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All free summaries — page 400
34,093 public-domain books, summarised. Page 400 of 711.
Education: How Old The New
James J. (James Joseph) Walsh
Modern educators often suffer from a short-sighted belief that significant intellectual progress is a strictly recent phenomenon. This work challenges that assumption by revealing the depth and sophistication of educational practices in the ancient and medieval worlds.
Erchie, My Droll Friend
Neil Munro
The observations of a Glasgow waiter and church beadle offer a warm, wry window into the daily life, small triumphs, and quiet endurance of Scotland’s urban working class.
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, North Carolina
Porter, Charles W., III (Charles Wesley)
Fort Raleigh stands as a monument to the first, ill-fated English attempt to establish a permanent colony in North America, marking the enduring mystery of the settlers who vanished into the American wilderness.
Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina
Frank Barnes
The story of Fort Sumter is the story of the American Civil War in microcosm, beginning with a tense, bloodless standoff and concluding in a ruin that became a symbol of national reconciliation.
Four Early Pamphlets
William Godwin
This collection of early essays captures a sharp, burgeoning intellect navigating the turbulent political and intellectual currents of the late eighteenth century. These writings offer a vivid window into the rhetorical strategies and ideological commitments of a young radical finding his voice.
From Whose Bourne
Robert Barr
A man wakes up to discover he is a ghost, forced to watch helplessly as his innocent widow stands accused of his own murder. He must navigate the afterlife to clear her name while professional rivals race to solve the mystery.
Good References
E. J. Rath
A young woman seeking employment and a wealthy, aimless heir find themselves entangled in a web of elaborate lies, social climbing, and accidental boxing matches.
Greece and the Ægean Islands
Philip Sanford Marden
A spirited chronicle of Mediterranean discovery, this travelogue captures the fading echoes of antiquity alongside the vibrant, evolving traditions of early 20th-century Greece. It invites readers on a journey through ancient ruins and bustling Aegean island life.
Happy England
Marcus B. (Marcus Bourne) Huish
A visual and narrative tribute to a quintessential English landscape, this volume captures the quiet, vanishing beauty of countryside cottages, blooming gardens, and the enduring rhythm of rural life through the lens of a singular artist.
Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1
James Endell Tyler
A dedicated recovery of a king’s reputation, this work meticulously dismantles centuries of literary legend to reveal the practical, burdened reality of a young prince tasked with holding a fractured nation together.
History of the National Flag of the United States of America
Schuyler Hamilton
A careful study of the origins of the United States flag reveals how symbols of revolution were crafted to broadcast a singular message of national unity.
Icelandic Primer with Grammar, Notes and Glossary
Henry Sweet
This primer offers a clear, methodical gateway into the language of the sagas, stripping away the intimidation of Old Norse through foundational grammar and carefully selected readings. It provides the essential structural tools—phonology, inflection, and syntax—needed to engage directly with the medieval…
Idle Ideas in 1905
Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome
A collection of musings on the small absurdities of life, this book captures the spirit of a curious, restless mind wandering through the opening years of the twentieth century. It offers a gentle, witty perspective on the unchanging puzzles of human behavior.
Isle of Wight
A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope) Moncrieff
An ancient chunk of mainland chalk, carved out by rushing Solent tides, offers a miniature map of all England’s coastal beauty, historic ruins, and bustling seaside resorts.
Jackanapes, Daddy Darwin's Dovecot and Other Stories
Juliana Horatia Ewing
The valor of a young soldier and the quiet industry of a workhouse orphan define these tales of duty, devotion, and the small, enduring triumphs of the human spirit.
King Spruce, A Novel
Holman Day
A young man battles a ruthless timber baron to protect the forests of Maine and the woman he loves. This rugged tale follows a principled outsider as he confronts the corrupt, iron-fisted rule of the lumber industry.
