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All free summaries — page 447
46,038 public-domain books, summarised. Page 447 of 960.
Coca and Cocaine
William Martindale
A meticulous survey of a South American leaf turns into a breakthrough in modern medicine, tracing how a forgotten indigenous staple became a premier surgical anesthetic.
Come Rack! Come Rope!
Robert Hugh Benson
In the shadow of Elizabeth I’s anti-Catholic statutes, a young Derbyshire couple chooses between their devotion to each other and the deadly calling of an outlawed faith.
Deep-Sea Plunderings
Frank Thomas Bullen
A collection of twenty-four short stories and sketches of life on the high seas, combining raw maritime violence, weird supernatural occurrences, and deep oceanic natural history.
Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations
A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce
A comprehensive exploration of the ancient history of Israel and its neighboring nations, shedding light on the cultural, political, and religious developments of the region.
Elster's Folly: A Novel
Wood, Henry, Mrs.
A young man's lack of moral backbone slowly entangles two women and several families in a quiet English village in years of legal and emotional ruin.
Essays from 'The Guardian'
Walter Pater
Clear, refined literary appraisal reveals how regional passions, poetic form, and philosophical devotion illuminate nineteenth-century English and French writing.
Evening Round-Up: More Good Stuff Like Pep
William Crosbie Hunter
To wake with courage and sleep with a clear mind, one must learn to quiet unnecessary fears, value home over status, and build daily habits of good cheer.
Experiments in Government and the Essentials of the Constitution
Elihu Root
Constitutional order rests on collective self-restraint, protecting individual liberty against the temporary impulses of passionate majorities.
Fathers of Biology
Charles McRae
Centuries of medical advancement rest upon a chain of keen observers who slowly pried biological truth away from ancient superstition and dogma.
Fighting the Boche Underground
H. D. (Harry Davis) Trounce
A firsthand account of the perilous and innovative underground warfare against the Germans during World War I.
Five O'Clock Tea: Farce
William Dean Howells
A snowy afternoon, an over-full parlor, and a relentless suitor turn a simple tea party into a high-stakes duel of wits.
From a Girl's Point of View
Lilian Bell
A sharp, humorous broadside against male ignorance and social hypocrisy, this 1890s feminist essay collection anatomizes the absurdities of romantic courtship and the quiet genius of the modern woman.
George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Virginia
J. Paul Hudson
A tidewater plantation evolves across three centuries from a 1650s wilderness settlement into a neglected ruination, before transforming into a carefully preserved national historic shrine.
Grey Town
Gerald R. (Gerald Robert) Baldwin
A turbulent coastal river and an idealistic Irish-Australian community form the backdrop for a story of ambition, lost faith, and redemption.
Handel
Thomas Tapper
A stubborn boy's secret attic practice yields a brilliant musical career, spanning royal courts, grand English halls, and the enduring creation of legendary sacred compositions.
Harper's indoor book for boys
Joseph H. (Joseph Henry) Adams
Leisure hours indoors need not be idle when a well-ordered workbench, simple tools, and a spirit of useful craft turn winter evenings into occasions for quiet, practical achievement.
Harper's Round Table, July 2, 1895
Various
A vibrant snapshot of late-nineteenth-century American youth culture captures a world of patriotic Civil War historical fiction, high-stakes wilderness survival, home-farm comedy, light theatrical satire, and vigorous interscholastic athletics.
Humoresque: A Laugh on Life with a Tear Behind It
Fannie Hurst
A child's prodigy bow meets the roar of a Manhattan crowd, while around the corner a young woman stumbles into the sharp, blinding light of the city's underbelly.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Anatole France
Anatole France
The vast, varied bibliography of Anatole France offers a window into a mind that treats human history as a sequence of recurring ironies. These works, ranging from satirical novels to delicate fairy tales, remain essential for their wit, skepticism, and humanistic grace.
International Weekly Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science - Volume 1, No. 9, August 26, 1850
Various
A 1850 periodical gathers the world’s arts, science, and history into a lively kaleidoscope of cultural debate and vivid storytelling.
Into the Primitive
Robert Ames Bennet
Survival is a raw, stripping process that reveals the fundamental character of those forced into it. This narrative tracks the brutal transition from civilized social roles to the harsh, unforgiving demands of the natural world.
J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 5
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
A chilling collection of ghostly tales that will haunt your imagination long after reading.
Jimmie Higgins
Upton Sinclair
A pacifist's journey through war, revolution, and personal turmoil in the early 20th century.
Josephus
Norman Bentwich
Trapped between a collapsing homeland and an irresistible empire, a Jewish priest turns court historian to survive the ruin of his world.
Kaffir folk-lore
George McCall Theal
A vivid collection of Xhosa oral traditions captures a world where beasts outwit men, maidens break enchantments, and tricksters outrun their own greedy schemes.
