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47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 521 of 988.

Cover of The New Conspiracy Against the Jesuits Detected and Briefly Exposed: with a short account of their institute

The New Conspiracy Against the Jesuits Detected and Briefly Exposed: with a short account of their institute

Robert Charles Dallas

History is rarely written by the victors; it is written by those with the most compelling narrative.

History - European6 min read
Cover of The Oyster: Where, How and When to Find, Breed, Cook and Eat It

The Oyster: Where, How and When to Find, Breed, Cook and Eat It

Eustace Clare Grenville Murray

HOOK This guide reveals the secret lives and culinary possibilities of the oyster, blending natural history with the etiquette of the Victorian dining table.

Cooking & Drinking5 min read
Cover of The Pony Rider Boys in the Alkali

The Pony Rider Boys in the Alkali

Frank Gee Patchin

A group of young adventurers confronts the harsh, unforgiving landscape of the Nevada desert. They face whirling cyclones, wild stallion hunts, and the constant, grueling struggle for water in the alkali wastes.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of The reaction between manganese dioxide and potassium permanganate

The reaction between manganese dioxide and potassium permanganate

Arthur John Hopkins

The persistent, unexplained degradation of laboratory reagents serves as the catalyst for this rigorous scientific inquiry into the volatile relationship between manganese compounds.

Science - Chemistry/Biochemistry6 min read
Cover of The son of Don Juan: an original drama in 3 acts inspired by the reading of Ibsen's work entitled 'Gengangere'

The son of Don Juan: an original drama in 3 acts inspired by the reading of Ibsen's work entitled 'Gengangere'

José Echegaray

A man haunted by the excesses of his father finds his own future collapsing into a void of inherited ruin. This drama offers a relentless, harrowing look at the cost of a life built on vice.

Plays/Films/Dramas6 min read
Cover of The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 5, January, 1835

The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 5, January, 1835

Various

HOOK This collection captures the intellectual pulse of the 1830s, blending historical dispatches from the Barbary Coast with the era’s urgent debates on literature, phrenology, and the preservation of American culture.

Essays, Letters & Speeches5 min read
Cover of The Story of the Solar System

The Story of the Solar System

George F. (George Frederick) Chambers

Our solar system is a vast, rhythmic mechanism of light and motion, anchored by the Sun and populated by curious, wandering bodies. This guide offers a clear, accessible survey of the heavens for the curious amateur.

Science - Earth/Agricultural/Farming6 min read
Cover of The Story Tellers' Magazine, Vol. I, No. 1, June 1913

The Story Tellers' Magazine, Vol. I, No. 1, June 1913

Various

This inaugural issue of a 1913 periodical serves as a manifesto for the power of the oral tradition. It champions the art of storytelling as a vital, transformative tool for education, emotional healing, and human connection.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The tower

The tower

W. B. (William Butler) Yeats

An aging man confronts the inevitable decay of his body, seeking refuge in the enduring, crystalline perfection of art. He pits the fragility of mortal life against the permanence of the human imagination.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The White Invaders

The White Invaders

Ray Cummings

Strange ghostly figures materialize across Bermuda, passing through solid rock before launching a devastating dimensional assault upon the world of men.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Young Salesman

The Young Salesman

Alger, Horatio, Jr.

A young immigrant arrives in New York with nothing but his integrity and a desire to work, eventually overcoming the schemes of a selfish cousin and a dishonest employer.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of This Finer Shadow

This Finer Shadow

Harlan Cozad McIntosh

A young man’s search for identity unfolds against the backdrop of the Depression-era Bowery and the maritime world, navigating the friction between desperate love, social artifice, and the desire for freedom.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Thomas Hariot, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and the Scholar

Thomas Hariot, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and the Scholar

Henry Stevens

A meticulous recovery of a forgotten genius, this biography pulls an Elizabethan pioneer out of the shadows of his more famous contemporaries.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Tom Tufton's Travels

Tom Tufton's Travels

Evelyn Everett-Green

A spoiled heir flees his English country estate for London's glitter, only to find himself entangled with aristocratic highwaymen and treasonous plots.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of Trial of C. B. Reynolds For Blasphemy, at Morristown, N. J., May 1887: Defence

Trial of C. B. Reynolds For Blasphemy, at Morristown, N. J., May 1887: Defence

Robert Green Ingersoll

The right to speak one’s mind is the most important possession of any human being. When authority attempts to silence an honest voice, the very foundation of liberty is under siege.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2: From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860

Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2: From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860

James Gillespie Blaine

An insider's view of how post-Civil War America rebuilt itself, this history reveals the intense congressional battles, presidential clashes, and legislative maneuvers that redefined national power.

