myebooksbuy
My Books

The whole shelf

All free summaries — page 496

47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 496 of 988.

Cover of Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, July 17, 1841

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, July 17, 1841

Various

This inaugural collection captures the irreverent spirit of a nascent journalistic institution, blending sharp political satire with the absurdities of Victorian life. It serves as a biting manifesto for wit over conventional authority.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Raeburn

Raeburn

Caw, J. L. (James Lewis), Sir

HOOK This exploration of a master portraitist reveals how a self-taught talent bypassed the trends of his era to capture the essential spirit of Scotland’s most celebrated figures.

Art6 min read
Cover of Raphael

Raphael

Alphonse de Lamartine

The brief, transcendent connection between a doomed young woman and a poet reveals the agonizing beauty of a love that can exist only in the shadow of death. This intense, autobiographical narrative captures the ephemeral nature of human happiness.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of Reflections of a Bachelor Girl

Reflections of a Bachelor Girl

Helen Rowland

The path to a man’s heart is a winding, treacherous road; fortunately, the guide to navigating it is as sharp as a tailor’s needle. This collection of cynical, witty observations serves as a satirical manual for surviving the skirmishes of courtship and the long, wearying stalemate of marriage.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Report on the Condition of the South

Report on the Condition of the South

Carl Schurz

This official government report captures the volatile, uncertain moment when the American South grappled with the immediate aftermath of the Civil War and the collapse of slavery. It serves as a primary, unvarnished window into the profound social and political friction of early Reconstruction.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Rockhaven

Rockhaven

Charles Clark Munn

A young man is sent to a remote island to manage a quarry, only to discover that his employer’s business is a calculated swindle designed to defraud the innocent.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Schools, School-Books and Schoolmasters: A Contribution to the History of Educational Development in Great Britain

Schools, School-Books and Schoolmasters: A Contribution to the History of Educational Development in Great Britain

William Carew Hazlitt

This history traces the evolution of British education by examining the rise and fall of the textbooks and pedagogical methods that shaped centuries of scholars. It serves as a meticulous chronicle of how instruction moved from monastic control toward a broader, albeit often haphazard, national system.

History - British7 min read
Cover of Secret Mission to Alaska: Sandy Steele Adventures #5

Secret Mission to Alaska: Sandy Steele Adventures #5

Robert Leckie

Two boys trade the comforts of home for a frozen wilderness, only to find themselves ensnared in a high-stakes conspiracy that tests their grit against nature and ruthless human enemies.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of Seed Dispersal

Seed Dispersal

W. J. (William James) Beal

Nature’s methods for populating the earth are as ingenious as they are varied, relying on wind, water, animals, and even the plants themselves to secure new ground. Through patient observation, the vast, hidden mechanisms of botanical migration are laid bare.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of Sense from Thought Divide

Sense from Thought Divide

Mark Clifton

A personnel director at a research firm attempts to bridge the gap between hard-nosed science and the unexplainable phenomena of the human mind. He must solve the mystery of "poltergeist" effects to unlock the potential of new technology.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite

Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite

Anthony Trollope

A proud father’s desperate attempt to shield his daughter from a manipulative suitor leads to a heartbreaking tragedy that shatters a long-standing family legacy.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Six Girls and Bob: A Story of Patty-Pans and Green Fields

Six Girls and Bob: A Story of Patty-Pans and Green Fields

Marion Ames Taggart

A spirited family of sisters moves from a cramped city flat to a country farmhouse, discovering that true home-making relies on resilience, humor, and the unexpected kindness of neighbors.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Some do not...: A novel

Some do not...: A novel

Ford Madox Ford

The old order of Edwardian certainty is crumbling, and for a man of principle, survival requires navigating a landscape of shifting loyalties, social sabotage, and the inexorable approach of war. Amidst this upheaval, a lonely, brilliant official must choose between the stifling conventions of his class and the…

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Somewhere in France

Somewhere in France

Richard Harding Davis

A collection of tales defined by the shadow of the Great War, these stories capture the desperate intrigue, sudden transformations, and moral ambiguities of a world caught in the act of tearing itself apart.

Crime, Thrillers and Mystery6 min read
Cover of Spiritual Life and the Word of God

Spiritual Life and the Word of God

Emanuel Swedenborg

Spiritual growth is not a matter of intellectual assent, but a disciplined, daily effort to reject evil as a sin against the Divine.

