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All free summaries — page 483
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 483 of 988.
The works of Plato (Vol. 1 of 6)
Plato
A relentless pursuit of truth demands questioning every unexamined assumption, even when the search ends in uncertainty or death.
The Yellow Streak
Valentine Williams
A sudden death in an English country house uncovers a tangled web of deceit, blackmail, and international conspiracy.
Within the Rim, and Other Essays, 1914-15
Henry James
Across the narrow stretch of blue water, an old empire's tranquil summer breaks against the sudden, monstrous shock of continental war.
Wolf Breed
Jackson Gregory
A stubborn prospector finds fortune in the northern wilderness, only to risk his life, his sanity, and his soul chasing the woman who played him for a fool.
Yorktown and the Siege of 1781
Hatch, Charles E., Jr.
Entrenched along the York River, a weary imperial army faces an encircling coalition of land and naval forces in the quiet tidewater backwater that will ultimately decide the fate of a fledgling American republic.
A Book of Nimble Beasts: Bunny Rabbit, Squirrel, Toad, and "Those Sort of People"
Douglas English
A quiet walk through English fields and hedgerows reveals a hidden, bustling world of miniature predators, patient architects, and nimble escape artists.
A drunk man looks at the thistle
Hugh MacDiarmid
A drunk man lies out on a cold Scottish hillside at night, fixated on a jagged thistle under the moon as his mind lurching through alcohol, memory, and metaphysics.
A History of Mourning
Richard Davey
An exploration of how human societies mark the passage of life into death reveals how deeply our deepest griefs are bound to fashion, ritual, and civic order.
A Mediaeval Mystic: A Short Account of the Life and Writings of Blessed John Ruysbroeck, Canon Regular of Groenendael A.D. 1293-1381
Vincent Scully
To enter the world of fourteenth-century Brabant is to step into a landscape of forested solitude, where intense spiritual longing meets the quiet rigor of monastic devotion.
A Nest of Linnets
Frank Frankfort Moore
Love, artistic pride, and social scandal collide in Georgian Bath.
A Review of the Middle American Tree Frogs of the Genus Ptychohyla
William Edward Duellman
Deep within the cloud forests of Central America, isolated tree frog populations adapted to the torrential currents of mountain streams by evolving specialized mouthparts and distinct calls.
A Russian Gentleman
S. T. (Sergei Timofeevich) Aksakov
In the vast, untamed steppes of eighteenth-century Russia, a fierce patriarch builds an empire out of wilderness while his family navigates the raw currents of love, power, and survival.
A Simple Explanation of Modern Banking Customs
Humphrey Robinson
A clear, practical guide to how financial institutions function and why depositors benefit when they understand the mechanics behind daily transactions.
A Twofold Life
Wilhelmine von Hillern
A young nobleman's divided nature tears his soul between worldly ambition and spiritual devotion until the steadfast love of an extraordinary woman shows him how to heal his split life.
A Vindication of England's Policy with Regard to the Opium Trade
Charles Reginald Haines
A mid-Victorian defense of the British opium trade, arguing that the commerce was economically vital, medically justified, and falsely maligned by misinformed reformers.
Abraham Lincoln's Cardinal Traits;: A Study in Ethics, with an Epilogue Addressed to Theologians
Clark S. (Clark Smith) Beardslee
A soul forged in penury and tested by civil war reveals how absolute moral integrity can unite a nation and clarify the nature of God.
Adam & Eve & Pinch Me
A. E. (Alfred Edgar) Coppard
A woman sits by a windy wood, a wanderer roams the Cotswolds in search of a dry hedge, and a ghost watches his own children play in a sunlit garden.
American Lutheranism vindicated
S. S. (Samuel Simon) Schmucker
A nineteenth-century American theologian defends his modified Protestant creed, arguing that a church must prune historic human error to remain faithful to the living word of Scripture.
An awfully big adventure
Bartimeus
The quiet courage of those who endure the sea’s perils often remains hidden, obscured by the rigid protocols of service and the crushing weight of duty. These accounts peel back the veil, revealing the humanity behind the uniform.
An Outline of English Speech-craft
William Barnes
A bold, native replacement for Latinized English grammar, built on the principle that a language is clearest when spoken in its own true voice.
Balloons
Elizabeth Bibesco
A vibrant collection of social vignettes exposes the hidden fractures, quiet ironies, and fleeting moments of self-discovery within high-society relationships.
Blown to Bits: The Lonely Man of Rakata, the Malay Archipelago
R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
An island hermit, a mysterious orphan, and a ferocious pirate collide beneath the shadow of Krakatoa just as history’s greatest volcanic explosion shatters the Sunda Straits.
Broken Butterflies
Henry W. (Henry Walsworth) Kinney
In early 1920s Tokyo, a returning American journalist discovers that Western progress comes at a devastating human cost to Japan's women.
