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34,093 public-domain books, summarised. Page 492 of 711.

Cover of Notes By the Way in a Sailor's Life

Notes By the Way in a Sailor's Life

Arthur E. Knights

A life spent upon the high seas offers a unique vantage point on the world, characterized by both profound isolation and remarkable human connection. These recollections capture the quiet dignity and enduring resilience of a career navigating the vanishing age of sail.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Observations of an Illinois Boy in Battle, Camp and Prisons—1861 to 1865

Observations of an Illinois Boy in Battle, Camp and Prisons—1861 to 1865

Henry Harrison Eby

A raw, firsthand account of a young cavalryman’s journey from the mud-slicked skirmishes of the Western theater to the harrowing, dehumanizing depths of Confederate prison camps.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Pamela Censured

Pamela Censured

Anonymous

A biting critique of moral hypocrisy, this polemic exposes the dangerous gap between a story's virtuous pretense and the erotic thrills it secretly provides its audience. It serves as a rigorous investigation into how literature shapes the desires of the vulnerable.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Peccavi

Peccavi

E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung

A disgraced clergyman attempts to rebuild his ruined reputation—and his burned-down church—with his own hands, navigating the cold hostility of an unforgiving English village.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Peerless prestidigitation

Peerless prestidigitation

Herbert De Caston

The secret to a successful deception lies not in supernatural power, but in the precise, practiced synchronization of hand and eye. This guide demystifies the art of the stage illusion for the aspiring performer.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of Pixies' Plot

Pixies' Plot

Eden Phillpotts

A collection of lyrical meditations on the English countryside, this work blends folklore and observation to capture the quiet, mystical spirit of the natural world.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of Practical forging and art smithing

Practical forging and art smithing

Thomas F. (Thomas Francis) Googerty

This manual serves as a masterclass in the disciplined art of the forge, teaching the student how to coax beauty and utility from cold, unyielding iron.

Art6 min read
Cover of Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, August 15, 1891

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, August 15, 1891

Various

This volume captures the restless, satirical spirit of Victorian London, blending sharp political commentary with the frantic, witty absurdity of a magazine at the height of its cultural influence.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, May 7, 1919

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, May 7, 1919

Various

This snapshot of London in the spring of 1919 captures the jittery, satirical spirit of a society freshly emerged from the Great War, finding relief in absurdity and biting wit.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Red Caps and Lilies

Red Caps and Lilies

Katharine Adams

During the terror of the French Revolution, a group of children and their loyal protectors navigate a perilous escape from Paris to secure their family’s future.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of Ringfield: A Novel

Ringfield: A Novel

S. Frances (Susie Frances) Harrison

The struggle between human desire and the demands of faith creates an atmospheric, unsettling drama set against the backdrop of a remote Canadian parish.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Romantic Ireland

Romantic Ireland

M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield

The traveler who seeks the soul of Ireland will find it here, amidst ancient ruins, mist-shrouded lakes, and the lingering echoes of a storied past.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of Shibusawa

Shibusawa

I. William Adams

A young man navigates the seismic shifts of late-feudal Japan, reconciling his personal quest for love with the larger, violent destiny of a nation at a crossroads. This tale captures a pivotal moment of cultural and political transformation.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of State of the Union Addresses

State of the Union Addresses

Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines) Johnson

These annual reports to Congress trace the evolution of a nation navigating domestic transformation and the mounting pressures of an overseas conflict. They serve as a primary record of a presidency defined by both ambitious social reform and the deepening shadows of the Vietnam War.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Superior fishing

Superior fishing

Robert Barnwell Roosevelt

This guide captures the spirit of mid-nineteenth-century wilderness angling, blending practical instruction with the narrative of a summer expedition to the remote shores of Lake Superior. It serves as both a manual for the dedicated sportsman and a travelogue of a bygone American frontier.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The American Missionary

The American Missionary

Various

The American Missionary is a monthly periodical that served as the primary organ for the American Missionary Association during the late nineteenth century. It documents the expansive, often grueling efforts of missionaries and educators working in the post-Civil War American South, as well as missions in the West…

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Antiquary

The Antiquary

Walter Scott

A grumpy, learned antiquarian finds his quiet life upended when a mysterious young man, a failing baronet, and a wandering beggar pull him into a drama of hidden identities and lost family legacies.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of The Automobile Girls at Chicago

The Automobile Girls at Chicago

Laura Dent Crane

Three courageous young women embark on a whirlwind Chicago adventure, where a train wreck leads them into a web of financial intrigue and the search for a long-lost family treasure.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Battle of Spring Hill, Tennessee: read after the stated meeting held February 2d, 1907