Labour policy—false and true
Lynden Livingston Macassey
Post-war British industrial stability requires dismantling the doctrine of socialist nationalization and building a practical partnership between employers and trade unions.
Lost Diaries
Maurice Baring
What if history's greatest figures left diaries recording only their most mundane, petty, and deeply human moments?
Lourdes
Robert Hugh Benson
A skeptical mind and a devout heart collide in a small French mountain valley, where the impossible happens before tens of thousands of watching eyes.
Martie, the Unconquered
Kathleen Thompson Norris
A tale of love, ambition, and self-discovery, following a young woman's journey from California to New York as she navigates family, marriage, and her own desires.
Mr. Punch Afloat: The Humours of Boating and Sailing
Unknown
A blustering leisure-seeker in bright new togs rowed down the river, thoroughly convinced that every woman on the banks was admiring his terrible style.
Mr. Punch at Home: The Comic Side of Domestic Life
Unknown
This collection of wit and caricature offers a fractured, funny window into the rigid hierarchies and absurd pretensions of the Victorian and Edwardian domestic interior. It captures the eternal friction between those who run the house and those who staff it.
Neæra: A Tale of Ancient Rome
Graham, John W. (John William), active 1886-1887
Two lovers, separated by the luxury and corruption of Tiberius’s imperial court, must brave greedy heirs, royal caprice, and dark underground prisons to reclaim a stolen heritage and find each other again.
Neghborly Poems and Dialect Sketches
James Whitcomb Riley
A warm, plain-spoken window into nineteenth-century rural America, capturing the melodies, heartbreaks, and humble wisdom of ordinary country folks.
Not Under the Law
Grace Livingston Hill
The path of a young woman finding her own way through abandonment and prejudice remains a resonant study in personal integrity and faith.
One Day's Courtship, and The Heralds of Fame
Robert Barr
Two swift romancing tales of artists, writers, and sudden transatlantic sparks unfold along Canadian rivers and across the open sea.
P. T. Barnum's Menagerie
P. T. (Phineas Taylor) Barnum
Three curious children walk through a grand menagerie alongside a famous showman, encountering exotic beasts, learning natural history, and marveling at the strange creatures of the world.
Pictorial history of the war for the Union, volume 2 (of 2)
Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens
An ambitious, expansive record of the American Civil War written in its immediate wake, this volume balances sweeping campaign histories with vivid battlefield anecdotes. It paints a detailed panorama of the bloody middle and final years of the conflict, charting every major engagement from the 1862 Peninsula and…
Poems of Cheer
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
A quiet, steadfast conviction that the human mind chooses its own peace radiates through this vintage collection of verses.
Portraits in Plaster, from the Collection of Laurence Hutton
Laurence Hutton
This collection of funerary and life masks offers an intimate, often unsettling glimpse into the physical presence of history’s most celebrated figures. It serves as a quiet, somber museum of the human face preserved in plaster.
Practical Boat-Sailing: A Concise and Simple Treatise
Douglas Frazar
A practical, plain-spoken guide to handling small craft, this classic treatise converts ocean-going experience into clear instructions for navigating unpredictable waters with calm confidence.
Pride and Passion: Robert Burns, 1759-1796
J. De Lancey (John De Lancey) Ferguson
Stripping away the whitewash of moralizing biographers, this study reveals the fiery Scottish poet through his immediate relationships, showing how his stubborn pride and explosive passions forged an enduring national legacy from the ashes of a dying culture.
Prince Fortunatus
William Black
A young man who has everything loses his way in the bright glare of early success, only to find himself when the lights go out.
Principles of Public Health: A Simple Text Book on Hygiene, Presenting the Principles Fundamental to the Conservation of Individual and Community Health
Thomas Dyer Tuttle
Good health is presented as a deliberate, national ambition, achievable through the rigorous application of modern preventive science, personal hygiene, and a relentless commitment to cleanliness in every aspect of daily life.
Prosper Mérimée's Short Stories
Prosper Mérimée
An unsparing observer of the human condition explores the dark intersection of raw passion and ancient, unforgiving fate. These narratives capture the cold precision of a master storyteller who leaves sentimentality at the door.
School History of North Carolina
John W. (John Wheeler) Moore
Across three centuries of hardship, conflict, and quiet growth, a Southern colony transforms into a self-governing American state.
Some Roundabout Papers
William Makepeace Thackeray
A whimsical journey through life's oddities, penned by a master of wit and satire.
Summer Cruise in the Mediterranean on board an American frigate
Nathaniel Parker Willis
A captivating journey through the Mediterranean, blending history, culture, and personal adventure aboard an American frigate.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 04, February, 1858: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
A collection of essays, stories, and poems from 1858, offering a window into American literature, art, and politics of the time.