History - American10 min read
Cover of Volcanoes

Volcanoes

Robert I. Tilling

Volcanoes are dynamic architects of our planet, simultaneously capable of profound destruction and the creation of life-sustaining environments. This essential primer demystifies their origins, explosive mechanisms, and the crucial science of monitoring them.

Environmental Issues6 min read
Cover of Yeast

Yeast

Thomas Henry Huxley

A microscopic organism transforms simple sugar into alcohol, giving rise to modern biochemistry, cell theory, and the germ theory of disease.

Science - Biology6 min read
Cover of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Part 3

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Part 3

Mark Twain

A nineteenth-century engineer finds himself transported to the age of King Arthur, where he attempts to dismantle the rigid structures of medieval tyranny using the tools of modern industry and scientific ingenuity.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil

T. R. Swinburne

A vivid, observant travelogue chronicling a scenic escape through the heart of the Himalayas, this account captures the rugged beauty and peculiar rhythms of a nineteenth-century journey into the Kashmir Valley.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of A Life's Morning

A Life's Morning

George Gissing

A young man’s sudden infatuation with a governess unravels a web of social expectation and secret shame, forcing a collision between personal desire and the rigid, suffocating codes of class.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of A Rose of a Hundred Leaves: A Love Story

A Rose of a Hundred Leaves: A Love Story

Amelia E. Barr

This story captures the transformation of a naive, heartbroken girl into a woman of poise, proving that the most enduring love is one that survives the cruelest of separations.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of A Short System of English Grammar: For the Use of the Boarding School in Worcester (1759)

A Short System of English Grammar: For the Use of the Boarding School in Worcester (1759)

Henry Bate

This eighteenth-century guide strips away the complexities of Latin-based instruction, offering a streamlined, practical approach to the mechanics of the English language.

Language & Communication6 min read
Cover of Address of President Roosevelt at Chautauqua, New York, August 11, 1905

Address of President Roosevelt at Chautauqua, New York, August 11, 1905

Theodore Roosevelt

This address serves as a primary manifesto for the early twentieth-century American state, balancing the exertion of global power with the necessity of domestic economic reform. It offers a blueprint for an era of federal oversight.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Adele Doring of the Sunnyside Club

Adele Doring of the Sunnyside Club

Grace May North

HOOK A group of spirited young friends discovers the profound joy of service as they strive to brighten the lives of those less fortunate in their quiet, turn-of-the-century community.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism: With a Series of Curious and Interesting Experiments Performed Before the Commissioners of the French National Institute, and Repeated Lately in the Anatomical Theatres of London

An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism: With a Series of Curious and Interesting Experiments Performed Before the Commissioners of the French National Institute, and Repeated Lately in the Anatomical Theatres of London

Giovanni Aldini

This chronicle of early electrical research documents the scientific pursuit to harness the vital spark, bridging the gap between cold physics and the mysteries of the living body. It remains a fascinating artifact of the Enlightenment’s relentless desire to probe the boundaries of life and death through…

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of An Artist in Egypt

An Artist in Egypt

Walter Tyndale

An artist’s vivid, observational record of Egypt at the turn of the twentieth century, blending travel sketches with historical anecdotes and intimate reflections on the changing landscape of Cairo and the desert.

Art5 min read
Cover of An Open-Eyed Conspiracy

An Open-Eyed Conspiracy

William Dean Howells

Saratoga Springs, with its grand hotels and bubbling springs, serves as the stage for a subtle, unintended matchmaking scheme that tests the social meddling of a weary vacationing couple.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Arabic Thought and Its Place in History

Arabic Thought and Its Place in History

De Lacy O'Leary

This exploration chronicles how the philosophical treasures of ancient Greece were preserved, translated, and integrated into the intellectual life of the medieval Islamic world, eventually shaping the course of Western thought.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Arsène Lupin, super-sleuth

Arsène Lupin, super-sleuth

Maurice Leblanc

A master thief finds himself embroiled in a deadly conspiracy while attempting to protect a beautiful, enigmatic woman from the machinations of corrupt officials and ruthless criminals.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Bill Nye's Red Book: New Edition

Bill Nye's Red Book: New Edition

Bill Nye

This collection of essays and sketches serves as a humorous, idiosyncratic chronicle of nineteenth-century American life, navigating the absurdities of social status, politics, and the common struggle for dignity. It offers a window into a bygone era of regional wit, where the author’s keen eye for the peculiar…

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Birds' Nests, Eggs and Egg-Collecting

Birds' Nests, Eggs and Egg-Collecting

Richard Kearton

Nature is a vast, intricate puzzle of survival, where every nest and egg reveals a calculated strategy for life. This classic guide invites readers to observe the ingenious ways birds protect their young against a hostile world.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 367, May 1846

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 367, May 1846

Various

This mid-nineteenth-century periodical collection offers a vibrant, multifaceted snapshot of the Victorian world, weaving together gripping fiction, sharp literary criticism, and sober reporting on global imperial conflicts and domestic social crises.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of By Wit of Woman

By Wit of Woman

Arthur W. Marchmont

A young woman of indomitable spirit travels to Hungary to restore her disgraced father’s name, only to find herself ensnared in a web of political intrigue and a volatile, forbidden romance. Armed with little more than her wits and a sharp American sensibility, she must outmaneuver the nobility to save the innocent.

