myebooksbuy
My Books

The whole shelf

All free summaries — page 503

32,123 public-domain books, summarised. Page 503 of 670.

Cover of The Light of the Star: A Novel

The Light of the Star: A Novel

Hamlin Garland

Behind the electric signboards of Broadway, a fiery young playwright and a brilliant stage star clash over art, compromise, and commercial success, discovering that their fiercest professional battles mirror a dangerous, irreversible attraction.

American Literature5 min read
Cover of The Lives of Celebrated Travellers, Vol. 2 (of 3)

The Lives of Celebrated Travellers, Vol. 2 (of 3)

James Augustus St. John

Across deserts, mountain peaks, and storm-tossed seas, early European explorers charted the contours of a rapidly expanding world while testing the absolute limits of human endurance.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of The Lord of Misrule, and Other Poems

The Lord of Misrule, and Other Poems

Alfred Noyes

A choir of English voices—may-dancers, doomed lovers, navy gunners, and ghostly highwaymen—cries out against a world rapidly sliding into war.

Poetry6 min read
Cover of The Missionary

The Missionary

George Chetwynd Griffith

A childhood scuffle on the deck of a homeward-bound ocean liner casts a long shadow across three families, hardening over the decades into secret parentage, social ruin, and a desperate test of faith.

Novels6 min read
Cover of The Peacock 'At Home:': A Sequel to the Butterfly's Ball

The Peacock 'At Home:': A Sequel to the Butterfly's Ball

Catherine Ann Turner Dorset

When the insect kingdom's lively festivities spark jealousy among the feathered tribes, an aristocratic peacock hosts a grand party to reassert avian superiority.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Princess Aline

The Princess Aline

Richard Harding Davis

A dashing young American painter chases an ideal across Europe, only to find that the real thing was standing beside him all along.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Princess Nobody: A Tale of Fairyland

The Princess Nobody: A Tale of Fairyland

Andrew Lang

A king gives away his unborn child for a baby's laugh, leading a humble prince across enchanted lands to rescue a lost princess.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Religious Tract Society Catalogue - 1889

The Religious Tract Society Catalogue - 1889

Religious Tract Society (Great Britain)

A single publisher's nineteenth-century catalogue reveals the full scope of Victorian moral instruction, domestic entertainment, and imperial ambition bound in gilt edges and cheap paper.

Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference5 min read
Cover of The Return of Peter Grimm

The Return of Peter Grimm

David Belasco

Bound by a well-meaning promise to a dying patriarch, a young woman faces a loveless marriage until an extraordinary spirit returns to undo his earthly mistakes.

Plays/Films/Dramas6 min read
Cover of The Scientific Evidences of Organic Evolution

The Scientific Evidences of Organic Evolution

George John Romanes

A clear, rigorous overview of evolutionary theory demonstrates how disparate biological facts converge on a single natural law.

Science - Biology6 min read
Cover of The Sea Bride

The Sea Bride

Ben Ames Williams

A young woman marries a formidable whaling captain and takes to the sea, only to watch her husband's strength and sanity collapse under the harsh demands of the voyage.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Soul Stealer

The Soul Stealer

Guy Thorne

A mad scientist invents a machine that can read and display human thoughts, then secretes his rival in a basement dungeon to harvest his mind.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew

William Shakespeare

Two sharp-witted outsiders battle for dominance in a fiercely sharp marriage of convenience, while a web of elaborate disguises entangles the suitors of Padua.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Tiny Picture Book

The Tiny Picture Book

Anonymous

A simple alphabet verse collection uses everyday objects, animals, and moral lessons to teach young readers their letters while guiding them toward quiet obedience, gentle conduct, and religious devotion.

Children & Young Adult Reading7 min read
Cover of The Way to God and How to Find It

The Way to God and How to Find It

Dwight Lyman Moody

The love of God is an unreachable height, a fathomless depth, and an ever-present refuge for the weary.

Religion/Spirituality7 min read
Cover of The Wicked Marquis

The Wicked Marquis

E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

A lordly debtor faces the man he wronged decades ago, only to discover that revenge takes form not in blood, but in balance sheets.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of The works of Plato (Vol. 1 of 6)

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.

Philosophy & Ethics9 min read
Cover of The Yellow Streak

The Yellow Streak

Valentine Williams

A sudden death in an English country house uncovers a tangled web of deceit, blackmail, and international conspiracy.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Within the Rim, and Other Essays, 1914-15

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.

British Literature5 min read
Cover of Wolf Breed

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.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of Yorktown and the Siege of 1781

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.

History - American6 min read
Cover of A Book of Nimble Beasts: Bunny Rabbit, Squirrel, Toad, and "Those Sort of People"

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.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of A drunk man looks at the thistle

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.

Poetry6 min read
Cover of A History of Mourning

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.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of A Letter from Major Robert Carmichael-Smyth to His Friend, the Author of 'The Clockmaker'

A Letter from Major Robert Carmichael-Smyth to His Friend, the Author of 'The Clockmaker'

Robert Carmichael-Smyth

A visionary 1849 proposal outlines how a transcontinental railway across British North America could unite an empire, transform global commerce, and solve pressing domestic crises.

History - American5 min read
Cover of A Mediaeval Mystic: A Short Account of the Life and Writings of Blessed John Ruysbroeck, Canon Regular of Groenendael A.D. 1293-1381

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.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of A Nest of Linnets

A Nest of Linnets

Frank Frankfort Moore

Love, artistic pride, and social scandal collide in Georgian Bath.

Novels6 min read
Cover of A Pair of Patient Lovers

A Pair of Patient Lovers

William Dean Howells

A long-delayed engagement, a mislaid piano, a crisis of faith, a courtship by mail, and a convict's return reveal the quiet turning points of American lives.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of A Review of the Middle American Tree Frogs of the Genus Ptychohyla

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.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of A Russian Gentleman

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.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of A Simple Explanation of Modern Banking Customs

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.

Business/Management6 min read
Cover of A Twofold Life

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.

German Literature6 min read
Cover of A Vindication of England's Policy with Regard to the Opium Trade

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.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Abraham Lincoln's Cardinal Traits;: A Study in Ethics, with an Epilogue Addressed to Theologians

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.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of Adam & Eve & Pinch Me

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.

Short Stories7 min read
Cover of American Lutheranism vindicated

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.

Religion/Spirituality5 min read
Cover of An awfully big adventure

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.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of An Outline of English Speech-craft

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.

Language & Communication5 min read
Cover of Balloons

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.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Blown to Bits: The Lonely Man of Rakata, the Malay Archipelago

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.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Broken Butterflies

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.

Novels7 min read
Cover of By Blow and Kiss: The Love Story of a Man with a Bad Name.: (Published serially under the title Unstable as Water)

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.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Carving and Serving

Carving and Serving

Mary J. (Mary Johnson) Lincoln

A calm, methodical manual turns the chaos of the dining table into an exercise in domestic grace, precision, and quiet consideration for others.

Cooking & Drinking5 min read
Cover of Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 438: Volume 17, New Series, May 22, 1852

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.

Journals7 min read
Cover of Comparative Ecology of Pinyon Mice and Deer Mice in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

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.

Environmental Issues6 min read
Cover of Complete Project Gutenberg William Dean Howells Literature Essays

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.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Copper Work: A Text Book for Teachers and Students in the Manual Arts

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.

Art5 min read
Cover of Creating Capital: Money-making as an aim in business

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.

Business/Management5 min read
Advertisement