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All free summaries — page 504
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 504 of 988.
Thrifty Stock, and Other Stories
Ben Ames Williams
A collection of stories that captures the rugged, often quiet intensity of early twentieth-century American life, revealing the hidden depths within ordinary people.
Under the mizzen mast: A voyage round the world
Nehemiah Adams
A voyage across the world serves as both a physical departure and a spiritual meditation, capturing the rhythm of the sea and the enduring human search for meaning in the vast unknown.
Untimely papers
Randolph Silliman Bourne
War is the health of the State, a cold truth that transforms a nation’s culture into a machinery of coercion. This collection of essays documents the sudden, painful collapse of democratic ideals during the First World War.
Vigée Le Brun
Haldane Macfall
The life of the eighteenth-century portraitist Louise-Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun serves as a vibrant lens through which to view the collapse of the French aristocracy and the subsequent rise of a new European order.
Whirlpools: A Novel of Modern Poland
Henryk Sienkiewicz
This portrait of a fracturing society captures the intimate lives of Polish landowners as they drift toward a volatile, uncertain future. It explores the tension between personal happiness and national duty during a period of profound social upheaval.
Whole Body Counters
John H. Woodburn
Whole body counters are specialized, heavily shielded instruments that detect the minute amounts of radioactivity present in every human, providing a unique window into our internal chemistry. This booklet explores the science of these detectors, tracing their evolution from industrial curiosity to vital medical…
William Penn
Rupert Sargent Holland
The son of an English Admiral trades a life of courtly privilege for the radical, persecuted faith of the Quakers, ultimately carving a "green country town" out of the American wilderness to serve as a sanctuary.
A Day with the Poet Tennyson
Unknown
This contemplative portrait invites readers into the secluded, rhythmically ordered world of Alfred Tennyson, revealing the domestic life and creative habits of a man whose verse captured the nineteenth century.
A Family Man
John Galsworthy
A man of status finds his domestic world unraveling when his wife and daughters refuse to be managed, leading to a public scandal that forces him to confront his own brittle authority.
A Guide to the Virginia Springs: Giving, in addition to the routes and distances, a description of the springs and also of the natural curiosities of the state
J. J. (John Jennings) Moorman
This practical mid-nineteenth-century handbook offers travelers a detailed navigational and medicinal survey of Virginia’s famed mineral springs, mapping both the geography of the landscape and the therapeutic promises of its waters.
A Letter from Mr. Cibber to Mr. Pope
Colley Cibber
A aging actor-manager finally decides that silence is no longer a virtue, launching a sharp, witty, and deeply personal defense against a literary giant who has spent decades using him as a punchline.
A mirror for witches : in which is reflected the life, machinations, and death of famous Doll Bilby, who, with a more than feminine perversity, preferred a demon to a mortal lover
Esther Forbes
HOOK A lonely, misunderstood girl in the unforgiving Massachusetts Bay Colony finds a dark, forbidden solace in the arms of a demon lover.
A Noble Name
Claire von Glümer
A young woman arrives at her ancestral estate seeking belonging, only to find a house divided by rigid social codes, secret attachments, and the heavy, lingering ghosts of a family’s past.
A Visit to the Monastery of La Trappe in 1817: With Notes Taken During a Tour Through Le Perche, Normandy, Bretagne, Poitou, Anjou, Le Bocage, Touraine, Orleanois, and the Environs of Paris
W. D. (William Dorset) Fellowes
A travel narrative capturing a singular moment in French history, this account offers a poignant, firsthand glimpse into a landscape still scarred by revolution and defined by ancient religious fervor.
A Year in a Lancashire Garden: Second Edition
Henry Arthur Bright
A quiet, year-long meditation on a private Lancashire estate, this work records the seasonal rhythms of a traditional garden through the eyes of a thoughtful, poetry-loving observer.
