myebooksbuy
My Books

The whole shelf

All free summaries — page 479

34,093 public-domain books, summarised. Page 479 of 711.

Cover of Mushroom Culture: Its Extension and Improvement

Mushroom Culture: Its Extension and Improvement

W. (William) Robinson

Cultivating mushrooms is a simple, thrifty, and rewarding practice that requires little more than stable manure, proper darkness, and a bit of patience. This guide offers a comprehensive look at how to produce an abundant supply of food in any garden or cellar.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of Notes and Queries, Number 195, July 23, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc

Notes and Queries, Number 195, July 23, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc

Various

This volume serves as a Victorian-era clearinghouse for the curious, a collaborative intellectual space where nineteenth-century readers trade obscure facts and resolve historical ambiguities through open inquiry.

Classics of Literature6 min read
Cover of Pelle the Conqueror

Pelle the Conqueror

Martin Andersen Nexø

The journey of a boy and his father from humble beginnings to a hard-won maturity, this saga captures the spirit of a laborer’s life with unflinching clarity. It is the story of a world turning toward modernity, told through the eyes of one who grew up in the soil of its fields.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Peter the Priest

Peter the Priest

Mór Jókai

A determined young monk discovers that his most sacred duty is to confront the dark, vengeful woman who once shattered his life as a knight.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Poems & Parodies

Poems & Parodies

Tom Kettle

The life of a man who died at thirty-six, spent in the service of poetry, politics, and the trenches, is captured here in a collection that balances the sharp wit of a brilliant mind against the somber realities of a soldier’s sacrifice.

Poetry6 min read
Cover of Postscripts

Postscripts

O. Henry

The world is a stage where the actors are often caught in the crossfire of their own absurdities, and the best way to survive the spectacle is to laugh at the confusion. This collection of vignettes captures the fleeting, often ridiculous pulse of late 19th-century American life, where high-minded pretense is…

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Principles and practice of agricultural analysis. Volume 2 (of 3), Fertilizers

Principles and practice of agricultural analysis. Volume 2 (of 3), Fertilizers

Harvey Washington Wiley

To measure the hidden vitality of the earth, one must master the exacting chemistry of its restoration. This volume serves as the definitive nineteenth-century technical manual for those tasked with verifying the composition and efficacy of agricultural fertilizers.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, December 29, 1920

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, December 29, 1920

Various

This collection captures the sharp, cynical, and weary wit of post-war London, where the end of 1920 is met not with grand idealism, but with dry humor and a longing for normalcy.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Scattergood Baines

Scattergood Baines

Clarence Budington Kelland

A legendarily shrewd, barefoot storekeeper arrives in a quiet New England valley and quietly orchestrates the lives, businesses, and futures of everyone around him.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume 1 (of 2): Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte

Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume 1 (of 2): Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte

Hamilton, Anne, Lady

Behind the gilded facade of the British monarchy lies a dark narrative of political intrigue, systemic corruption, and the systematic destruction of a royal consort.

History - British7 min read
Cover of South-West Africa

South-West Africa

William Eveleigh

South-West Africa is a land of startling contradictions, where shimmering diamond fields meet arid, unforgiving deserts and hidden subterranean springs sustain a fragile, growing frontier. This exploration offers a rare, contemporary look at a territory poised on the threshold of massive, uncertain transformation.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Spanish Vistas

Spanish Vistas

George Parsons Lathrop

The Iberian Peninsula reveals itself as a landscape where the rugged, masculine spirit of Latin civilization persists amid ancient monuments, offering a vivid portrait of a nation caught between its historic grandeur and a modernizing world.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of State of the Union Addresses

State of the Union Addresses

Abraham Lincoln

These addresses chronicle a nation’s existential struggle, mapping the transformation of a fractured, war-torn republic into a unified entity through the force of political will and administrative perseverance.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal

Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal

Sherard Osborn

The search for the lost Franklin expedition becomes a grueling, awe-inspiring test of endurance against an unforgiving landscape. Through the lens of a mid-Victorian naval officer, the immense, indifferent beauty of the high Arctic is captured with startling clarity.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Tahiti, the island paradise

Tahiti, the island paradise

Nicholas Senn

Tahiti, the island paradise is a contemplative travelogue and historical survey written by a physician at the turn of the twentieth century. It captures the intersection of colonial influence, indigenous tradition, and the profound, lingering serenity of the South Pacific.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of !Tention: A Story of Boy-Life during the Peninsular War

!Tention: A Story of Boy-Life during the Peninsular War

George Manville Fenn

Two wounded young soldiers, separated from their regiment in hostile territory, must navigate the perilous landscape of the Peninsular War while protecting a deposed king.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 5