The Battle of Spring Hill, Tennessee: read after the stated meeting held February 2d, 1907

John K. Shellenberger

This military account dissects a critical moment in the American Civil War, analyzing the strategic failures and narrow escapes that defined the Battle of Spring Hill. It serves as a stark examination of command breakdown and the chaotic reality of mid-19th-century maneuvering.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Bears of Blue River

The Bears of Blue River

Charles Major

An Indiana pioneer boy navigates the perils of the dense wilderness, balancing his survival against the constant, terrifying presence of the black bear. These accounts offer a vivid, breathless chronicle of coming-of-age in a landscape where nature is both provider and predator.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Blind Brother: A Story of the Pennsylvania Coal Mines

The Blind Brother: A Story of the Pennsylvania Coal Mines

Homer Greene

A story of brotherhood, labor, and moral crisis in the Pennsylvania coal mines, where a young miner must choose between a bribe to protect a criminal and his own integrity.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The brother clerks

The brother clerks

Mary Ashley Townsend

The arrival of two brothers in the bustling port of New Orleans sets them on diverging paths, testing the strength of their bond against the city’s temptations and their own internal struggles.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine (December 1912): Vol. LXXXV: New Series Vol. LXIII, November 1912 to April 1913

The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine (December 1912): Vol. LXXXV: New Series Vol. LXIII, November 1912 to April 1913

Unknown

This December 1912 issue captures the pulse of an era, balancing the high-minded literary ambitions of early twentieth-century culture with the urgent, mechanical progress of a rapidly changing world.

Journals6 min read
Cover of The Cinder Pond

The Cinder Pond

Carroll Watson Rankin

A scrappy girl living in a derelict corner of the Michigan wilderness pursues her dream of refinement and family stability, navigating the rigid social boundaries between the "Cinder Pond" and the world of high society.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Constitutional Development of Japan 1853-1881: Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, Ninth Series

The Constitutional Development of Japan 1853-1881: Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, Ninth Series

T. (Toyokichi) Iyenaga

The arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853 acted as a catalyst, transforming Japan from a secluded, feudal society into a modern constitutional state in under three decades.

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of The Crime Against Europe: A Possible Outcome of the War of 1914

The Crime Against Europe: A Possible Outcome of the War of 1914

Roger Casement

This polemic argues that the British Empire is a global tyranny maintained by the subjugation of Ireland, and that Irish liberation is the essential catalyst for a balanced European peace.

History - European6 min read
Cover of The de Bercy Affair

The de Bercy Affair

Louis Tracy

A high-stakes murder mystery unfolds in London, where an innocent man is framed for a brutal killing while a grieving detective seeks justice in the shadows.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of The Eddy: A Novel of To-day

The Eddy: A Novel of To-day

Clarence Louis Cullen

A young woman returns from school to the fractured, glamour-starved world of her divorced mother, only to find that the social elite of New York cannot protect her from the consequences of a life built on compromise.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Evolution of Man

The Evolution of Man

Ernst Haeckel

An anatomical investigation into the origins of the human frame, this work traces the biological history of our species by examining the earliest stages of embryonic development across the animal kingdom.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of The Flockmaster of Poison Creek

The Flockmaster of Poison Creek

George W. (George Washington) Ogden

John Mackenzie, an intellectually stifled schoolmaster, trades his books for a life of isolation as a sheepherder in the harsh, high-desert sheep country of the American West. Driven by a calculated ambition to escape poverty and become a flockmaster, he finds himself caught in a brutal cycle of territorial…

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Friendly Club and Other Portraits

The Friendly Club and Other Portraits

Francis Parsons

A collection of quiet, observant sketches that breathes life into the forgotten figures of early Connecticut history. These portraits capture the fading echoes of a literary and social world that once defined the American spirit.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The Golden Grasshopper: A story of the days of Sir Thomas Gresham

The Golden Grasshopper: A story of the days of Sir Thomas Gresham

William Henry Giles Kingston

A young Dutch refugee discovers the cost of faith and the weight of history while serving a legendary English merchant during the turbulent rise of the Protestant cause.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Guns of Bull Run: A Story of the Civil War's Eve

The Guns of Bull Run: A Story of the Civil War's Eve

Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

A young man steps from the comfortable certainty of his Kentucky home into the fire of a nation shattering against itself. He finds his loyalties tested as the gathering storm of the American Civil War pulls him toward the first great collision at Bull Run.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The harp-weaver, and other poems

The harp-weaver, and other poems

Edna St. Vincent Millay

These poems capture the ache of transient love and the stubborn persistence of the human spirit, weaving together the sharp sting of loss with a profound, clear-eyed appreciation for the beauty that remains.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Knights of Arthur

The Knights of Arthur

Frederik Pohl

In a desolate, post-nuclear world, a small band of survivors stakes their future on a brilliant, disembodied intelligence trapped in a suitcase and a grand, stolen ship.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Labour-saving House

The Labour-saving House

Peel, C. S., Mrs.

