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All free summaries — page 470
34,093 public-domain books, summarised. Page 470 of 711.
Voyage of the Liberdade
Joshua Slocum
A family turns the ruin of a shipwreck into an extraordinary homebound adventure, sailing five thousand miles across open ocean in a vessel they built with their own hands.
Voyages in Search of the North-West Passage
Richard Hakluyt
Desperate Elizabethan mariners confront treacherous polar ice, sudden sea storms, and unknown native encounters in their quest for a northern trade route to Asia.
Wage Earning and Education
R. R. (Rufus Rolla) Lutz
Evaluating the gap between classroom instruction and the economic realities of industrial life, this 1916 study measures how public schools fail to prepare youth for the local workforce. It advocates rebuilding vocational training around actuarial data and trade-specific facts.
Wanderings of a pilgrim in search of the picturesque, Volume 1 (of 2) : During four-and-twenty years in the east
Fanny Parkes Parlby
An adventurous officer’s wife steps off a British transport into nineteenth-century India and abandons the quiet routine expected of her, throwing herself into a twenty-four-year pilgrimage of unbridled curiosity, vivid journal-keeping, and deep cross-cultural fascination.
What Can She Do?
Edward Payson Roe
When sudden financial ruin strips three pampered New York sisters of their Fifth Avenue home, they are forced into the country to face the cold realities of self-reliance, temptation, and survival.
What Timmy Did
Marie Belloc Lowndes
A delicate web of suspicion, small-town secrets, and uncanny perception settles over a quiet Surrey parish when a glamorous young widow arrives with a dark past.
Wood Rangers: The Trappers of Sonora
Mayne Reid
A noble scion, raised in anonymity, tracks his mother’s murderer across the perilous frontier of Sonora to reclaim his stolen inheritance and discover a legendary vein of gold.
A Fantasy of Mediterranean Travel
Samuel G. (Samuel Gamble) Bayne
This account of a turn-of-the-century luxury cruise offers a candid, irreverent look at the sights and social frictions of the Mediterranean. It captures the spirit of early global tourism with sharp wit and a skeptical eye.
A new dictionary of the terms ancient and modern of the canting crew in its several tribes of gypsies, beggers, thieves, cheats, &c
B. E.
A secret lexicon from the dawn of the eighteenth century, this volume serves as a high-stakes guide to the underworld, teaching the uninitiated how to spot a thief and survive a conversation with a rogue.
A Rebel's Recollections
George Cary Eggleston
This work offers a candid, firsthand account of life within the Confederate ranks, stripping away the romantic veneer of the Civil War to reveal the logistical absurdities, class tensions, and profound human exhaustion that defined the Southern experience.
Action Front
Boyd Cable
This collection of dispatches from the front lines of the First World War bridges the gap between cold military reports and the lived reality of those holding the trenches.
Algic Researches, Comprising Inquiries Respecting the Mental Characteristics of the North American Indians, First Series. Indian Tales and Legends, Vol. 1 of 2
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
Rooted in the oral traditions of the Odjibwa and other tribes, these gathered legends offer a window into the cosmology, moral landscape, and foundational spirit-stories of the North American interior.
All the Brothers Were Valiant
Ben Ames Williams
Two brothers from a storied New England seafaring family confront a mutiny and the lure of illicit treasure on a whaling voyage that tests the true measure of their courage.
Altruism: Its Nature and Varieties
George Herbert Palmer
This exploration of human connection argues that we are never truly solitary, but rather members of a "conjunct self" whose existence is defined by our essential, ongoing relationships with others.
An Assessment of the Consequences and Preparations for a Catastrophic California Earthquake: Findings and Actions Taken
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
This official federal report evaluates the catastrophic potential of a major California earthquake and outlines the critical, often insufficient, measures required to prepare for such an event. It serves as a foundational blueprint for modern disaster management strategy.