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 5

Mark Twain

This narrative captures the volatile, sun-drenched, and often treacherous landscape of childhood, where a boy’s search for glory and social standing frequently collides with the sober, demanding expectations of the adult world. It is a portrait of a spirit that refuses to be tamed, even when faced with the heavy…

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Architecture and Landscape Gardening of the Exposition: A Pictorial Survey of the Most Beautiful Achitectural Compositions of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition

The Architecture and Landscape Gardening of the Exposition: A Pictorial Survey of the Most Beautiful Achitectural Compositions of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition

Louis Christian Mullgardt

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 serves as a testament to human resilience and collective ambition, manifesting as a "phantom kingdom" of extraordinary beauty built upon the ashes of a devastated city.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of The Argosy, Vol. 51, No. 4, April, 1891

The Argosy, Vol. 51, No. 4, April, 1891

Various

This nineteenth-century miscellany offers a panoramic view of Victorian literary life, blending serialized mystery, travelogues, and reflections on everything from the nuances of etiquette to the haunting unpredictability of ghost stories.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of The Beautiful Lady

The Beautiful Lady

Booth Tarkington

A man forced by poverty to become a human billboard on the streets of Paris encounters an exquisite woman who offers him the only thing he has left: pity. Bound by shame and social station, he finds that romance and reality are rarely the same.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Book of Stars: Being a Simple Explanation of the Stars and Their Uses to Boy Life

The Book of Stars: Being a Simple Explanation of the Stars and Their Uses to Boy Life

A. Frederick (Archie Frederick) Collins

Learn to navigate by the heavens and grasp the mechanics of the cosmos through a series of accessible, hands-on experiments designed for young explorers.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Butterfly House

The Butterfly House

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

In the stifling confines of a self-important New Jersey village, a quiet young woman’s literary success becomes a battlefield for the vanity and hidden truths of her neighbors.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Cornflower, and Other Poems

The Cornflower, and Other Poems

Jean Blewett

The humblest moments of rural life often hold the profoundest truths, proving that the deepest joy is found in the simple, everyday connections we share with those we love.

Poetry6 min read
Cover of The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home

The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home

Charles Dickens

A humble hearthside spirit watches over a gentle carrier and his spirited young wife, weaving a domestic tapestry of hidden identities, youthful promises, and the quiet resilience of love amidst potential misunderstanding.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Defeat of Youth, and Other Poems

The Defeat of Youth, and Other Poems

Aldous Huxley

This collection of early verse captures the feverish transition from intellectual detachment to the raw, messy business of living. It serves as a candid record of a young mind struggling to reconcile the purity of art with the physical demands of human desire.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The desert

The desert

John C. Van Dyke

The desert is an inhospitable, sun-scorched paradox where life persists in fierce defiance and silence holds a peculiar, ennobling power. It offers a landscape of shifting color and profound solitude, far removed from the ruinous reach of human civilization.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of The Duke of York's steps

The Duke of York's steps

Henry Wade

A prominent London banker dies suddenly of natural causes, but a sharp-eyed investigator suspects a calculated murder hidden behind a facade of high-finance respectability.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Fantasy Fan, October 1933: The Fan's Own Magazine

The Fantasy Fan, October 1933: The Fan's Own Magazine

Various

This magazine captures the vibrant, fledgling energy of the early science fiction and fantasy community, documenting a time when fans and authors communicated through letters, columns, and shared obsession. It stands as a vital primary source for understanding the origins of modern genre fandom.

Journalism/Media/Writing6 min read
Cover of The Fourth Estate, vol. 1

The Fourth Estate, vol. 1

Armando Palacio Valdés

A quiet Spanish coastal town erupts into absurdity when local ambitions and romantic betrayals collide, turning the mundane rhythms of provincial life into a theater of high-stakes farce.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Frame Up

The Frame Up

Richard Harding Davis

The truth is rarely as simple as a confession, and in the high-stakes game of New York politics, the most dangerous lies are the ones wrapped in a grain of fact. A principled public servant finds himself walking into an elaborate trap, where his own reputation becomes the primary currency for blackmail.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Gospel of the Pentateuch: A Set of Parish Sermons

The Gospel of the Pentateuch: A Set of Parish Sermons

Charles Kingsley

Faith in the living God is not a stagnant tradition, but a dynamic, unfolding education that begins in the earliest chapters of scripture and finds its ultimate expression in the life of Christ.