The greatest labour-saving apparatus in the home is not a machine, but the human brain; once that is applied to domestic management, the drudgery of the Edwardian household becomes a relic of the past.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of The Mayflower, January, 1905

The Mayflower, January, 1905

Various

The arrival of a new year brought with it the promise of bloom, as gardeners across the country turned to this monthly chronicle for guidance in preparing their soil and selecting their seeds.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 324, July 26, 1828

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 324, July 26, 1828

Various

A weekly miscellany of nineteenth-century life, this collection serves as a vibrant, kaleidoscopic record of the era’s intellectual curiosities, ranging from engineering feats to the melancholic habits of the working poor. It captures the restless, observational spirit of a public increasingly hungry for both…

Architecture6 min read
Cover of The Nibelungs

The Nibelungs

Ferdinand Schmidt

An ancient epic of betrayal, gold, and blood, this narrative traces the rise and ruin of the Nibelungs, a royal race caught in a cycle of vengeance that spares no one.

German Literature6 min read
Cover of The Origin, Tendencies and Principles of Government: A review of the rise and fall of nations from early historic time to the present

The Origin, Tendencies and Principles of Government: A review of the rise and fall of nations from early historic time to the present

Victoria C. (Victoria Claflin) Woodhull

A bold vision for the future of the United States, this work challenges the corruption of nineteenth-century politics by demanding radical equality and the inclusion of women in the highest offices of government.

Gender & Sexuality Studies6 min read
Cover of The Ornithosauria: An elementary study of the bones of Pterodactyles made from fossil remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge

The Ornithosauria: An elementary study of the bones of Pterodactyles made from fossil remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge

H. G. (Harry Govier) Seeley

This is a foundational scientific monograph that transforms scattered, fragmentary fossils into a coherent study of the enigmatic pterodactyle, bridge-building between the Victorian era’s growing understanding of ancient life and the rigid taxonomy of its time.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of The Outdoor Chums in the Big Woods

The Outdoor Chums in the Big Woods

Quincy Allen

Four adventurous teenagers trade the city for the Maine wilderness, where they navigate freezing blizzards, track majestic wildlife, and outwit a dangerous bully in a test of character and survival.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Pilots of Pomona: A Story of the Orkney Islands

The Pilots of Pomona: A Story of the Orkney Islands

Robert Leighton

A young man growing up in the rugged Orkney Islands discovers a dark connection between his own father’s mysterious death and the illicit activities of a local family.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Present State of Hayti (Saint Domingo) with Remarks on its Agriculture, Commerce, Laws, Religion, Finances, and Population

The Present State of Hayti (Saint Domingo) with Remarks on its Agriculture, Commerce, Laws, Religion, Finances, and Population

James (Merchant) Franklin

This work serves as a detailed contemporary account of Haiti’s post-revolutionary transition, examining how a former colonial jewel struggled to establish economic stability and governance in the early nineteenth century. It provides an unfiltered, critical perspective on the complex challenges faced by the young…

History - Modern (1750+)6 min read
Cover of The Red Cross Barge

The Red Cross Barge

Marie Belloc Lowndes

This story of a German surgeon trapped in a French town during the opening weeks of the Great War explores the fragile, often impossible, intersection of professional duty and national loyalty. It is a quiet, somber meditation on the dehumanizing nature of conflict.

Historical Novels5 min read
Cover of The Red Dust

The Red Dust

Murray Leinster

This is a tale of survival in a future where humanity has been reduced to a primitive, scattered remnant, cowering in the shadows of a world now dominated by titanic insects and monstrous, ever-expanding fungi. It explores how a small group of people, under the leadership of a resourceful man named Burl, attempts…

Novels7 min read
Cover of The Roof of France

The Roof of France

Matilda Betham-Edwards

This travelogue traverses the rugged, forgotten limestone plateaus of Southern France, capturing a vanishing world of limestone canyons, ancient agrarian traditions, and the sublime, solitary beauty of the "Roof of France.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Slanderer: 1901

The Slanderer: 1901

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

A man’s desperate attempt to quash a minor, accidental rumor backfires spectacularly, proving that the cure for gossip is often far worse than the disease.

Russian Literature6 min read
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