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All free summaries — page 681
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 681 of 988.
Beryl's triumph
Eglanton Thorne
HOOK A headstrong young girl discovers the weight of her own influence as she navigates loss, faith, and the complexities of becoming a part of a family.
Between the Lines
Boyd Cable
HOOK This collection of reports from the Western Front bridges the gap between official military communiqués and the visceral, often harrowing reality of the men living in the mud and under the shell fire.
Birds and Nature, Vol. 08, No. 5, December 1900: Illustrated by Color Photography
Various
This collection serves as a Victorian-era bridge between scientific inquiry and poetic observation, inviting the reader to find wonder in the familiar rhythms of the natural world. It captures a moment when the study of nature was a shared, optimistic public pursuit.
Blow the Man Down
Charles L. Fontenay
A lone pirate hijacks a freighter only to find himself trapped in a high-stakes psychological game with the crew he meant to enslave. In the crushing silence of the vacuum, the hunter and the hunted must navigate the lethal indifference of deep space.
Blue-Stocking Hall, (Vol. 1 of 3)
William Pitt Scargill
A young man discovers that his prejudice against intellectual women is entirely misplaced when he finds himself welcomed into the warm, vibrant life of a secluded Irish estate.
Bob Strong's Holidays: Adrift in the Channel
John C. (John Conroy) Hutcheson
This Victorian-era adventure captures the sun-drenched, occasionally perilous freedom of a seaside summer. It follows two siblings and their new friend as they navigate the small dramas and genuine dangers of the English Channel.
Bob, the photographer
Edward Stratemeyer
A young man finds his path to prosperity through an accidental introduction to the art of photography, turning a series of dangerous encounters into a life of purpose and personal discovery.
Bomba the jungle boy on Jaguar Island
Roy Rockwood
A resourceful youth raised in the wild navigates the perils of the Amazon, fighting to uncover the truth of his origins while surviving headhunters and the deadly creatures of the jungle.
Brite and Fair
Henry A. (Henry Augustus) Shute
This diary captures the relentless, messy, and hilarious energy of childhood, where every minor grievance is a tragedy and every afternoon is a potential battlefield. It is an honest, unvarnished look at a boy’s world.
Bulldog
Max Brand
This narrative follows a hardened, embittered ex-convict who finds his only genuine connection to the world through a ferocious, white bull terrier. It is a story of redemption earned not through talk, but through shared, bloody conflict.
Cavour
Martinengo-Cesaresco, Evelyn Lilian Hazeldine Carrington, contessa
One man’s pragmatic genius transforms a fractured, autocrat-ridden peninsula into a modern constitutional state by channeling raw patriotism into disciplined political action.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 700: May 26, 1877
Various
This collection offers a window into the Victorian mind, blending lyrical nature writing, tragic fiction, and the scientific curiosities that defined the late nineteenth-century appetite for progress and discovery.
Coloured engravings of heaths
Andrews, Henry Cranke, active 1799-1828
A meticulous record of the diverse, brilliant, and delicate Erica species, this work serves as an enduring guide for the nineteenth-century botanist and the modern reader alike. It captures the fleeting beauty of a botanical tribe through precision and observation.
Coriolanus
William Shakespeare
A soldier of peerless talent finds himself undone by his own contempt for the people he protects. This searing drama explores the collision between rigid individual honor and the messy, democratic demands of the state.
Crowded Out! and Other Sketches
S. Frances (Susie Frances) Harrison
An ambitious artist stakes everything on conquering London, while in the Canadian wilderness and beyond, others navigate the quiet, crushing weight of their own secrets and social expectations.
Dame Care
Hermann Sudermann
The weight of duty and the shadow of poverty define a life before it has even begun. This story explores the crushing burden of responsibility inherited by a son born into a family’s ruin.
Devon Boys: A Tale of the North Shore
George Manville Fenn
A quiet stretch of the Devon coast becomes a landscape of unexpected industry and peril when three schoolboys stumble upon a hidden vein of silver.
Education of a Martian
Joseph Shallit
A young woman risks everything to bridge the gap between two worlds, only to discover that her greatest challenge is not the prejudice of her society, but the loss of the man she loves to the very values she sought to escape.
Eventful Narratives: The Thirteenth Book of the Faith Promoting Series. Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints
Robert Aveson
This collection of accounts offers a candid window into the lives of 19th-century pioneers, capturing the intense personal stakes involved in their migration and spiritual journeys. It is a portrait of conviction tested by hardship, legal obstacles, and the rugged realities of frontier life.
Everychild
Louis Dodge
This allegorical odyssey follows a young boy’s transformative trek through a landscape populated by the familiar icons of folklore. It serves as a gentle exploration of the transition from childhood innocence to the realities of adult life.
Expressive Voice Culture, Including the Emerson System
Jessie Eldridge Southwick
The voice serves as a bridge between the inner landscape of the soul and the outer world, acting as a natural, living instrument that reflects the speaker's true character.
Extracts from the Galactick Almanack: Music Around the Universe
Laurence M. Janifer
The universe is a stage for impossible harmonies, where the line between art and engineering blurs and musical genius often hides in the most unexpected—and sometimes monstrous—places.
Flower of the North: A Modern Romance
James Oliver Curwood
HOOK A man finds his soul and his destiny in the frozen, untamed wilderness of the Canadian North, where the line between civilization and nature blurs into a dangerous, beautiful mystery.
