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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 40 of 714.

Cover of Demonology and Devil-lore

Demonology and Devil-lore

Moncure Daniel Conway

A global tour of horror shows that humanity creates its own gods and devils out of natural fears, projection, and historical strife.

Archaeology & Anthropology11 min read
Cover of New York Times Current History

New York Times Current History

Various

Governments, soldiers, and citizens locked in global conflict attempt to explain, justify, and document the early months of the First World War.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura

The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura

Apuleius

A second-century philosopher stands accused of using dark magic to woo a wealthy widow, defending his freedom, intellect, and honor before a Roman court.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Demian

Demian

Hermann Hesse

A boy's dark secret becomes his doorway into a shadow world where standard morality fractures, forcing him to choose between comfortable lies and the dangerous work of becoming himself.

German Literature7 min read
Cover of Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan

Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan

Toru Dutt

A devoted wife confronts the god of death to reclaim her husband's soul in a sweeping collection of classical Indian legends and deeply felt personal lyrics.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore7 min read
Cover of The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 3: Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave

The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 3: Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave

George Augustus Sala

A roguish eighteenth-century mercenary wanders from stage-fighting in London to global privateering, French espionage, Barbary captivity, and Eastern exile before claiming his peaceful reward.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Conquest of Canada, Vol. 1

The Conquest of Canada, Vol. 1

George Warburton

A stark structural divide defines the early history of North America: while English settlers built permanent, self-sustaining communities along the coast, the French erected a centralized feudal outpost strictly bound to the interests of the distant crown.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Mary, Mary

Mary, Mary

James Stephens

In the tight, impoverished tenement rooms of Dublin, a young girl and her charwoman mother navigate romantic intrusion, poverty, and sudden illness through the protective magic of shared imagination and fierce devotion.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Puck of Pook's Hill

Puck of Pook's Hill

Rudyard Kipling

A chance performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in an English meadow summons a ancient sprite, who unlocks forgotten centuries of local history for two children through vivid personal encounters with those who lived them.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Foundation of Cape Colony to the Boer Ultimatum of 9th Oct. 1899

South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Foundation of Cape Colony to the Boer Ultimatum of 9th Oct. 1899

Louis Creswicke

Decades of imperial miscalculation, political maneuvering, and bitter territorial friction collide in South Africa, setting the stage for an explosive colonial war.

History - British7 min read
Cover of Footprints in the Forest

Footprints in the Forest

Edward Sylvester Ellis

Deep in the nineteenth-century American wilderness, two boys and their native allies search for a lost friend across hostile territory where survival demands constant vigilance and moral restraint.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of World's War Events, Vol. I

World's War Events, Vol. I

Unknown

An eye-witness mosaic of the First World War's opening chapters, this volume captures a civilization fracturing in real time. Through official dispatches and raw accounts, it details how grand strategic calculations quickly collapsed into the grim reality of modern industrial warfare.

History - European6 min read
Cover of The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe

An isolated estate, a decaying dynasty, and a lingering sense of doom set the stage for an unforgettable tale of psychological unraveling.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Armed Forces Officer: Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-2

The Armed Forces Officer: Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-2

United States. Department of Defense

Leadership is not a matter of theatrical heroism, but of steady character, deep empathy, and practical competence. Command is forged in daily attention to duty and the quiet cultivation of human trust.

History - Warfare5 min read
Cover of An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises

An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises

George Lyman Kittredge

The study of language is not a collection of arbitrary rules, but a logical system designed to clarify human thought. This comprehensive guide serves as both a map and a toolkit for mastering the mechanics of English.

Language & Communication6 min read
Cover of Pharaoh's Broker: Being the Very Remarkable Experiences in Another World of Isidor Werner

Pharaoh's Broker: Being the Very Remarkable Experiences in Another World of Isidor Werner

Ellsworth Douglass

A restless Chicago wheat broker abandons the chaos of the commodities market to join an eccentric scientist on a daring voyage to Mars, where they discover a civilization mirroring the ancient history of Egypt.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Tales of Giants from Brazil

Tales of Giants from Brazil

Elsie Spicer Eells

A great river, a moon giant, and a daughter who walks the earth looking for her lost mother: the Portuguese stories brought to South America took root in new soil and grew wild.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of Tom, The Bootblack

Tom, The Bootblack

Alger, Horatio, Jr.

A young street boy works his way from hardship to independence, using his wits, honest labor, and unyielding self-reliance to survive in the city.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Finnish Legends for English Children

Finnish Legends for English Children

R. Eivind

Through the warmth of a hearthside fire, ancient Finnish myths come alive, transforming complex epic verse into enchanted tales of grand sorcery, perilous quests, and the primordial forces of nature.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of Self Help

Self Help

Samuel Smiles

Individual achievement stems not from passive privilege or effortless fortune, but from patient labor, moral courage, and persistent self-reliance in the face of steep adversity.

Philosophy & Ethics8 min read
Cover of The Royal Pawn of Venice: A Romance of Cyprus

The Royal Pawn of Venice: A Romance of Cyprus

Turnbull, Lawrence, Mrs.

A captive crown, a court of deadly intrigue, and a young bride forced to choose between the empire of her birth and the island that claims her heart.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of Ben's Nugget

Ben's Nugget

Alger, Horatio, Jr.

