The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 404
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 404 of 988.
Madame Firmiani
Honoré de Balzac
This is a portrait of a woman whose life is a masterpiece of artifice and integrity, misunderstood by everyone except the man who dares to love her truly.
Matthew Fontaine Maury, the Pathfinder of the Seas
Charles Lee Lewis
The man who unlocked the secrets of the winds and currents transformed global navigation, turning the vast, trackless oceans into predictable highways for all who sail the seas.
Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte
Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne
A candid, intimate portrait of a titan, written by the one man who observed him behind the curtain, in his night-gown, and at the summit of his power.
Mind reading
W. E. (William E.) Skinner
This practical manual strips away the mysticism surrounding parlor magic to reveal how physical cues, not supernatural forces, allow performers to simulate mind reading. It offers a candid, mechanical look at the art of deception.
Miss Billy
Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman) Porter
An orphaned teenager unexpectedly finds herself the ward of five bachelor brothers, sparking a transformative series of romantic misunderstandings that reshape the lives of everyone in the household.
Mr. Ray's travels, Vol. 2
John Ray
A botanist and his companions navigate the treacherous landscapes of the Ottoman East, seeking both the medicinal secrets of desert flora and a way home through a world of suspicion and shifting political tides.
My Discovery of England
Stephen Leacock
A professor of political economy visits the mother country, only to find that tea-room politics, stoic train passengers, and the perils of lecturing offer as much material for amusement as they do for scholarly inquiry.
My Mark Twain (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
William Dean Howells
The most intimate portrait of an American icon ever written, this account captures the humanity of a giant behind the mask of the humorist. It is a work of deep friendship, unvarnished and profoundly moving.
My Miscellanies, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Wilkie Collins
These diverse essays and sketches reflect a Victorian master’s playful, sharp-witted observations on the small irritations, oddities, and social absurdities of nineteenth-century life.
Nature Near London
Richard Jefferies
Even amid the encroaching sprawl of the Victorian metropolis, the natural world persists in hidden hedges, suburban copses, and the quiet margins of the countryside.
'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar
Jósika, Miklós, báró
The shadow of the Mongol horde descends upon a fractured medieval Hungary, forcing a noble family to choose between the safety of their ancestral walls and the uncertain fate of a kingdom in disarray.
Olaf the Glorious: A Story of the Viking Age
Robert Leighton
This narrative reconstructs the legendary life of Olaf Tryggvison, a Norse monarch whose path from childhood slavery to the throne of Norway shaped the conversion of the Viking Age. It serves as a stirring, myth-steeped chronicle of a man who fought to define his nation.
Our sentimental garden
Egerton Castle
A couple finds their personal sanctuary in a rural cottage, transforming a wild, untamed hillside into a lush, living tapestry of memories and flowers. This account celebrates the enduring, rhythmic beauty of the natural world.
Out of the Depths: A Romance of Reclamation
Robert Ames Bennet
A disgraced socialite seeks redemption in the rugged American West, where he must navigate the harsh demands of ranch life and the perilous depths of a forbidden canyon to reclaim his sense of self.
Poems
Alan Seeger
This collection offers a rare, intimate look at the transition from romantic idealism to the grim reality of the First World War. It preserves the voice of a young poet who traded the life of a Parisian wanderer for the mud of the trenches, capturing both the beauty of his youth and the finality of his sacrifice.
Poor Man's Rock
Bertrand W. Sinclair
A young man returns from war to reclaim his inheritance, only to find himself locked in an industrial grudge match against the man who holds his past hostage.
Practical Methods of Sewage Disposal for Residences, Hotels and Institutions
Henry N. (Henry Neely) Ogden
This technical manual provides a methodical, engineering-based approach to managing household and institutional waste by leveraging the natural purification processes of soil and bacteria.
Pressure, Resistance, and Stability of Earth: American Society of Civil Engineers: Transactions, Paper No. 1174, Volume LXX, December 1910
J. C. Meem
This technical inquiry challenges established civil engineering norms by arguing that earth and water exert independent pressures on underground structures, suggesting that traditional safety calculations are often overly conservative.
Prose Fancies
Richard Le Gallienne
A gentle, wandering collection of essays, this work serves as a meditation on the beauty of the mundane and the absurdity of taking oneself too seriously. It captures the quiet, impressionistic spirit of late Victorian literary life.
Quinneys'
Horace Annesley Vachell
A hot-headed antique dealer discovers that the most precious items in his collection—his wife and daughter—are not commodities to be owned, but people to be earned.
Rachel: A Play in Three Acts
Angelina Weld Grimké
A young woman’s vow to be a mother to the world’s children shatters when she discovers the brutal reality of the racism they will inherit.
Saved at sea
Walton, O. F., Mrs.
The lighthouse on a lonely Scottish island is a place of storms and sudden rescues. This narrative follows a young boy’s spiritual awakening as he and his grandfather navigate the profound changes brought by the sea.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885
Various
This collection of technical reports captures a pivotal moment in the late nineteenth century, documenting the rapid industrialization, engineering ambition, and scientific curiosity of 1885. It serves as a fascinating, diverse archive of Victorian-era innovation.
Shadow Mountain
Dane Coolidge
A young engineer returns to a dying Nevada mining camp to claim his fortune, only to find himself entangled in a dangerous web of local feuds, hidden tungsten deposits, and a woman who refuses to play by the rules.
Skull-face
Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard
HOOK A desperate man, enslaved by a drug-peddling sorcerer, must confront a prehistoric horror rising from the depths of the ocean to enslave the modern world.
Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys
Robert L. (Robert Lewis) Packard
These pygmy mice, the smallest rodents in North America, reveal the complex interplay of geography, climate, and evolution across the vast landscapes of Mexico and the southwestern United States.
State of the Union Addresses
Harry S. Truman
These addresses chronicle the pivotal transition of the United States from a nation weary from global conflict to the primary architect of a new, postwar international order.
Submarine and Anti-submarine
Newbolt, Henry John, Sir
The Great War beneath the waves reveals a harrowing, claustrophobic theater of naval combat, where technological innovation met the raw courage of those trapped in steel hulls.
Teddy: Her Book: A Story of Sweet Sixteen
Anna Chapin Ray
A spirited, imaginative sixteen-year-old navigates the complexities of family life, an unexpected friendship, and the quiet, fierce ambition to make her mark on the world.
Ten Tudor Statesmen
Arthur D. (Arthur Donald) Innes
This collection of biographical studies examines the pivotal figures who navigated the treacherous political currents of 16th-century England. It invites readers to look beyond popular myths and understand the era through the personal motivations of its most powerful architects.
The Ancien Régime
Charles Kingsley
The collapse of the French monarchy was not merely a political failure, but a profound moral rot caused by the rigid, prideful enforcement of caste over human dignity.
The Art of Horse-Shoeing: A Manual for Farriers
William Hunting
Protecting the integrity of a horse’s foot is a task of profound anatomical responsibility, requiring the farrier to balance the animal’s natural mechanics against the rigors of artificial labor.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 03, January, 1858: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
This January 1858 issue of a prestigious literary magazine gathers contemporary essays, scientific reporting, and fiction to capture the intellectual pulse of the mid-nineteenth century. It serves as a time capsule of an era grappling with rapid social, scientific, and aesthetic change.
The Birds' Christmas Carol
Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin
A fragile, golden-haired child born on Christmas Day transforms the lives of her family and neighbors through her boundless capacity for love and her quiet, unwavering courage.
The Captive in Patagonia
Benjamin Franklin Bourne
A harrowing account of survival among the Tehuelche people of Patagonia, this narrative details a traveler's desperate ingenuity and psychological warfare to escape a three-month captivity in a harsh, unforgiving wilderness.
The Celebrity, Complete
Winston Churchill
An aspiring lawyer finds his quiet life upended when an old acquaintance arrives, masking his true identity behind the fame of a celebrated novelist.
The Courtship of Miles Standish:: With Suggestions for Study and Notes
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A rough-hewn soldier sends his shy clerk to woo a woman in his stead, only for the clerk to find his own heart entangled in the errand. This classic narrative explores the tension between duty, unspoken longing, and the courage to speak one’s truth.
The Free Lances: A Romance of the Mexican Valley
Mayne Reid
This is a high-stakes tale of political intrigue, border-crossing conflict, and romance, set against the backdrop of a volatile Mexico ruled by a tyrant. It follows a band of volunteers who navigate prison escapes, guerilla warfare, and personal betrayals to secure their freedom and their futures.
The Gaunt Gray Wolf: A Tale of Adventure With Ungava Bob
Dillon Wallace
The wilderness is a place of immense beauty and quiet danger, where survival demands both quick wit and a humble reliance on one’s companions. This story follows two young men into the heart of the Labrador interior, capturing the stark reality of life on the trapping trail.
The Golden Fleece: A Romance
Julian Hawthorne
The arid, golden expanse of Southern California hides secrets older than the American West, where the line between history and hallucination dissolves in the shimmering desert heat.
The Golden House
Charles Dudley Warner
The quest for meaning in a gilded age often leads to empty rooms, yet those who seek wealth as a shield against life’s fragility frequently find it to be a hollow armor.
The Green Eyes of Bâst
Sax Rohmer
A journalist stumbles into a web of lethal obsession, ancient Egyptian curses, and a series of impossible murders orchestrated by a brilliant, vengeful mastermind.
The history of the South African forces in France
John Buchan
A chronicle of endurance, this account details the relentless service of the South African Brigade through the most punishing theaters of the First World War. It remains a testament to the tactical complexity and personal sacrifice defining the infantry experience in France.
The House of Torchy
Sewell Ford
A sharp-witted New York City couple navigates the complexities of early married life, blending domestic adjustments with high-stakes corporate maneuvering and patriotic duty during the First World War.
The Last Hope
Henry Seton Merriman
HOOK A young man is drawn into a dangerous, high-stakes plot to restore a fallen royal line, only to discover that his fate is inextricably tied to the volatile currents of French politics.
The Legendary and Poetical Remains of John Roby: author of 'Traditions of Lancashire', with a sketch of his literary life and character
John Roby
This collection gathers the final literary expressions of a Victorian chronicler, weaving together biographical reflection, dark romantic fiction, and the remnants of a life spent uncovering the shadows of history.
The Library
Andrew Lang
The bibliophile’s pursuit is a quiet, scholarly sport, a lifelong hunt for rare editions and beautiful bindings that connects the modern reader to the intellectual giants of the past. It is a gentle defense of the collector’s obsession, treating books not as mere objects, but as living artifacts of human history…
The Meaning of Good—A Dialogue
G. Lowes (Goldsworthy Lowes) Dickinson
The pursuit of a coherent life depends on our ability to define what is good. This philosophical dialogue explores whether such a definition is possible, or if our values are merely subjective illusions.