A Year with the Birds: Third Edition, Enlarged
W. Warde (William Warde) Fowler
This classic collection invites readers to step outside and cultivate a deeper, more attentive relationship with the feathered life inhabiting our own local landscapes. It serves as an eloquent guide for those seeking to transform casual observation into a lifelong, rewarding habit of natural history.
A Young Macedonian in the Army of Alexander the Great
Alfred John Church
A young soldier navigates the brutal rise and inevitable decay of a world-spanning empire, eventually choosing the quiet pursuit of peace over the hollow glory of the battlefield.
ABC's of Science
Charles A. (Charles Alexander) Oliver
This brief, eccentric treatise offers an idiosyncratic view of the universe, blending early twentieth-century astronomical observation with speculative biology and a theory of "animal magnetism" to explain the mechanics of existence.
Andreas: The Legend of St. Andrew
Robert K. (Robert Kilburn) Root
This translation of a foundational Old English epic breathes new life into the dramatic journey of an apostle facing down impossible odds. It serves as a bridge for the modern reader to experience the rugged, mythic cadence of early literature.
Aunt Jane's Nieces on the Ranch
L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum
A sudden disappearance on a California ranch plunges a group of eastern visitors into a disorienting mystery, forcing them to confront the hidden, aging secrets of a sprawling adobe estate.
Baby Jane's Mission
Reginald Parnell
HOOK A young girl wanders into an African desert, where she organizes lions, bears, and crocodiles into a disciplined, dancing society governed by moral instruction and games.
Basil and Annette: A Novel
B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
Two lives collide in the Australian wilderness, setting in motion a long, treacherous game of identity theft that stretches from colonial goldfields to the heart of London.
Bataille de dames
Eugène Scribe
A high-stakes game of political intrigue and romantic rivalry unfolds as two women fight to protect—and win—the same man.
Bruce
Albert Payson Terhune
This is an affectionate portrait of a dog’s journey from an unwanted, awkward puppy to a celebrated war hero, exploring the profound, unspoken bond between humans and the animals who serve them.
Calvary Alley
Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice
Growing up in the shadow of a city cathedral, a spirited girl struggles to rise above the poverty of her tenement home while protecting those she loves.
Dick Hamilton's Cadet Days
Howard Roger Garis
A young millionaire arrives at a prestigious military academy only to find himself an outcast, forced to earn his place among peers who resent his fortune.
Dr. Martin Luther's Deutsche Geistliche Lieder: The Hymns of Martin Luther Set to Their Original Melodies, With an English Version
Martin Luther
The songs of a reformer resonate centuries later, capturing a profound shift in how a people worshiped, thought, and found solace in the face of death.
Emerson's Wife and Other Western Stories
Florence Finch Kelly
In these rugged tales of the American Southwest, the frontier is less a place of conquest than a crucible for the human heart. Characters find their resolve tested by the quiet demands of duty, love, and isolation.
Fairy tales from far and near
Katharine Pyle
Across far-flung kingdoms and distant shores, brave maidens, clever youths, and loyal beasts confront wicked stepmothers, fearsome Trolls, and harsh gods to win back true love and break ancient spells.
Fighting in Cuban waters
Edward Stratemeyer
A young man joins the American Navy to fight for his country in the Spanish-American War, seeking both adventure and honor aboard the flagship *Brooklyn*.
Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World. Part 5
Mark Twain
A world-traveler finds that while the map may change, the human comedy—and its capacity for both absurdity and tragedy—remains stubbornly the same.
Ford of H.M.S. Vigilant: A Tale of the Chusan Archipelago
T. T. (Thomas Tendron) Jeans
A young midshipman navigates the treacherous waters of the Chusan Archipelago, balancing the rigid demands of Royal Navy discipline against the chaotic reality of anti-piracy operations in 1910s China.
Fordham's Feud
Bertram Mitford
A lingering, bitter secret from a past generation turns a blissful Swiss summer into a theater of cold-blooded, orchestrated ruin.