Philosophy & Ethics7 min read
Cover of The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 34, August, 1860: A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 34, August, 1860: A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics

Various

This collection serves as a vibrant, multifaceted snapshot of the intellectual landscape on the eve of the American Civil War, blending literary criticism, scientific inquiry, and historical narrative.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 71, September, 1863: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 71, September, 1863: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics

Various

This collection captures the urgent pulse of the American Civil War era, weaving together reports from the front, literary biography, and the deep, abiding anxieties of a nation in transition.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Ayrshire Legatees

The Ayrshire Legatees

John Galt

The discovery of a surprise inheritance draws a quiet Scottish family into the bewildering heart of London, where provincial innocence meets metropolitan sophistication. This charming epistolary novel captures the intersection of personal ambition and traditional faith.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Bee-Master of Warrilow

The Bee-Master of Warrilow

Tickner Edwardes

The life of the honey-bee is a complex, tireless dance of labor, and this work serves as both a practical guide and a lyrical meditation on the ancient bond between the insect and the human bee-master. Through a series of reflective essays, the author bridges the gap between the rustic traditions of the past and…

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Carleton Case

The Carleton Case

Ellery H. (Ellery Harding) Clark

A disgraced man fights to reclaim his name in a city of secrets, where the heavy weight of family reputation clashes with the stark, often cruel, reality of personal redemption.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Celtic Magazine, Vol. I No. V: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Literature, History, Antiquities, Folk Lore, Traditions, and the Social and Material Interests of the Celt at Home and Abroad

The Celtic Magazine, Vol. I No. V: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Literature, History, Antiquities, Folk Lore, Traditions, and the Social and Material Interests of the Celt at Home and Abroad

Various

This collection serves as a preservation of Highland heritage, blending historical tragedy, folklore, and the social evolution of the Scottish Gael. It acts as an archival bridge between a vanishing past and the modern world.

History - British6 min read
Cover of The Circassian Slave, or, the Sultan's favorite

The Circassian Slave, or, the Sultan's favorite

Maturin M. (Maturin Murray) Ballou

A young Circassian girl, sold into the Sultan’s harem, finds her path to freedom through the unlikely survival of the childhood sweetheart she believed to be dead.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of The Comic English Grammar: A New and Facetious Introduction to the English Tongue

The Comic English Grammar: A New and Facetious Introduction to the English Tongue

Percival Leigh

This guide to the English language turns the dry, formal structure of traditional grammar into a playground for satire, using the very rules it explains to mock the pompous, the illogical, and the absurd.

How To ...7 min read
Cover of The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No 3, September, 1862: Devoted to Literature and National Policy

The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No 3, September, 1862: Devoted to Literature and National Policy

Various

The September 1862 issue of The Continental Monthly serves as a vibrant, urgent time capsule from the height of the American Civil War. It captures a nation in the throes of a profound moral and political identity crisis.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Early Irish Monastic Schools: A study of Ireland's contribution to early medieval culture

The Early Irish Monastic Schools: A study of Ireland's contribution to early medieval culture

Hugh Graham

The early Irish monastic schools represent a lost, golden thread of continuity, bridging the intellectual divide between the collapse of the Roman Empire and the eventual rise of the medieval university. These institutions served as the primary guardians and disseminators of European literacy for several crucial…

History - Medieval/Middle Ages6 min read
Cover of The Emerald Story Book: Stories and legends of spring, nature and Easter

The Emerald Story Book: Stories and legends of spring, nature and Easter

Unknown

The miracle of spring serves as a perennial invitation to witness the world awakening from its quiet slumber. Through these pages, the cycle of nature becomes a profound lesson in hope, renewal, and the enduring spirit of life.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of The Flying Girl and Her Chum

The Flying Girl and Her Chum

L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

The horizon holds no limits for a young woman who masters the clouds, but when her sky-bound ambitions crash into the sea, she discovers that survival requires more grit than flight.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The ghosts of their ancestors

The ghosts of their ancestors

Weymer Jay Mills

A young woman’s forbidden romance with a lowly organist triggers a haunting, as the long-dead, status-obsessed Knickerbocker ancestors return to dismantle their descendants’ hollow pride.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The golden west boys, Injun and Whitey to the rescue

The golden west boys, Injun and Whitey to the rescue

William S. (William Surrey) Hart

This is a spirited adventure set in the rugged Montana frontier, capturing the camaraderie and peril of a vanished American West. It follows two inseparable teenage boys—one white, one Native American—as they navigate the dangers of a cattle-ranching life, from hunting down train robbers to surviving a range war.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Good Gray Poet, A Vindication

The Good Gray Poet, A Vindication

William Douglas O'Connor

A passionate defense of a poet’s character and right to free expression, written in the wake of his dismissal from a government clerkship for his controversial writings.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Heart of the Wild: Nature Studies from Near and Far

The Heart of the Wild: Nature Studies from Near and Far

S. L. (Samuel Levy) Bensusan

These accounts of birds and beasts navigate the thin, often violent border between the natural world and the intrusions of humanity.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The Heavenly Footman

The Heavenly Footman

John Bunyan

The urgency of eternal life is the central theme here, framed as a grueling race where the only options are to win the prize or forfeit one’s soul forever.

Religion/Spirituality7 min read
Cover of The Italians: A Novel

The Italians: A Novel

Frances Minto Dickinson Elliot

The bells of Lucca ring for a miracle, but in the shadow of the cathedral, the real drama involves the desperate marriages and debts of the old aristocracy. A young man caught between his own desires and the machinations of others must navigate a web of secrets to secure his future.

