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3,125 public-domain books, summarised. Page 56 of 66.
The Four Million
O. Henry
New York is a city of four million people, yet each soul navigates a private, often lonely, labyrinth of aspiration and small-scale tragedy. These stories capture the fleeting, bittersweet intersections of those lives.
Last and first men
Olaf Stapledon
A cosmic chronicle of humanity, this narrative traces the species from its present-day origins through billions of years of biological and cultural evolution toward an eventual, inevitable extinction.
The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes
J. Q. (James Quay) Howard
This profile of a nineteenth-century statesman traces the evolution of a man defined by his rigorous service in the Civil War and his subsequent commitment to public duty and civil service reform.
The Return of the Native
Thomas Hardy
On the vast, brooding landscape of Egdon Heath, human lives are shaped and shattered by the collision of ancient local traditions and the restless, modern desires of those who yearn to escape them.
Songs of the cattle trail and cow camp
Unknown
The West is a landscape of myth and hard labor, captured here in the songs and stories of the men who lived in the saddle.
How to become mentally superior
Henri Le Chatelier
Ambition is a mechanical process, not a mystical gift. By cultivating four distinct mental habits, anyone can elevate their output and join the ranks of the intellectual elite.
The Basis of Morality
Arthur Schopenhauer
Founding morality is difficult; preaching it is easy. By looking past social convention to the bedrock of human nature, this treatise seeks to uncover the true, singular source of our moral life.
Hindu gods and heroes
Lionel D. (Lionel David) Barnett
The evolution of the divine in India reveals how ancient heroic sagas and nature spirits were transformed by priests and poets into the complex, enduring gods of the Hindu pantheon.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
An ancient sailor accosts a wedding guest, compelling him to hear a harrowing tale of transgression and redemption upon the high seas. This seminal work remains a cornerstone of English literature for its haunting, rhythmic power.
Historical Essays
James Ford Rhodes
This collection of essays serves as a scholarly guide for those who seek to understand the historian’s craft through the lens of nineteenth-century political experience. It bridges the gap between grand historical narrative and the practical, often messy realities of governance and public life.
The hero of the Filipinos
Charles Edward Russell
The life of José Rizal stands as a testament to the power of a single, resolute mind to awaken a nation from the long, enforced slumber of colonial rule. This account traces the journey of a brilliant young Filipino who challenged the absolute authority of the Spanish friars through intellect, art, and an…
Evangeline: with Notes and Plan of Study
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In the quiet village of Grand-Pré, a young woman’s life is shattered by exile, setting her on a lifelong, continent-spanning journey to find her lost betrothed.
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
Mark Twain
A single, careless remark labels a man a fool, setting the stage for a dark, tangled drama of stolen identity and racial injustice in a small Missouri river town.
Lewis and Clark: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
William R. (William Rheem) Lighton
The explorers who mapped the vast American wilderness from the Missouri to the Pacific were driven by an unyielding sense of duty, ultimately shaping the identity of a young nation through their quiet, collective heroism.
The Wonder Island Boys: Treasures of the Islands
Roger T. (Roger Thompson) Finlay
Marooned castaways apply ingenuity and colonial confidence to civilize neighboring tribes, uncovering long-lost shipwrecks and buried secrets in the South Seas.
The Boy Scout Treasure Hunters
Charles Henry Lerrigo
HOOK Escaping a restrictive reformatory, a troubled youth seeks freedom in the wilderness, only to find himself entangled in a dangerous criminal conspiracy and a high-stakes search for hidden treasure.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Leon Tolstoy
Tolstoy, Leo, graf
The scope of this collection encompasses the entirety of a vast literary legacy, bridging the gap between intimate personal growth and the sweeping movements of historical destiny. It offers an exhaustive map of a mind that spent decades grappling with the ethics of existence, the nature of power, and the quiet…
Mediæval Wales: Chiefly in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: Six Popular Lectures
A. G. (Andrew George) Little
This collection of lectures illuminates the complex, often violent evolution of medieval Wales, tracing how the regional rivalries and shifting power structures of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries shaped a nation.
Heidi
Johanna Spyri
A young orphan brings profound transformation to the lives of those she encounters, bridging the divide between isolated mountain heights and the structured world of the city.
The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights
Malory, Thomas, Sir
Born from a desire to make ancient chivalric lore accessible, this collection serves as a portal into the foundational myths of Britain. It preserves the wonder and moral gravity of the Round Table for a new age.
Things I know about kings, celebrities, and crooks
William Le Queux
A restless chronicler recounts a lifetime spent in the company of monarchs, spies, and criminals, revealing the hidden, often contradictory human side of the figures who shaped the early twentieth century.
Great Britain at War
Jeffery Farnol
Great Britain at War serves as an eyewitness testimony to the industrial and moral mobilization of a nation during the First World War. It is a record of a country transitioning from peace to total, harrowing commitment.
Shorty McCabe
Sewell Ford
A retired prizefighter turns his hand to training the elite in physical culture, only to find himself entangled in a series of improbable, high-society scrapes.
One Thousand Ways to Make Money
Page Fox
Persistence and ingenuity are the primary currencies of success. This collection of practical advice demonstrates that fortune favors those who combine keen observation with a tireless work ethic.
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 10 of 12)
James George Frazer
The sacred bough remains, but the shadows it casts grow long and complex. This massive, classic study unearths the hidden connections between ancient ritual, folklore, and the enduring human impulse to master the unseen world.