Anatole France
Georg Brandes
The true author is recognizable by the existence on every page of his work of at least one phrase that only he could have written. This study explores the mind and artistic evolution of such a figure.
Artists Past and Present
Elisabeth Luther Cary
This collection of essays serves as a dedicated tour through the lives and methods of diverse artists, offering a refined, observant look at how masters of different eras and temperaments capture the human and natural world.
Aurora Floyd, Vol. 3: Fifth Edition
M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon
A woman hides a dark, impulsive past, only to find her secret unearthed by a murderer. This Victorian sensation novel turns the domestic sphere into a site of high-stakes legal peril and emotional unraveling.
Australasian Democracy
Henry de Rosenbach Walker
The year is 1896, and a keen observer travels across the southern colonies to document how a bold new brand of democracy is reshaping the lives of settlers and pioneers. This account captures a pivotal moment of transition for a young, ambitious society.
Bashan and I
Thomas Mann
The morning ritual between a man and his dog becomes a profound meditation on companionship, the cyclical nature of existence, and the quiet, primitive joy found in the shared act of walking.
Bat Wing Bowles
Dane Coolidge
A sophisticated Easterner ventures into the Arizona territory to pursue a woman who has captivated his imagination, only to find himself embroiled in the rough-and-tumble reality of a working cattle ranch. He must shed his metropolitan pretensions to survive a gauntlet of bucking horses, skeptical cowboys, and the…
Beauty and the Beast: An Essay in Evolutionary Aesthetic
Stewart Andrew McDowall
The soul finds its way through the world’s beauty, seeking in every glimpse of art and nature a reflection of a deeper, divine, and ultimately reciprocal love.
"Bones": Being Further Adventures in Mr. Commissioner Sanders' Country
Edgar Wallace
This collection follows the colorful, often frantic misadventures of a junior British officer stationed in the African bush, where colonial administration frequently clashes with local intrigue.
Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion
Unknown
Seeking connection with the divine, these verses offer a quiet space for reflection, grounding personal faith in the beauty of nature and the persistent pursuit of social justice.
Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods
Laura Lee Hope
Two siblings spend a summer camping, encountering a mysterious hermit and an Indian neighbor while searching for lost toys and a missing boy. This gentle tale follows their innocent adventures in the woods.
Bye-Ways
Robert Hichens
The boundaries between sanity and madness, and between the self and the "other," dissolve in this haunting collection of tales. These stories explore the volatile intersection where obsession meets the limits of human identity.
Canada and the British immigrant
Emily P. (Emily Poynton) Weaver
Canada emerges in these pages as a vast, demanding, and promising frontier, offering a profound test of character for those willing to leave the familiarity of the Old World behind.
Chantemerle
D. K. (Dorothy Kathleen) Broster
The shadow of the French Revolution looms over a crumbling estate, where two cousins find their fates intertwined by honor, civil war, and a secret love for the same woman.
Dandelion Cottage
Carroll Watson Rankin
Four young girls turn a neglected, weed-choked shed into a beloved sanctuary, discovering that their efforts to create a home bring unexpected connections to the lonely adults in their small Michigan town.
Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon, or, Trade Language of Oregon
George Gibbs
This specialized volume documents the unique, cross-cultural trade language that once bridged the vast linguistic divide of the American Pacific Northwest. It serves as both a historical record of colonial-era communication and a functional lexicon for navigating the diverse tribal and settler relationships of the…
Drawing in charcoal and crayon for the use of students and schools
Frank Fowler
This practical guide offers a foundational approach to charcoal and crayon drawing, emphasizing the discipline of observation and the systematic development of form. It serves as a manual for those seeking to master the translation of three-dimensional subjects onto a two-dimensional surface.
Electricity in Locomotion: An Account of Its Mechanism, Its Achievements, and Its Prospects
Adam Gowens Whyte
The promise of a future where electricity powers every wheel, rail, and propeller remains as compelling today as it was at the dawn of the twentieth century. This narrative captures the precise moment when the steam engine’s dominance began to falter against the flexibility and efficiency of the electric motor.
