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All free summaries — page 640
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 640 of 988.
Lemorne Versus Huell
Elizabeth Stoddard
A suppressed music teacher is drawn into an unsettling romance with her formidable aunt’s opposing legal counsel during a tense summer resort stay.
Leonie, the Typewriter: A Romance of Actual Life
Wenona Gilman
A suspenseful Victorian melodrama where a working woman uncovers a web of inheritance theft, hidden identities, and lethal rivalries, all while fighting to reclaim a man’s stolen birthright from a beautiful, cold-hearted antagonist.
Links With the Past in the Plant World
A. C. (Albert Charles) Seward
The ancient, silent history of the earth is written in its flora, revealing how modern landscapes are tethered to the deep, distant past. Discover how specific families of plants have survived across epochs to stand as living witnesses to the world’s evolution.
Mad Anthony's scouts
Edward Sylvester Ellis
A rugged, high-stakes journey through the untamed Ohio River wilderness, where a small group of settlers must rely on grit and quick wits to outrun a relentless band of Shawanoe warriors.
Michigan's Copper Country in Early Photos
B. E. Tyler
This photographic collection captures the industrial transformation of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at the turn of the twentieth century, documenting the rise and fall of the copper mining boom through the lens of early photographers.
Mike Fletcher: A Novel
George Moore
A charismatic drifter navigates the decadence of late-nineteenth-century London, chasing fleeting beauty and intense experience until the weight of his own detachment finally demands a reckoning.
Montezuma National Forest, Colorado (1939)
United States. Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Region
This administrative record offers a definitive, panoramic portrait of a vast Colorado landscape managed for the public good. It functions as both a historical snapshot and a practical manual for stewardship.
My Home in the Alps
Le Blond, Aubrey, Mrs.
The mountains are not mere scenery, but a living, dangerous, and majestic landscape that demands deep respect, careful preparation, and the guidance of those who truly know the high peaks.
Narrative of a Journey to the Summit of Mont Blanc
William Howard
A young doctor’s 1819 account of scaling Europe’s highest peak, capturing the physical agony and philosophical awe of early mountaineering.
Narrative of Henry Watson, a fugitive slave
Henry Watson
This account reveals the brutal reality of the American plantation system through the eyes of a man who survived its most unforgiving corners. It is a testament to the persistent, unyielding desire for human freedom.
Nick Carter Stories No. 131, March 13, 1915: A fatal message
Nicholas (House name) Carter
A sharp-eyed detective intercepts a coded message, pulling a loose thread that unravels a dangerous conspiracy of train robbers and cutthroats. Through wits and clever disguises, he maneuvers his adversaries into a trap of their own making.
Northwest!
Harold Bindloss
A young English heir flees into the Canadian wilderness after being falsely implicated in a shooting, finding his survival tethered to a rugged, capable woman who knows the mountains better than he ever will.
Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 124, March 13, 1852: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
A Victorian clearinghouse for the curious, this periodical invites readers to solve historical puzzles, exchange folk wisdom, and debate the finer points of literature through an engaging, collaborative community of inquiry.
On reading in relation to literature
Lafcadio Hearn
True reading is not the passive consumption of words, but an active, disciplined exercise of the intellect that transforms the reader as much as it reveals the text. Mastering this art requires patience, discrimination, and the courage to engage only with the best.
Orrain: A Romance
S. (Sidney) Levett Yeats
A disgraced French nobleman fights his way through royal intrigue, religious persecution, and a treacherous brother to save the woman he loves.
Our Wonderful Selves
Roland Pertwee
Driven by an insatiable need to prove his worth, a precocious young man abandons his comfortable suburban life to chase the elusive, demanding dream of becoming an artist and a writer.
Oxford poetry, 1920
Unknown
The poets of the post-war generation confront a world unmade, seeking beauty in the ruins and meaning in the silence of a landscape forever altered by conflict.
Peter and Jane
S. (Sarah) Macnaughtan
The stakes of a vast inheritance and the weight of a hidden past collide in this atmospheric tale of honor, deception, and the quiet resilience of the English countryside at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Poem Outlines
Sidney Lanier
The artist is one who walks lonesome among a thousand friends, capturing flashes of unearthly brilliance in the nets of thought before they vanish into the common prose of daily survival.
Poems of the Heart and Home
Yule, J. C., Mrs.
Poetry of the heart and hearth offers a window into the 19th-century Canadian spirit, where faith and nature provide sanctuary against the inevitable tempests of mortality. These verses find the sacred within the everyday, transforming common trials into enduring lessons of hope.
Poems
S. C. (Samuel C.) Mercer
The past is a phantom, a flickering light that reveals the scars of the Civil War and the enduring, fragile hope of a reunited nation. These verses bridge the divide between a lost era and the present day.
Polaris of the Snows
Charles B. (Charles Billings) Stilson
The far north hides a forgotten, sun-drenched valley, a prehistoric oasis where time and tragedy collide. A man raised in the wastes must navigate the clash between his wild origins and the civilized world he never knew.
Poppy Ott and the galloping snail
Leo Edwards
This mystery novel features two teenage boys who find adventure and intrigue when they stumble upon a seemingly haunted mansion while hitchhiking through the Illinois countryside.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 104, March 4, 1893
Various
This collection captures the sharp, satirical pulse of 1893 London, where political drama, social anxiety, and refined wit collide in the pages of a legendary periodical.
Rambles in Cuba
Anonymous
A traveler finds the sensory richness and social oddities of nineteenth-century Cuba both enchanting and exhausting. This record captures the vibrant, sun-drenched landscape and the complex rhythms of island life.
Robert Burns: A play
John Drinkwater
This dramatic portrait captures the life of Scotland’s most beloved poet, depicting a man caught between the soaring heights of his genius and the crushing weight of his earthly appetites. It is a work that finds beauty in the struggle to remain authentic in an unforgiving world.