Four Max Carrados Detective Stories
Ernest Bramah
A man of refined tastes and immense wealth turns to detective work, proving that the keenest eyes are those that see nothing at all.
Freedom Through Disobedience
Chitta Ranjan Das
A clarion call for Indian self-rule, this text argues that true liberation is not granted by colonial powers but forged through the disciplined, non-violent refusal to participate in an unjust system.
Grace Harlowe's Golden Summer
Josephine Chase
A young woman’s wedding plans are halted by the sudden, mysterious disappearance of her fiancé, leading her friends on a desperate, suspenseful search through the wilderness.
Home Lyrics: A Book of Poems
H. S. (Hannah S.) Battersby
This collection of Victorian verse offers an earnest, intimate portrait of 19th-century domesticity, blending personal grief with a fervent, wide-ranging curiosity about the natural world and the march of human progress.
How Janice Day Won
Helen Beecher Long
The life of a New England town is shaken by the arrival of a dangerous social blight, forcing a spirited young woman to stand against the tide of local apathy. Determined to protect her neighbors, she discovers that courage often requires confronting the most powerful figures in her community.
How We Are Fed: A Geographical Reader
James Franklin Chamberlain
This instructive text illuminates the complex global networks of labor and geography that supply the modern dinner table. It serves as a foundational guide for understanding the origins of everyday provisions.
Initiative Psychic Energy: Being the Sixth of a Series of Twelve Volumes on the
Warren Hilton
Success is not a matter of luck, but a mechanical process of mastering one’s own internal reserves. By applying scientific principles to the mind, any individual can learn to unlock dormant energy and achieve peak efficiency.
Instructions in gardening for ladies
Mrs. (Jane) Loudon
Gardening is a practical art, and this authoritative guide transforms the novice into a capable steward of the soil through clear, logical instruction. By demystifying the essential sciences of plant growth, it empowers the reader to cultivate beauty and sustenance with confidence.
Is a Ship Canal Practicable?: Notes, Historical and Statistical, Upon the Projected Routes for an Interoceanic Ship Canal Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in Which is Included a Short Account of the Character and Influence of the Canal of Suez, and the Probable Effects Upon the Commerce of the World of the Two Canals, Regarded Either as Rivals, or as Parts of One System of Interoceanic Navigation
S. T. (Silvanus Thayer) Abert
This technical assessment explores the mid-19th-century race to conquer the American Isthmus, weighing the ambitious engineering required to join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Joanna Godden
Sheila Kaye-Smith
A woman of independent spirit and formidable will navigates the shifting landscapes of her own heart and the rigid social codes of early twentieth-century rural England.
Knights of Malta, 1523-1798
Reuben Cohen
The Knights of Malta offers a sober, scholarly examination of the rise and fall of the Order of St. John, tracing its trajectory from a displaced monastic brotherhood to a sovereign Mediterranean power and, finally, to its ignominious dissolution.
Leaders of the People: Studies in Democratic History
Joseph Clayton
These portraits of reformers and rebels map the long, turbulent journey toward democratic governance in England, tracing a lineage of resistance from the medieval church to the industrial age.
List, Ye Landsmen! A Romance of Incident
William Clark Russell
The English coastline is a beacon for the sailor, but for one man, the chalky cliffs of home mask a memory of survival that begins in the dark, suffocating grip of the Channel.
Little Miss Dorothy: The Story of the Wonderful Adventures of Two Little People
Martha James
Two imaginative children step through the everyday doorways of their home into a succession of whimsical, hidden realms governed by friendly spirits and gentle moral lessons.
Mammals of Mount Rainier National Park
Merlin K. Potts
This guide offers a clear, grounded look at the diverse wildlife inhabiting the rugged slopes and alpine meadows of a protected wilderness sanctuary. It serves as an essential field companion for those seeking to understand the natural history of a high-elevation landscape.