Ku Klux Klan Secrets Exposed: Attitude toward Jews, Catholics, Foreigners and Masons. Fraudulent Methods Used. Atrocities Committed in Name of Order
Ezra A. (Ezra Asher) Cook
This investigation unmasks the 1920s resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, stripping away the organization’s carefully cultivated veneer of mystery to reveal a predatory, profit-driven enterprise. It serves as a stark historical indictment of how fear and prejudice can be systematically commodified to undermine…
Legal Lore: Curiosities of Law and Lawyers
Unknown
This collection gathers the forgotten corners of legal history, tracing how societies have defined justice from the ancient world to the nineteenth century. It reveals a past where law was often inseparable from superstition, ritual, and local caprice.
Les liaisons dangereuses, volume 2 (of 2)
Choderlos de Laclos
A cold, calculated game of manipulation spirals into a lethal trap, exposing the hollow morality of an aristocracy that views human hearts as mere pawns in a private war.
Lippincott's Magazine, August, 1885
Various
This collection offers a vibrant, eclectic snapshot of 19th-century intellectual life, blending travelogues, social commentary, and fiction into a singular mosaic of the Victorian era’s curiosity and concerns.
Lost Man's Lane: A Second Episode in the Life of Amelia Butterworth
Anna Katharine Green
A formidable amateur detective travels to a remote, dread-filled lane to assist the children of a deceased friend, only to find herself trapped in a web of family secrets, spectral legends, and cold-blooded criminality.
Max
Katherine Cecil Thurston
A night journey carries the weight of potential, and for the young traveler arriving in Paris, it marks the threshold of a new existence. This story follows the transformation of a woman who dares to live as a man to find the freedom usually denied her sex, only to discover that the truest version of herself is the…
Mogreb-el-Acksa: A Journey in Morocco
R. B. (Robert Bontine) Cunninghame Graham
This vivid, unvarnished account of an 1897 journey into the forbidden interior of Morocco captures the collision between a vanishing medieval culture and the relentless, encroaching spirit of Western modernity.
Mohammedanism: Lectures on Its Origin, Its Religious and Political Growth, and Its Present State
C. (Christiaan) Snouck Hurgronje
These lectures provide a scholarly, detached examination of the origins, historical evolution, and modern condition of Islam. They seek to move beyond the prejudice of early European observers to understand the faith on its own terms.
Notes on Railroad Accidents
Charles Francis Adams
Railroad travel, once a terrifying novelty, became the backbone of modern transit through a series of bloody lessons. This investigation charts the evolution of safety systems forged in the wreckage of early industrial ambition.
Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue: A Treates, noe shorter than necessarie, for the Schooles
Hume, Alexander, schoolmaster
The written word is a mirror of the mouth, yet for centuries, that reflection has been distorted by inconsistent habits and idle symbols. This practical guide seeks to restore order to the spelling of the British tongue.
Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Household Management
Ontario. Department of Education
This guide offers a rigorous, systematic approach to the domestic arts, framing household labor as an essential discipline rooted in science, hygiene, and organizational efficiency. It bridges the gap between traditional home chores and the professional standards of early twentieth-century education.
Our Boys: Entertaining Stories by Popular Authors
Various
This collection brings together diverse tales and verses designed to capture the imaginations of young readers, ranging from whimsical portraits of childhood mischief to earnest stories of historical courage.
Paper-bag Cookery
Serkoff, Vera, Countess
By sealing food within specially treated, oven-safe parchment, this method promises to transform modest ingredients into succulent, steam-cooked meals while eliminating the traditional drudgery of scrubbing scorched pots and pans.
Patrician and Plebeian: Or The Origin and Development of the Social Classes of the Old Dominion
Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker
This historical study dismantles the persistent myth that Virginia’s colonial elite descended from English nobility, revealing instead how local environmental, economic, and political pressures forged a distinct, native-born aristocracy from more humble origins.
Paul Bunyan
James Stevens
A giant of the American frontier, Paul Bunyan commands the wilderness with a blue ox and a crew of heroic loggers in a series of tall tales that define the mythic scale of the logging industry.
