The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 695
34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 695 of 714.
A Star for a Night: A Story of Stage Life
Elsie Janis
This narrative captures the frantic, glittering, and often precarious world of early 20th-century New York theater, where young women arrive with big dreams and find their paths paved by the whims of wealthy, possessive "angels." It is a candid look at the intersection of ambition, art, and the transactional nature…
A "Temporary Gentleman" in France
A. J. (Alec John) Dawson
A civilian leaves his desk to command men in the mud of France, discovering that the true nature of heroism lies in the quiet, unrelenting care for others.
A Trip Abroad: An Account of a Journey to the Earthly Canaan and the Land of the Ancient Pharaohs
Don Carlos Janes
The traveler seeks the echoes of antiquity in the lands of the Bible, finding a bridge between the ancient scriptural narratives and the modern world of the early twentieth century.
A Trip to Manitoba
Mary Agnes FitzGibbon
A journey across the Canadian wilderness reveals the stark, shifting frontier of a burgeoning nation. This account chronicles the resilience required to traverse the vast prairies and rugged territories of the late nineteenth century.
All Jackson's Children
Daniel F. Galouye
HOOK A pair of salvagers discovers a stranded colony of robots that have developed a strange, mechanical theology based on the memory of a long-dead human crewman.
An English woman-sergeant in the Serbian Army
Flora Sandes
An Englishwoman joins the Serbian Army during the Great War, serving as a front-line soldier and sergeant. She shares an intimate, mud-splattered account of life, survival, and camaraderie in the trenches.
An Expository Outline of the "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation": With a Notice of the Author's "Explanations:" A Sequel to the Vestiges
S. (Samuel) Laing
This work serves as a contemporary critique and structured analysis of the mid-19th-century scientific sensation that challenged established views on the origins of the universe and the biological development of life.
Ballads of Lost Haven: A Book of the Sea
Bliss Carman
The sea is a vast, indifferent tomb and an eternal siren, calling the restless toward an horizon where the living and the dead inevitably converge.
Behind the Throne
William Le Queux
Behind the Throne is an intricate, atmospheric tale of political intrigue and personal sacrifice set within the highest levels of the Italian government. It captures the dark, treacherous intersection of state secrets, bureaucratic corruption, and the private lives of those pulling the levers of power.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 63, No. 387, January, 1848
Various
This collection of essays and narratives captures the anxieties of a mid-nineteenth-century British perspective, offering a snapshot of a nation wrestling with industrial decline, colonial unrest, and the turbulence of a changing European political landscape.
Boys of The Fort
Edward Stratemeyer
The frontier is a place where character is forged in the crucible of duty, and a young officer must prove his mettle against both lawless men and the wild terrain.
Captain Calamity
Rolf Bennett
A man of mystery takes to the high seas during the Great War, commanding a motley crew and a repurposed merchant vessel in a race against betrayal and his own shadowed past. This adventure blends the grit of naval warfare with the romantic sensibilities of early twentieth-century fiction.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 446: Volume 18, New Series, July 17, 1852
Various
The Victorian era’s restless curiosity comes alive in this snapshot of a mid-century magazine, where scientific wonder and social commentary collide. It captures the pulse of a society eager to catalog the world's strangeness and improve its own moral machinery.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 451: Volume 18, New Series, August 21, 1852
Various
This collection of mid-Victorian journalism explores the rapid shifts of a changing world, from the competitive race for dominance on the high seas to the quiet, poignant struggles of individual lives.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 683: January 27, 1877
Various
A Victorian miscellany serves as a panoramic window into nineteenth-century life, blending earnest biographical profiles, tales of Arctic survival, and practical dispatches on the rapid advancement of global industry and scientific inquiry.
Commander Lawless V.C
Rolf Bennett
A restless naval officer finds his true calling in the desperate, unconventional skirmishes of the First World War, where audacity often outmaneuvers superior firepower.
Count the Cost: An Address to the People of Connecticut, On Sundry Political Subjects, and Particularly on the Proposition for a New Constitution
David Daggett
Before pulling up a flourishing hill of corn to search for worms, a prudent farmer must pause to consider if the act might destroy the crop entirely. This central warning serves as the cornerstone for a rigorous defense of Connecticut’s established political order during a period of intense revolutionary fervor.
Country Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago: Personal recollections and reminiscences of a sexagenarian
Canniff Haight
This memoir captures the vanishing textures of nineteenth-century Ontario, offering a vivid, unvarnished window into the daily rhythms, social customs, and rugged realities of pioneer life.
Custer's Last Shot
Travers, J. M., Col.
The frontier meets the finality of history in a high-stakes rescue mission where the legend of Custer’s last stand serves as the backdrop for a desperate search for a missing woman.
Dickens in Camp
Bret Harte
Dickens in Camp acts as a bridge between the rugged, gold-rush reality of the American West and the Victorian sentimentality of England’s most celebrated novelist. It is a brief, evocative poetic tribute that captures how literature can momentarily tame even the wildest spirits.
Dutch the Diver
George Manville Fenn
The pursuit of sunken treasure turns to peril when a professional diver and his crew face betrayal at sea. This gripping adventure chronicles a struggle for survival against both natural predators and a vengeful rival.
Elsie's New Relations: What They Did and How They Fared at Ion
Martha Finley
This domestic drama explores the heavy weight of expectations placed upon young women in the nineteenth century, as they navigate the transition from girlhood to the structured life of marriage and motherhood. It remains a poignant portrait of a family that measures its success by the internal peace and moral…
Emperor William First, the Great War and Peace Hero
A. Walter
A life defined by military duty and the unification of a fractured nation, this portrait captures the ascent of a prince who became the first German Emperor. It traces a long, disciplined journey from the Napoleonic wars to the pinnacle of European power.