Roster and Statistical Record of Company D, of the Eleventh Regiment Maine Infantry Volunteers: With a Sketch of Its Services in the War of the Rebellion
Albert Maxfield
The echoes of bugle blasts and rattling drums define this meticulous record of a Maine infantry company. It serves as a somber, durable bridge between the visceral reality of Civil War combat and the fading memory of a generation.
Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404
Various
This collection of technical reports captures a pivotal moment in the industrial age, documenting the rapid evolution of mechanical engineering, material science, and public infrastructure at the close of the nineteenth century.
Servian Popular Poetry
John Bowring
A treasury of lyrical sorrow and historical grandeur, this collection resurrects the oral spirit of a nation through the rhythmic pulse of its ancient, unrecorded songs. It captures the defiant heart of a people who turned to music to survive the storms of history.
Shireen and her Friends: Pages from the Life of a Persian Cat
Gordon Stables
A Persian cat, wise beyond her years, recounts her journey from the royal palaces of the East to the quiet comfort of a British home. This life story serves as both a warm memoir and a poignant plea for the compassionate treatment of animals.
Sink or swim? : a novel
Mrs. (Matilda Charlotte) Houstoun
The merrie month of May in London proves a perilous playground for the impressionable, as a young woman’s impulsive search for escape leads her to the very brink of ruin.
Sir Walter Scott
Richard Holt Hutton
The legacy of a literary giant remains as sturdy as the stone walls of his own creation, yet it is human frailty and indomitable courage that truly define his storied life.
Society for Superseding the Necessity of Climbing Boys, by Encouraging a New Method of Sweeping Chimneys: Twenty-First Report, May 1, 1837
Anonymous
This report documents the urgent, mid-19th-century campaign to end the brutal practice of using young children to sweep narrow, dangerous chimneys. It serves as a stark, primary record of a society transitioning from institutionalized cruelty toward technological reform.
Steel
William Metcalf
This manual offers a grounded, practical guide to the properties and manipulation of steel, bridging the gap between scientific theory and the daily realities of the forge. It remains a foundational, expert distillation of industrial craftsmanship from the late nineteenth century.
The alien intelligence
Jack Williamson
A man searches for his lost mentor in the remote Australian desert, only to discover a hidden, ancient world ruled by alien machines and a race of purple-skinned, subterranean beings.
The Alósaka cult of the Hopi Indians
Jesse Walter Fewkes
HOOK This ethnographic study explores the enduring Alósaka cult of the Hopi, documenting how ancient ancestral symbols and horned deities remain central to the religious life and agricultural prayers of the modern pueblos.
The Amateur
Richard Harding Davis
This story follows a self-styled detective who prides himself on his keen observation but finds his expertise challenged when he attempts to play matchmaker for a mysterious, beautiful stranger. It is a sharp, ironic look at the thin line between confidence and gullibility.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 42, April, 1861: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
This collection captures the American pulse in April 1861, standing at the precipice of the Civil War with a blend of literary reflection, political urgency, and observation of a fractured landscape.
The Bastonnais: Tale of the American Invasion of Canada in 1775-76
John Lespérance
An American officer who rides north into frozen French Canada carries more than military ambition; he carries a heart that will split its loyalties between a cause, a friend, and a woman.
The Book of the Bayeux Tapestry: Presenting the Complete Work in a Series of Colour Facsimiles
Hilaire Belloc
The Bayeux Tapestry is a singular document of the medieval world, capturing the Norman Conquest of England in a visual record that defies the limitations of the written word. It serves as both a historical narrative and a testament to the power of pictorial symbolism.
The Boy Allies with the Victorious Fleets
Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes
This is a straightforward, action-oriented chronicle of two young naval officers whose quick wits and steady nerves help secure the Allied victory during the final stages of the Great War.
The boy explorers in darkest New Guinea
Warren H. (Warren Hastings) Miller
Two intrepid youths and their seasoned mentor navigate the perilous jungles and coastal waters of New Guinea, encountering hostile tribes and rare wildlife in a high-stakes race for scientific discovery.
The Cabman's Story: The Mysteries of a London 'Growler'
Arthur Conan Doyle
A veteran London cabman shares his dark, hidden history with a passenger during a holiday outing. These tales reveal the city’s shadows from the unique, mobile perspective of a driver who has seen it all.
The Chronicle of the Canons Regular of Mount St. Agnes
à Kempis Thomas
A quiet hill near Zwolle becomes a sanctuary of steady work, common property, and shared prayer against the backdrop of medieval plague and war.
The Cities of the Sun: Stories of Ancient America founded on historical incidents in the Book of Mormon
Elizabeth Cannon Porter
Ancient ruins and forgotten civilizations serve as the backdrop for these reimagined tales of early American history, where moral struggle, political intrigue, and personal sacrifice collide. Through a series of vignettes, the narrative explores the rise and fall of leaders and the endurance of faith.
The Coast of Adventure
Harold Bindloss
The restless search for purpose often leads to the most dangerous corners of the map. This tale of revolution and integrity follows those who leave behind comfortable lives to test their mettle in the volatile landscapes of Latin America.
The Daguerreian Journal, Vol. I, No. 8, March 1, 1851
Various
This issue of a mid-19th-century trade periodical offers a vivid, practical window into the infancy of photography. It captures the frantic energy of an industry transitioning from laboratory experiment to commercial enterprise.
The Defence of Stonington (Connecticut) Against a British Squadron, August 9th to 12th, 1814
J. Hammond (James Hammond) Trumbull
The defense of Stonington remains a singular testament to civilian resolve, chronicling how a small, ill-equipped Connecticut village defied a powerful British squadron during the closing months of the War of 1812.