Peace with Mexico
Albert Gallatin
The United States must reclaim its moral standing by ending a war of conquest, for true national honor is found in justice rather than territorial expansion or the false glory of military victory.
Peregrine's Progress
Jeffery Farnol
A young man sets out on an impulsive quest to discover his own worth, only to find himself entangled with a fierce-eyed tinker, a mysterious goddess, and the complexities of his own heart.
Personality of plants
Royal Dixon
Plants are not mere "growths" to be trampled, but complex, conscious beings that possess a secret life as rich and dramatic as our own. This book invites readers to look beyond the surface of the green world to find friends, artists, and fellow travelers.
Poems: Patriotic, Religious, Miscellaneous
Abram Joseph Ryan
The heart of this collection beats with the rhythm of a man caught between his devotion to the divine and his sorrow for a lost earthly cause. It is a portrait of a soul in mourning, finding in poetry a sanctuary for both faith and grief.
Possession
Louis Bromfield
The children of the American frontier find themselves adrift, standing with their backs to a rough-hewn past and their faces set toward an uncertain, glittering future.
Princess Napraxine, Volume 1 (of 3)
Ouida
HOOK A bored, beautiful Russian aristocrat drifts through the artificial glamour of the French Riviera, only to find her own icy detachment challenged by a man who refuses to remain a mere spectator to her life.
Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny 1857-59: Including the relief, siege, and capture of Lucknow, and the campaigns in Rohilcund and Oude
William Forbes-Mitchell
A veteran of the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders recounts the harrowing, visceral reality of the 1857 Indian Mutiny from the perspective of a foot soldier rather than a commander.
Ruth Fielding on Cliff Island
Alice B. Emerson
A resourceful schoolgirl must navigate the wilderness and outsmart a corrupt land speculator to protect a friend’s rightful inheritance. This tale of loyalty and adventure unfolds against the backdrop of a winter boarding school holiday.
Sam Lawson's Oldtown Fireside Stories: With Illustrations
Harriet Beecher Stowe
The flickering hearth serves as the gateway to a vanishing world where fireside yarns, ghost stories, and local legends hold the power to shape a community’s shared memory.
Scally: The Story of a Perfect Gentleman
Ian Hay
A shaggy, oversized stray finds a home and becomes the unwitting matchmaker for a young curate, ultimately proving that even the most well-meaning, clumsy souls can change the course of human lives.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 601, July 9, 1887
Various
This midsummer dispatch captures the relentless pulse of Victorian innovation, chronicling everything from the mechanics of naval torpedoes to the architectural evolution of brickwork in a rapidly industrializing world.
Still—William
Richmal Crompton
William Brown is a boy of singular focus, unwavering tenacity, and a total, joyful disregard for the social conventions of the adults surrounding him.
The Adventures of John Jewitt: Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island
John Rodgers Jewitt
An ordinary ship’s armorer survives a brutal massacre on the Northwest Coast, only to find himself a captive of a powerful king who demands he live, work, and even marry within the tribe. This raw, firsthand account captures the precarious intersection of two vastly different worlds at the dawn of the nineteenth…
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 67, May, 1863: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
This volume captures a fractured nation in the midst of its greatest trial, blending intellectual inquiry, political anxiety, and literary ambition. It offers an authentic, unvarnished look at a society struggling to reconcile its ideals with the chaos of war.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 78, April, 1864: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
This volume serves as a time capsule from the mid-nineteenth century, capturing the intellectual pulse of a nation deeply embroiled in the Civil War while simultaneously grappling with the foundations of history, science, and social decorum.
The battle of the press
Theophila Carlile Campbell
A relentless publisher spends years in British dungeons for the crime of selling ideas, championing the radical notion that truth is best served by an entirely free and unshackled press.
The Bride of Mission San José: A Tale of Early California
John Augustine Cull
Amidst the political machinations of pre-statehood California, a young woman’s marriage becomes the stage for a high-stakes struggle between competing empires.