Novels6 min read
Cover of "Carrots:" Just a Little Boy

"Carrots:" Just a Little Boy

Mrs. Molesworth

This is a gentle, intimate portrait of childhood, capturing the small-scale tragedies and profound, imaginative wonders that define a young boy’s world. It serves as a tender bridge between the experiences of a child and the memories of the adult who once was one.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Cesare Lombroso, a modern man of science

Cesare Lombroso, a modern man of science

Hans Kurella

A pioneer of criminal anthropology, this scientist sought the biological origins of human transgression, forever altering our understanding of the link between the body and the law.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Chicago by day and night

Chicago by day and night

Harold R. (Harold Richard) Vynne

This 1892 guidebook serves as a vivid, candid snapshot of a bustling metropolis on the brink of the World’s Columbian Exposition, mapping the intersections of high culture, low vice, and rapid urban growth.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of Confessions of a Neurasthenic

Confessions of a Neurasthenic

William Taylor Marrs

The life of a man perpetually convinced of his own impending demise, this memoir documents a journey through the absurdities of health-seeking, chronic indecision, and the ever-shifting landscape of early 20th-century medical fads.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Derelicts

Derelicts

William John Locke

This story follows two broken individuals as they drift through a society that has no room for their pasts, ultimately finding a fragile, hard-won sanctuary in one another. It is a quiet, deeply felt examination of redemption.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Earthworms and Their Allies

Earthworms and Their Allies

Frank E. (Frank Evers) Beddard

Beneath the soil of every continent, a hidden, complex, and vital world of segmented life thrives, indifferent to the boundaries drawn by human maps. This exploration offers a window into the silent, essential industry of earthworms.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of Ellen Duncan

Ellen Duncan

William Carleton

A young woman fights to save her husband from a wrongful execution, while a vengeful son finds mercy through an unexpected act of kindness. This dual narrative captures the turbulence of nineteenth-century rural Ireland.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Far-away Stories

Far-away Stories

William John Locke

These tales capture the quiet, often poignant struggles of ordinary people navigating the shifting emotional currents of a world on the brink of profound change. They bridge the divide between gentle sentiment and the stark realities of life.

Short Stories6 min read
Cover of Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden and the Founding of the Yellowstone National Park

Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden and the Founding of the Yellowstone National Park

Geological Survey (U.S.)

Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden’s tireless efforts to document the wonders of the American West transformed the Yellowstone wilderness from a collection of tall tales into the world’s first national park. This account maps that historic legislative victory.

Archaeology & Anthropology6 min read
Cover of Flip: A California Romance

Flip: A California Romance

Bret Harte

This mountain romance unfolds in the stifling, resinous heat of a remote California summit, where a chance encounter between a drifter and a wild, freckled girl sparks a tragic collision of hidden pasts and desperate yearnings.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of From Fort Henry to Corinth

From Fort Henry to Corinth

M. F. (Manning Ferguson) Force

This military history chronicles the pivotal months of early 1862, documenting the strategic maneuvers and brutal engagements that shifted the American Civil War’s momentum toward the Union. It provides a methodical account of how the Western theater was transformed from a stalemate into a series of decisive…

History - American6 min read
Cover of From Palmerston to Disraeli (1856-1876)

From Palmerston to Disraeli (1856-1876)

Unknown

This collection of historical sources captures the volatile energy of Victorian Britain, tracing the nation’s political and social shifts between the mid-19th-century dominance of Palmerston and the rise of Disraeli. It offers a mosaic of primary evidence—speeches, letters, and contemporary reports—that brings the…

History - British6 min read
Cover of Frontier Humor in Verse, Prose and Picture

Frontier Humor in Verse, Prose and Picture

Palmer Cox

A collection of frontier sketches and verse, this volume captures the chaotic, irreverent spirit of a bygone era through tall tales and observational wit. It is a portrait of life on the edge of the map.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Full-Back Foster

Full-Back Foster

Ralph Henry Barbour

This is a classic tale of a spirited, self-important young man learning the value of humility and camaraderie through the demanding crucible of prep-school athletics.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read