Harper's Round Table, February 2, 1897
Various
A collection of mid-Victorian vignettes, the pages of this periodical offer a window into a vanished world of naval apprentices, intrepid boys on bicycles, and the rigid moral codes of the nineteenth-century schoolroom.
Harper's Round Table, November 26, 1895
Various
The turn of the century comes alive in these pages, capturing the restless, imaginative, and adventurous spirit of youth through a vibrant collection of stories, practical advice, and gentle wit.
Harper's Young People, May 24, 1881: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
This collection of nineteenth-century children’s journalism offers a window into the past, blending historical storytelling with the earnest, hobby-focused correspondence of Victorian-era youth. It serves as a fascinating artifact of how children once entertained, educated, and connected with one another.
Helon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Volume 2 (of 2): A picture of Judaism, in the century which preceded the advent of our Savior
Friedrich Strauss
A young man’s spiritual and physical journey through the ancient Holy Land offers an immersive, detailed reconstruction of Jewish life in the century preceding the arrival of the Savior.
History of Company K of the 140th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers (1862-'65)
Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin) Powelson
The preservation of a Union is measured not in abstract ideals, but in the muddy boots, stolen pigs, and rain-soaked nights of the men who stood in the line of fire.
How to become like Christ
Marcus Dods
The goal of the Christian life is not merely to follow a set of rules, but to mirror the character of a person. By keeping the figure of Jesus at the center of one’s focus, the soul is gradually and inevitably reshaped into His likeness.
Hypatia
John Toland
A brilliant philosopher is brutally murdered by a mob of clergymen in fifth-century Alexandria, sparking a centuries-long debate over the morality of those who claim to act in the name of God.
I Am a Nucleus
Stephen Barr
A mundane New York life suddenly warps into a whirlwind of impossible coincidences, revealing an unseen, growing intelligence that anchors itself to an unsuspecting man.
I, the Unspeakable
Walter J. Sheldon
A man trapped in a sterile, authoritarian future receives a name so scandalous it ruins his life, eventually leading him to a desperate, life-altering rebellion.
Identity
George O. (George Oliver) Smith
A brilliant but reluctant cryptologist must venture into the treacherous, fog-bound wilds of Venus to save the woman he loves, using the long-lost, forbidden knowledge of a rogue surgeon.
In the Garden of Delight
Lily Hardy Hammond
The struggle of the human spirit to find beauty amidst physical suffering is the true subject of this narrative, which explores how the "Garden of Delight" is not a place, but a perspective.
In the Palace of the King: A Love Story of Old Madrid
F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford
A tale of love, intrigue, and honor set in the court of King Philip II of Spain.
Interim
Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson
A young woman navigates the precarious independence of early 20th-century London, seeking moments of internal stillness amidst the suffocating, watchful expectations of her social and professional circles.
Is man a free agent?
James Hawthorne Loryea
The mechanical nature of human choice is the central inquiry of this work. It proposes that what we call free will is actually a series of reflexive responses to environmental cues.
Italian Letters, Vols. I and II
William Godwin
A young man's unshakeable faith in his closest friend becomes the very instrument of his downfall when romantic jealousy and calculated betrayal test the limits of philosophical virtue.
Janet
Louise Élise Gibbons
This is a stark, heart-wrenching portrait of childhood poverty in 19th-century New York, where the indifference of the city stands in cruel contrast to a young girl’s desperate pursuit of grace.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Herbert F. (Herbert Francis) Peyser
The life of a musical titan unfolds here with quiet, scholarly dignity, tracing the journey from a provincial German choirboy to the undisputed master of Western counterpoint.
Joy in Service
George Tybout Purves
The life of a believer is a directed journey, where the weight of past regrets and the confusion of worldly ambition are shed in favor of a singular, joyful devotion to a higher calling.
Kate Danton, or, Captain Danton's Daughters: A Novel
May Agnes Fleming
A tale of three sisters navigating passion, secrets, and the heavy weight of social expectations in a 19th-century Canadian household. It is a story where impulsive choices lead to lasting, often painful, consequences.
Kissing the Rod: A Novel. (Vol. 1 of 3)
Edmund Yates
A man of commerce finds his life upended by a sudden, consuming obsession with a woman who exists in a world entirely separate from his own. This is a story of social ambition, calculated deception, and the heavy price of living a lie.
Ladies Must Live
Alice Duer Miller
A cynical social satire turns on an unexpected hinge when two mercenary high-society players drop their defenses and fall in love. In 1910s New York, staying wealthy is a full-time job.
Legendary Tales of the Highlands (Volume 1 of 3): A sequel to Highland Rambles
Lauder, Thomas Dick, Sir
The rugged peaks and mist-shrouded glens of Scotland serve as the stage for these atmospheric tales, where local folklore and hard-won history bleed into the lives of those who wander the Highlands.
Letters to the young from the Old World
Miller, D. L., Mrs.
This travelogue captures a nineteenth-century journey through Europe and the Bible Lands, framing historical sites and foreign customs through the lens of faith, personal observation, and a profound sense of gratitude. It serves as both a map of a world long past and a testament to the author’s enduring commitment…
Literary Love-Letters and Other Stories
Robert Herrick
Romantic longings and the hard realities of social status collide in this collection of tales, where characters attempt to define their own lives against the rigid expectations of the late 19th-century American elite.
Little sweetheart
Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs.
A wealthy man’s life is shattered by the return of a wife he believed long dead, forcing him to choose between a past obligation and the new family he has built. This melodrama plays out against the backdrop of the post-Civil War South, where shifting fortunes and deep-seated secrets dictate the fates of its…