John Lyly
John Dover Wilson
This scholarly examination traces the architectural influence of a singular Elizabethan wit on the foundations of English prose, drama, and the novel. It serves as a study of how artistic fashions are born and eventually fade.
Pagan Passions
Randall Garrett
In a future where ancient deities walk among us, a humble teacher is suddenly thrust into the divine hierarchy, only to discover that the gods are mere caretakers of a cosmic machine.
The Essays of "George Eliot": Complete
George Eliot
This collection gathers the critical journalism of a towering Victorian novelist, revealing the intellectual rigor and sharp wit that preceded her celebrated fiction. These essays serve as both a historical map of nineteenth-century thought and a masterclass in discerning literary analysis.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 22, September, 1878
Various
This nineteenth-century periodical gathers a diverse collection of travelogues, literary criticism, and serialized fiction, capturing the expansive intellectual curiosity of the late Victorian era. It serves as a fascinating window into the period’s global interests and social preoccupations.
History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy: From the Earliest Times to the Death of Lorenzo the Magnificent
Niccolò Machiavelli
This is a cool-headed, autopsy-like examination of how a vibrant republic gradually surrenders its freedom to the relentless machinery of faction, greed, and individual ambition.
The Dictator
Justin McCarthy
The life of a deposed South American leader in London is turned upside down by a lethal conspiracy. This political drama balances drawing-room wit with the tension of an international manhunt.
The New Land: Stories of Jews Who Had a Part in the Making of Our Country
Elma Ehrlich Levinger
The American story, as it is often told, is a mosaic of arrivals and aspirations. Here, the focus shifts to the specific contributions, struggles, and persistent dreams of the Jewish people as they helped forge the identity of a young nation.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam
Awake, for the sun has scattered the stars of night and beckons us to drink. Before the cup of life runs dry, we must embrace the fleeting beauty of the present hour.
The True Story Book
Unknown
History is often as strange and exhilarating as the most inventive fiction. This collection gathers true accounts of daring exploits, narrow escapes, and profound mysteries from across the globe and through the ages.
The Great K. & A. Robbery
Paul Leicester Ford
A railroad superintendent finds himself playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse when a wealthy traveler’s family stages a train robbery to protect their financial future.
Howards End
E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster
The collision of two disparate families—one devoted to commerce and the other to art—reveals the fragility of class and the hidden ties that bind human lives together. It is a story of how houses, hearts, and inheritances are built, lost, and eventually reclaimed.
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
Beatrix Potter
Two young rabbits venture into forbidden territory, only to find themselves trapped under a basket by a watchful cat. Their harrowing afternoon is cut short by the unexpected arrival of a fierce and protective elder.
Evolution and Classification of the Pocket Gophers of the Subfamily Geomyinae
Robert J. Russell
This technical monograph traces the evolutionary history and biological classification of pocket gophers, examining how these burrowing rodents adapted over millions of years. It serves as a comprehensive taxonomic record for researchers and naturalists.
Tin-types taken in the streets of New York
Lemuel Ely Quigg
This collection of character sketches offers a vivid, kaleidoscopic look at the grit, ambition, and absurdity of Gilded Age New York. It is a series of portraits that finds the pulse of the city not in its monuments, but in its eccentric cast of schemers, laborers, and dreamers.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Second Annual Meeting: Ithaca, New York, December 14 and 15, 1911
Unknown
A collection of early twentieth-century agricultural proceedings, this text serves as a foundational manual for the pioneers attempting to establish a viable northern nut industry. It transforms technical trial and error into a collective pursuit of horticultural mastery.
Rollo in Holland
Jacob Abbott
This travelogue follows an inquisitive young boy and his uncle as they navigate the peculiar landscapes and customs of the Netherlands. It serves as a gentle, educational guide to mid-19th-century European tourism.
Anecdotes for boys
Harvey Newcomb
This collection of moral instruction uses brief, focused narratives to illustrate the virtues and vices that shape a young man’s character. It serves as a guide for boys to navigate the transitions from childhood to adulthood with integrity, industry, and faith.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
These foundational works define the limits of human knowledge, demanding that we look inward to understand how we construct the world we inhabit. They serve as a rigorous map for the architecture of human thought and moral duty.
Nero, the Circus Lion: His Many Adventures
Richard Barnum
A young lion leaves his jungle home, faces the hazards of capture, and finds a new life as a performer under the big top.
The Real Mother Goose
Unknown
These rhymes are the bedrock of childhood, a rhythmic collection of nonsense, wisdom, and cautionary tales that have anchored generations. They offer a window into a world where animals talk, the moon falls down, and simple actions hold deep, rhyming consequences.
The Mabinogion
Schreiber, Charlotte, Lady
This collection of Welsh prose tales preserves the ancient imagination of a culture, weaving together the supernatural, the heroic, and the tragic. It serves as a bridge between primeval Celtic folklore and the refined chivalric romances of the medieval world.
Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3: I. Prolegomena II. Achæis
W. E. (William Ewart) Gladstone
This examination of the Homeric epics argues that the Iliad and Odyssey are not merely works of poetic imagination, but fundamental historical documents. It posits that the poems offer a reliable, contemporary record of an ancient civilization, capturing the ethnology, politics, and social structures of the early…
History of the Wars, Books I and II: The Persian War
Procopius
Procopius chronicles the relentless, high-stakes collision between the Roman and Persian empires, capturing the shifting fortunes of commanders and kings in a world defined by border wars and imperial ambition.