind against the creeping shadows of supernatural dread.
Our Little Danish Cousin
Luna May Ennis
This gentle travelogue follows a young American visitor and his Danish relatives as they discover the history, legends, and enduring traditions of the "Land of dark woods.
Outline Studies in the New Testament for Bible Teachers
Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
This instructional manual provides a structured map for Bible teachers to guide students through the complex geography, chronological events, and historical evolution of the New Testament.
Poison: A Farce
George M. (George Melville) Baker
** A wealthy, anxious sugar merchant discovers he may have poisoned thousands of people, sparking a frantic comedy of errors involving fake funerals, desperate suitors, and an unwanted houseguest.
Railway Rates: English and Foreign
James Grierson
The complex world of 19th-century logistics comes alive in this clear-eyed defense of the railway industry. It offers a practical look at how freight charges were determined during a time of immense economic transformation.
Rhymes Old and New
Unknown
A century-old treasury of verses, this collection gathers the echoes of nursery lore, weather wisdom, and childhood games that have shaped the English imagination for generations.
Rosa Alchemica
W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
An aging aesthete, obsessed with the cold beauty of art, is lured away from his solitary, curated life by an old acquaintance promising a transcendental initiation into a secret order. This encounter shatters the narrator’s carefully constructed world, forcing a violent collision between the refined, lonely…
Say and Seal, Volume I
Susan Warner
In a quiet New England town, a new teacher arrives, sparking a delicate dance of faith, duty, and courtship that centers on his quiet, transformative influence over his students and a young woman named Faith.
Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, October 1899
Various
This collection captures the restless, expansive spirit of the late nineteenth century through a blend of travel narrative, theatrical memoir, and reflective prose. It serves as a vivid time capsule of a world in transition.