A young miner and his loyal companions navigate wilderness perils, treacherous outlaws, and crooked guardians to secure their hard-won fortunes and protect those they love.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Little Bobtail

Little Bobtail

Oliver Optic

A poor Maine boy finds an abandoned yacht, protects his mother from a violent stepfather, and stands firm against a web of theft and smuggling that threatens his good name.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Panchronicon

The Panchronicon

Harold Steele MacKaye

Flying over the North Pole at extreme speeds, an aerial vessel made of glass and copper winds backwards through time, carrying three modern New Englanders straight into the vibrant, chaotic world of Elizabethan England.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Hidden Gold

Hidden Gold

Wilder Anthony

A range war brews as invading sheep herds threaten to ruin the mountain valley, forcing a steadfast rancher to defend his home and his heart.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Prairie Flowers

Prairie Flowers

James B. (James Beardsley) Hendryx

A shadow on a man’s reputation rarely hides the whole truth, especially when frontier justice and high-water torrents collide to separate a husband from his wife.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Theaetetus

Theaetetus

Plato

A wandering pursuit of what it truly means to know something reveals that defining knowledge is far harder than holding an opinion.

Classics of Literature7 min read
Cover of A Simple Story

A Simple Story

Mrs. Inchbald

A Catholic priest inherits a fortune and a fiery young ward, triggering a tragic cycle of passion, pride, and generational redemption across two contrasting halves of one family.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Lady Luck

Lady Luck

Hugh Wiley

A veteran of the Great War, his wandering mascot goat, and a pocketful of dice navigate a chaotic post-armistice America where fortune shifts with every roll.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, Volume 1 (of 2)

The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, Volume 1 (of 2)

Robert Paltock

A shipwrecked traveler builds a life in a subterranean realm, marrying a winged woman and raising a family before her people discover his existence.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Keepers of the Trail: A Story of the Great Woods

The Keepers of the Trail: A Story of the Great Woods

Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

A small band of young Kentucky woodsmen discovers that a British-led force is bringing heavy artillery into the wilderness to destroy the border settlements.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Kant's Critique of Judgement

Kant's Critique of Judgement

Immanuel Kant

A systematic inquiry into the bridges connecting human reason and nature reveals how aesthetic feeling and organic order bind our divided world together.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts

Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts

Rosalind Northcote

Rugged granite tors give way to quiet river valleys and historic coastal ports in this expansive portrait of England's southwest.

Environmental Issues6 min read
Cover of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce

A Southern planter stands on a northern Alabama bridge, a noose tight around his neck. As the drop falls, time stretches, opening a desperate path toward escape and home.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Deerfoot in The Mountains

Deerfoot in The Mountains

Edward Sylvester Ellis

An intrepid Shawanoe warrior and two young settlers brave unforgiving mountain passes, hostile raiding parties, and harsh winter freezes during an epic overland journey across the American frontier at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Modern British Poetry

Modern British Poetry

Unknown

A sweeping literary evolution captured through verse, tracing a nation's shift from gilded Victorian elegance to the raw, unsparing realities of a modern industrial world.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Aspects of the novel

Aspects of the novel

E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster

A warm, conversational investigation into the mechanics of fiction, these lectures invite readers to look over the shoulders of novelists as they create the complex, "soggy" reality we call a book.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King

Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King

Sophocles

A doomed king desperately hunts for a killer, only to discover that the corrupting blight on his city is himself.

Classics of Literature6 min read
Cover of Holy in Christ: Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is Holy

Holy in Christ: Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is Holy

Andrew Murray

True spiritual transformation begins not with human striving, but with a radical reorientation toward the quiet, indwelling presence of a transcendent and holy Creator.

Religion/Spirituality6 min read
Cover of Browning's Heroines

Browning's Heroines

Ethel Colburn Mayne

An insightful reader’s companion to Robert Browning’s poetic works, exploring how his female characters illuminate his vision of human nature.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of My Reminiscences

My Reminiscences

Rabindranath Tagore

A sheltered child gazes through venetian blinds at a sunlit terrace, inventing secret worlds from pipe water and solitary afternoons before stepping onto the stage of Indian literature.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Old Mackinaw

Old Mackinaw

W. P. (William Peter) Strickland

In the nineteenth century, the Straits of Mackinac served as the undisputed geographic heart of North American commerce, history, and spiritual life.

History - American5 min read
Cover of What Men Live By, and Other Tales

What Men Live By, and Other Tales

Tolstoy, Leo, graf

A peasant's simple acts of mercy reveal an angel in his home, exposing the true measure of human life and greed.

Russian Literature7 min read
Cover of Far from the Madding Crowd

Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy

A headstrong young heiress inherits a Wessex farm and finds herself pursued by three wildly different men, testing the delicate balance between wild passion and steady devotion.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of As A Chinaman Saw Us: Passages from His Letters to a Friend at Home

As A Chinaman Saw Us: Passages from His Letters to a Friend at Home

Unknown

Observations made by an educated Chinese traveler reveal the quirks, hypocrisies, and unexpected charms of late nineteenth-century American society.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade: August 1914 to March 1915

The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade: August 1914 to March 1915

Gleichen, Edward, Lord

A rare, authentic view of command on the Western Front, this memoir captures the bloody first winter of World War I through the sharp, dryly humorous eyes of an infantry brigade commander.

History - European6 min read
Cover of Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul: An Account of the Old and New Buildings with a Short Historical Sketch

Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul: An Account of the Old and New Buildings with a Short Historical Sketch

Arthur Dimock

A structural, historic, and architectural journey across centuries of destruction, redesign, and resilience within London's quintessential landmark.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of Blue Ridge Country

Blue Ridge Country

Jean Thomas

Deep within the isolated hollows of the Southern Highlands, a centuries-old culture shaped by rugged mountains, bloody feuds, and enduring oral traditions yields a surprisingly complex portrait of American life.

History - American5 min read
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