Far from Home
J. A. Taylor
This story captures the primal terror of being stranded in the void and the desperate, makeshift ingenuity required to survive when the laws of orbital mechanics turn against a solitary human.
First through the Grand Canyon
John Wesley Powell
This record documents the first successful voyage through the Colorado River’s uncharted chasms. It captures the raw, perilous beauty of a landscape that remained a mystery to the outside world until 1869.
For Love of the King: A Burmese Masque
Oscar Wilde
The story of a king who finds solace in a forbidden love, only to discover that the demands of a throne are as relentless as the passage of time.
From Memory's Shrine: The Reminscences of Carmen Sylva
Carmen Sylva
This intimate memoir explores the profound shaping power of memory, as a royal life unfolds against a backdrop of sorrow, resilience, and the enduring presence of those who have passed away.
Frontier Ballads
Joseph Mills Hanson
The American West comes alive through the rhythm and grit of the common man, capturing a vanished era of frontier expansion, rugged steamboats, and hard-won morality. These verses preserve the spirit of a transitional frontier, where the raw, unforgiving landscape forged a unique code of human resilience and quiet,…
Futuria Fantasia, Fall 1939
Ray Bradbury
A vibrant, chaotic snapshot of early science fiction fandom, this amateur magazine captures the boundless energy and sharp-tongued camaraderie of a young writer discovering his voice among the genre’s pioneers.
Gleanings from Maeterlinck
Maurice Maeterlinck
In a world defined by the shadow of mortality, these essays offer a quiet, reasoned defense of life, urging us to greet the end not with terror, but with a steady, tranquil understanding.
Gulf and Glacier
Willis Boyd Allen
A cross-continental train journey transports a tight-knit family from Boston to the untamed wilderness of Alaska, where they encounter glaciers, gold mines, and indigenous cultures.
Habits that Handicap: The Menace of Opium, Alcohol, and Tobacco, and the Remedy
Charles Barnes Towns
Hook Addiction is not a moral failing, but a physical bondage that requires medical intervention. This early twentieth-century call to action demands we stop punishing the sufferer and start treating the disease.
Handbook of Home Rule: Being Articles on the Irish Question
Unknown
A collection of political essays from the late nineteenth century, this volume gathers intellectual arguments in favor of granting Ireland self-governance. It serves as a window into a pivotal moment of constitutional debate.
How to become an engineer : containing full instructions how to proceed in order to become a locomotive engineer : also directions for building a model locomotive
Frank W. Doughty
This handbook serves as a gritty, practical guide for aspiring locomotive engineers at the dawn of the twentieth century, blending historical context with rigorous technical instruction. It outlines the exacting standards of the rail industry, emphasizing that success in this demanding profession is built through…
Joseph the Dreamer
Amy Steedman
This retelling of a foundational biblical narrative follows a young boy’s journey from a favored son in Canaan to a powerful, forgiving administrator in Egypt, illustrating the triumph of character over circumstance.
Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans
Edward John Eyre
The wilderness is a mirror of endurance, testing not only the strength of those who traverse it but the depth of their resolve to survive the crushing indifference of an arid continent.
Landholding in England
Fisher, Joseph, F.R.H.S.
The history of English soil is not a tale of private ownership, but a complex, centuries-long transformation of public stewardship into restricted class privilege.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 12, No. 29, August, 1873
Various
This August 1873 issue of a prominent literary periodical offers a multifaceted time capsule, blending serialized fiction, travelogues, and cultural commentary for the Victorian reader. It functions as a mirror of its era’s intellectual and social preoccupations.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 15, No. 85, January, 1875
Various
This diverse collection captures the mid-Victorian intellectual spirit, blending travelogues, romantic fiction, and scientific curiosity into a vibrant mosaic of nineteenth-century life and thought.