Essays, Letters & Speeches7 min read
Cover of The Great White North: The story of polar exploration from the earliest times to the discovery of the pole

The Great White North: The story of polar exploration from the earliest times to the discovery of the pole

Helen S. (Helen Saunders) Wright

The history of polar exploration is a chronicle of unrelenting struggle against the elements, where human ambition meets the absolute indifference of the frozen North. This record captures that immense, perilous journey from early maritime efforts to the threshold of the pole.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The Guinea Stamp: A Tale of Modern Glasgow

The Guinea Stamp: A Tale of Modern Glasgow

Annie S. Swan

A young woman’s journey from the shadows of a harsh, industrial Glasgow childhood to the refined halls of the wealthy reveals the enduring truth that human worth is measured by character, not by social standing.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Independence of Claire

The Independence of Claire

Vaizey, George de Horne, Mrs.

Faced with the duty of supporting her mother, a spirited young woman chooses the path of professional independence. Yet, in the bustling classrooms of London, she finds that life and love offer challenges no textbook can solve.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Jester of St. Timothy's

The Jester of St. Timothy's

Arthur Stanwood Pier

The arrival of a young master at a venerable boarding school sparks a quiet war of nerves and wits, revealing that growth is often the most difficult lesson of all.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The K-Factor

The K-Factor

Harry Harrison

The fate of an entire world rests on a single, impossible calculation. When the math of social stability tips into the red, one man must decide if humanity can be saved by a scientist’s hand or only by a soldier’s trigger.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese (Volume II)

The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese (Volume II)

Paul Ambroise Bigandet

A quiet narrative of spiritual impermanence, Bishop Bigandet’s account follows the final days, death, and enduring legacy of the founder of Buddhism through a distinctly Burmese lens.

History - Religious5 min read
Cover of The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume III

The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume III

Theophilus Cibber

This collection of biographies chronicles the lives and literary output of forty English and Irish poets, spanning the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It offers a window into the professional struggles, social entanglements, and artistic reputations of figures ranging from the celebrated John Dryden to…

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Love Sonnets of a Car Conductor

The Love Sonnets of a Car Conductor

Wallace Irwin

A street-car conductor finds his muse in the jarring, rattling environment of a Sixth Avenue trolley, capturing the dizzying rush of falling in love through the slang-heavy cadence of the city. This collection of sonnets serves as a rhythmic, irreverent diary of a working-class romantic navigating the daily grind…

Humour6 min read
Cover of The Madonna of the Future

The Madonna of the Future

Henry James

An artist living in Florence clings to the hope of creating a singular, perfect masterpiece, but he finds himself trapped in a life of endless preparation, unable to bridge the distance between his ideals and his work.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Maids Tragedy

The Maids Tragedy

John Fletcher

A soldier returns to a kingdom corrupted by its monarch, only to find his own sister sacrificed to the King’s insatiable lust. This high-stakes drama explores the collision of private honor with the public demands of loyalty.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Mothers Of Honoré: From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899

The Mothers Of Honoré: From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899

Mary Hartwell Catherwood

A young man and a girl, both burdened by the erratic romantic lives of their elders, find their own long-standing friendship tested by the looming pressure of marriage and the sudden, distant call of the Spanish-American War.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Nursery, Volume 17, No. 100, April, 1875: A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers

The Nursery, Volume 17, No. 100, April, 1875: A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers

Various

This archival magazine captures the Victorian ideal of childhood through a curated collection of moralizing fables, nature observations, and gentle lessons for the youngest readers of 1875.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Ordeal: A Mountain Romance of Tennessee

The Ordeal: A Mountain Romance of Tennessee

Charles Egbert Craddock

The mountains of Tennessee hold secrets of grief, crime, and long-buried affection, forcing a mother to confront the limits of her own resolve. A lost child becomes the center of a quiet, desperate struggle against an unforgiving wilderness.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Rose-Jar

The Rose-Jar

Thomas S. (Thomas Samuel) Jones

Memories are like pressed flowers, fragile and haunting, kept within the quiet chambers of the heart long after the gardens they bloomed in have vanished into the grey distance of time.

Poetry6 min read
Cover of The Shipwreck: A Story for the Young

The Shipwreck: A Story for the Young

Joseph Spillman

A young boy’s forced voyage into danger becomes a test of faith and redemption when his ship is destroyed, leaving the survivors to face the perils of the sea and the transformation of their own souls.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Son of Clemenceau, A Novel of Modern Love and Life

The Son of Clemenceau, A Novel of Modern Love and Life

Alexandre Dumas

A brilliant inventor finds his life’s work and his marriage compromised by the dangerous appetites of those who wish to exploit his genius.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Squire's Daughter

The Squire's Daughter

Silas K. (Silas Kitto) Hocking

A young man’s refusal to open a gate for a haughty rider sparks a clash of wills that bridges the divide between a struggling tenant farmer and the landed gentry. This story of social friction and forbidden affection explores the human cost of rigid class hierarchies in rural England.

British Literature6 min read
Advertisement