Etiquette Made Easy
Edward Summers Squier
Genuine courtesy begins with a simple regard for the feelings of others. This manual offers a structured, traditional guide to navigating the complex social obligations of early twentieth-century life.
Fairies I Have Met
Stawell, Rodolph, Mrs.
HOOK These interconnected tales invite readers into a hidden world where sunbeams dwell in human hearts and nature’s smallest elements possess secret, whimsical lives.
Frey and His Wife
Maurice Hewlett
This brisk, ironic tale follows an unlikely pair of men—one a cowardly trickster and the other an honorable fugitive—as their paths cross, diverge, and finally collide in the shadow of a wooden god. It is a sharp study in the difference between the appearance of courage and the substance of it.
Further remarks on the policy of lending Bodleian printed books and manuscripts
Henry W. (Henry William) Chandler
The Bodleian Library stands at a crossroads: remain a sanctuary for the preservation of knowledge, or transform into a common circulating collection. This polemic argues that allowing books to leave the building is a reckless policy that threatens the library’s very existence.
Government by the Brewers?
Adolph Keitel
A former industry insider exposes how the American brewing establishment used mass corruption, political bribery, and control of the ballot box to maintain its grip on society.
Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill Battle, as She Saw it from the Belfry
Oliver Wendell Holmes
A grandmother recounts the harrowing day of the Battle of Bunker Hill, witnessing the clash from a belfry as her own life’s trajectory is irrevocably altered by the violence unfolding across the river.
Ignaz Jan Paderewski
Edward Algernon Baughan
A brilliant, tempestuous force of the concert hall, this portrait captures the man behind the myth. It explores how a singular Polish artist transformed from a struggling student into the most celebrated pianist of his generation.
Imaginary Portraits
Walter Pater
These four elegant, meditative sketches explore the fragile intersection of human desire and historical reality, capturing the brief, luminous lives of individuals who strive for beauty in an indifferent world.
In the Depths of the Dark Continent
Cornelius Shea
This fast-paced adventure chronicle follows a young man’s perilous quest across Africa to avenge his uncle’s murder, eventually uncovering a lost civilization and his own long-lost family.
In the King's Name: The Cruise of the "Kestrel"
George Manville Fenn
HOOK A young midshipman finds his patience and mettle tested when his small cutter is ambushed by elusive enemies along the coast.
In the Quarter
Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
An expatriate artist struggles to reconcile his bohemian life in Paris with the crushing weight of inheritance, love, and a dangerous past. The city of light acts as both a sanctuary and a trap for a young man finding his footing in an unforgiving world.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of John Leech
John Leech
This collection serves as a comprehensive index and retrospective of a prolific nineteenth-century illustrator whose work defined the visual spirit of the Victorian era. It acts as a gateway to the multifaceted career of a draughtsman whose ink captured the manners, absurdities, and social stratifications of his time.
Instead of the Thorn: A Novel
Clara Louise Burnham
HOOK A sudden financial ruin forces a privileged young woman to trade her glittering city life for the quiet, rugged coast of Maine, where she must confront the truth about her father’s legacy and her own heart.
Le Petit Nord
Anne Grenfell
A volunteer nurse trades the comforts of civilization for a rugged, wind-swept frontier, finding that the harsh reality of the far north holds a profound and lasting human warmth.
Life and Times of David. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. VI
Charles Henry Mackintosh
This collection of nineteenth-century devotional studies explores the intersection of divine sovereignty and human frailty, using biblical history as a lens to examine the nature of faith, obedience, and the believer's responsibility.
Little Button Rose
Louisa May Alcott
A small, irrepressible girl arrives at the home of her three elderly, distant cousins, only to discover a household stifled by ancient feuds and rigid habits. By simply being herself, she heals the hearts around her.
Lloyd George: The Man and His Story
Frank Dilnot
A whirlwind of political ambition and relentless energy, this portrait captures the ascent of a small-town boy who dared to challenge the British establishment and ultimately command the nation during its hour of greatest peril.
Lord Stranleigh Abroad
Robert Barr
A wealthy British aristocrat finds that his title is a burden in America, leading him on a series of adventures where he trades his social standing for the anonymity of the open road.
Luke Barnicott, and Other Stories
William Howitt
The world is vast, filled with both the quiet struggles of humble villages and the shimmering, distant promises of fairy-tale kingdoms. These stories explore the weight of truth, the reach of memory, and the unexpected intersections of disparate lives.
Manners: A Novel, Vol 2
Madame Panache
This second volume of a nineteenth-century social satire navigates the intricate, often treacherous landscape of the English marriage market, where fortune and artifice frequently eclipse genuine sentiment. It offers a sharp, observational lens on the performative nature of high society, exposing the calculated…
Marjorie Dean at Hamilton Arms
Josephine Chase
A spirited young woman navigates the complexities of college life, enduring friendships, and the secrets of a historic estate. She finds her footing through grace, leadership, and a steadfast commitment to those she calls her own.
Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI
Mme. Du Hausset
HOOK This intimate chronicle offers an insider’s view of the French monarchy’s final, crumbling days, as witnessed by a devoted confidante within the Queen’s private circle.
Mildred Keith
Martha Finley
HOOK This is a story of a young woman’s grace in the face of frontier hardship, where the true battlefields are the hearth and the heart.
Miniature essays: Igor Stravinsky
Anonymous
This short volume offers a concentrated, contemporary assessment of a composer whose rapid evolution challenged the musical conventions of the early twentieth century. It serves as both a biographical primer and a defense of his shifting aesthetic.
Mollie and the Unwiseman
John Kendrick Bangs
A whimsical excursion into a world where logic is inverted, this story follows a curious girl and her toy companions as they befriend a man who prefers soapsuds to tobacco and moves his house whenever the spirit—or the lack of apples—moves him.