By Blow and Kiss: The Love Story of a Man with a Bad Name.: (Published serially under the title Unstable as Water)
Boyd Cable
An Australian drover accused of murder flees into the bush, leaving behind the woman who loves him until a dying woman’s confession clears his name.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 438: Volume 17, New Series, May 22, 1852
Various
Across its tightly packed columns, this mid-nineteenth-century issue transforms everyday observation, personal history, and botanical science into an invitation to examine human nature.
Comparative Ecology of Pinyon Mice and Deer Mice in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Charles L. Douglas
Two closely related species of mice share the high, dry mesas of southwestern Colorado, relying on distinct behavioral and physiological survival strategies.
Complete Project Gutenberg William Dean Howells Literature Essays
William Dean Howells
A young writer journeys from the Western frontier to New England's literary heartland, meeting the legends who shape American letters.
Copper Work: A Text Book for Teachers and Students in the Manual Arts
Augustus F. (Augustus Foster) Rose
A student's hand drives a punch into a cool sheet of copper, hammering simple geometry into form.
Creating Capital: Money-making as an aim in business
Frederick L. (Frederic Lockwood) Lipman
A thoughtful examination of wealth creation reveals that saving a surplus is not a selfish pursuit, but a foundational moral duty to society and oneself.
Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Thibet
W. H. (William Henry) Knight
An officer’s crisp travel diary traces a summer’s trek through high Himalayan passes, detailing the rugged landscapes and isolated villages between the plains of India and the remote monasteries of Tibet.
Drawings of Old London
Philip Norman
Gable roofs tilt against London skies, and timbered galleries look down onto empty yards where stagecoaches once pulled in. These urban scenes preserve the quiet domestic corners of a metropolis slowly replacing its timbered past with brick, stone, and iron.
Dreams and delights
L. Adams (Lily Adams) Beck
Through stories set in mountain fastnesses, island sanctuaries, and shadowy imperial courts, the human soul seeks a single timeless truth—that earthly love and divine devotion are one and the same.
Dreamy Hollow
Sumner Charles Britton
A secluded Long Island mansion, a dead woman's voice calling across the dark, and a disgraced manager driven mad by greed converge in a melodrama of obsession, spiritualism, and justice.
Droll Stories
Honoré de Balzac
In sixteen-century France, a chorus of storytellers gathers over brimming goblets to trade indecent histories of lusty kings, rogue soldiers, and sly maidens, proving that human folly never changes.
Earth's Enigmas: A Volume of Stories
Roberts, Charles G. D., Sir
Deep within the wild Canadian wilderness, human ambition and raw nature clash in a series of haunting, sharply etched spectral tales.
Encyclopedia of Diet: A Treatise on the Food Question, Vol. 2
Eugene Christian
A pragmatic, early-twentieth-century guide to human nutrition argues that most common physical ailments are not random afflictions to be suppressed with pharmaceutical poisons, but direct consequences of improper fuel entering the digestive apparatus.
English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day
Walter W. (Walter William) Skeat
Centuries of shifting speech reveal how ancient regional tongues fractured, fused, and survived to shape modern English.
Essays in Natural History and Agriculture
Thomas Garnett
Observation, meticulous measurement, and a deep love for the local countryside converge to show how practical inquiry can transform our understanding of the natural world.
Every Man for Himself
Norman Duncan
Hard along the gale-swept rocks of Newfoundland, men haul their living from the gray sea, clinging to a stubborn, battered faith in each other and the unknown.
Faces and Places
Lucy, Henry W. (Henry William), Sir
A seasoned London journalist crisscrosses Victorian Britain and the Continent, bringing a keen reporter’s eye and dry wit to balloon launches, parliamentary debates, mountain refuges, and evangelical revivals.
Feminism and Sex-Extinction
Arabella Kenealy
A fierce anti-feminist tract from 1920 argues that women competing with men threatens biological evolution and risks driving the human species toward extinction.
Florence on a Certain Night, and Other Poems
Coningsby Dawson
A restless soul wanders through ghost-haunted Florentine streets and quiet starlit heavens, seeking a permanent beauty to anchor the fleeting rush of youth.
Four American naval heroes : Paul Jones, Oliver H. Perry, Admiral Farragut, Admiral Dewey
Mabel Borton Beebe
A lineage of maritime duty connects the founding of the republic to its rise as a global power, forged through shipboard discipline, tactical daring, and quiet sacrifice.
Frank Merriwell's Endurance
Burt L. Standish
High ideals meet relentless athleticism in a classic tale of clean living, competitive spirit, and unbeatable grit.
Futuria Fantasia, Summer 1939
Ray Bradbury
A passionate teenager gathers his friends, preaches economic revolution, and imagines the total collapse of civilization—all on a ten-cent mimeograph machine.
German Atrocities from German Evidence
Joseph Bédier
A chilling archival indictment of war, built entirely from the captured diaries, unit orders, and letters of the very soldiers committing the acts.
Granny's Wonderful Chair
Frances Browne
A poor girl, a prince lost in a velvet cushion, and a magical traveling seat transform a dreary court through the sheer power of storytelling.
Health Through Will Power
James J. (James Joseph) Walsh
A disciplined Mind can command an ailing body, transforming physical frailty into vital energy through deliberate practice and focused action.