Historical Novels7 min read
Cover of The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 1, July 1837

The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 1, July 1837

Various

The July 1837 issue of The Knickerbocker serves as a vibrant time capsule, capturing the literary anxieties, intellectual curiosities, and aesthetic preoccupations of a nation still defining its cultural identity.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The life of a celebrated buccaneer

The life of a celebrated buccaneer

Richard Clynton

A satirical allegory, this work depicts a legendary pirate who transitions from plundering the high seas to presiding over a stagnant, bureaucratic empire built on the pretense of respectability.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Little Ball O' Fire

The Little Ball O' Fire

G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

A young adventurer navigates the shifting allegiances and perilous intrigue of seventeenth-century France, finding that the path to true love is as treacherous as the battlefield itself.

Adventure8 min read
Cover of The Missing Bride

The Missing Bride

Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth

A long-lost bride returns, but the shadow of a brutal crime haunts the reunion. A web of secrets and shifting identities binds the innocent to the guilty, until a final, shattering truth is brought to light.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Poet Assassinated

The Poet Assassinated

Guillaume Apollinaire

A surrealist odyssey of a poet’s rise and agonizing demise, this narrative blurs the line between autobiography and myth to confront the volatile relationship between the artist and a hostile, modern world.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Real Man

The Real Man

Francis Lynde

A bank clerk escapes a corporate conspiracy to reinvent himself in the rugged West, only to find that his true battle lies in overcoming his own long-dormant, untamed nature.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Relations of Science and Religion: The Morse Lecture, 1880

The Relations of Science and Religion: The Morse Lecture, 1880

Henry Calderwood

Tensions between empirical inquiry and theological belief are often more noise than substance, suggesting that the two fields, when properly demarcated, are not adversaries but complementary paths toward understanding the unity of existence.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of The Roman Poets of the Republic, 3rd edition

The Roman Poets of the Republic, 3rd edition

W. Y. (William Young) Sellar

The Roman Republic’s greatest poets, from the rugged early dramatists to the refined voices of its final years, emerge here as architects of a national spirit defined by gravity, moral authority, and an unyielding sense of majesty.

Classics of Literature7 min read
Cover of The Spaniards in Florida: Comprising the Notable Settlement of the Huguenots in 1564, and the History and Antiquities of St. Augustine, Founded A.D. 1565

The Spaniards in Florida: Comprising the Notable Settlement of the Huguenots in 1564, and the History and Antiquities of St. Augustine, Founded A.D. 1565

George R. (George Rainsford) Fairbanks

HOOK This historical account chronicles the brutal birth of the oldest European settlement in the United States, charting its transformation from a contested colonial outpost into a uniquely enduring piece of the American landscape.

History - American7 min read
Cover of The Story Without an End

The Story Without an End

Friedrich Wilhelm Carové

A child wanders through a landscape of talking flowers and sunlight, seeking the infinite secrets of the natural world. This ethereal journey invites readers to view creation through a lens of pure, attentive wonder.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Sylph, Volume I and II

The Sylph, Volume I and II

Cavendish, Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire

A young woman is whisked from her quiet Welsh home into the corrupt, hedonistic vortex of London society by a husband whose true, predatory nature is masked by the polished manners of a man of fashion.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Valley of Silent Men: A Story of the Three River Country

The Valley of Silent Men: A Story of the Three River Country

James Oliver Curwood

HOOK In the vast, untamed reaches of the Athabasca, a man condemned by his own false confession finds salvation and danger in the arms of a mysterious woman.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Young Collector's Handbook of Ants, Bees, Dragon-flies, Earwigs, Crickets, and Flies: (Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera)

The Young Collector's Handbook of Ants, Bees, Dragon-flies, Earwigs, Crickets, and Flies: (Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera)

W. Harcourt (William Harcourt) Bath

This guide offers an earnest introduction to the diverse world of entomology, equipping young naturalists with the technical vocabulary and classification skills necessary to begin a meaningful collection of insects.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of Thoughts on the Christian Religion, by a Deist: To Which Are Added, a Few Ideas on Miraculous Conversion, and Religion in General, by a Theophilanthropist

Thoughts on the Christian Religion, by a Deist: To Which Are Added, a Few Ideas on Miraculous Conversion, and Religion in General, by a Theophilanthropist

Anonymous

Rational inquiry serves as the primary instrument for dissecting long-held religious traditions, challenging the necessity of supernatural revelation in an age increasingly defined by the steady, unclouded light of human reason.

Philosophy & Ethics5 min read
Cover of Two Years in Oregon

Two Years in Oregon

Wallis Nash

This observant account captures the rugged transition of the Pacific Northwest in the late 1870s, offering a clear-eyed portrait of a frontier state finding its footing between wilderness and modern commerce.

History - American6 min read