The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 700
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 700 of 988.
Chicago and its cess-pools of infamy
Samuel Paynter Wilson
This investigation serves as a stark, journalistic exposé of Chicago’s turn-of-the-century underworld. It documents the systematic entrapment of young women, the prevalence of predatory gambling, and the pervasive corruption that defined the city’s darker corners.
Colonial memories
Lady (Mary Anne) Barker
Across decades of travel and imperial service, a life unfolds in landscapes as disparate as the snowy plains of New Zealand and the sun-drenched gardens of Mauritius. These recollections offer a candid, intimate look at the domestic realities of nineteenth-century colonial life.
Conflict of Northern and Southern Theories of Man and Society: Great Speech, Delivered in New York City
Henry Ward Beecher
Two conflicting worldviews are locked in a struggle over the true nature of humanity, determining whether society exists to foster individual spiritual potential or to maintain an oppressive, power-driven hierarchy.
Critical difference
Murray Leinster
A lone survey officer on a dying, frozen world must solve a planetary-scale climate catastrophe. He finds that even the most desperate technical ingenuity requires a touch of human connection to become a miracle.
Devereux
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
A young nobleman steps into the worldly arena of Queen Anne’s England with a sharp intellect, a cold heart, and an unyielding will, only to find that every victory in politics and passion drags him closer to tragedy.
Diary of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
A candid, unvarnished portrait of seventeenth-century life, this record captures the inner workings of a man’s mind amidst the rise and fall of political giants and the rhythms of a changing city.
Edward FitzGerald and "Posh": "Herring Merchants"
James Blyth
The unlikely friendship between a scholarly recluse and a rugged fisherman reveals the fragile, human heart hidden behind a famous literary mask.
Elfin land: and other poems
Benjamin West Ball
Elfin land is a mid-nineteenth-century collection of poetry that seeks to reclaim the majesty of classical mythology and medieval romance. Its verses act as a bridge between the fading wonders of antiquity and the anxieties of a modern, industrializing age.
Elsie's Friends at Woodburn
Martha Finley
A young girl grapples with her own volatile temper and the complexities of growing up within a deeply affectionate, tradition-bound family. This narrative explores the delicate balance between personal autonomy and the duty of obedience.
England and the War
Raleigh, Walter Alexander, Sir
A wartime observer turns a scholar’s eye on the clash of national temperaments, measuring the strength of a nation not by its military machinery, but by the quiet endurance of its people.
Etain the Beloved, and Other Poems
James Henry Cousins
An epic retelling of Irish myth gives way to quiet lyrics of nature and devotion, mapping the soul's journey through love, sacrifice, and spiritual awakening.
Fenella
Henry Longan Stuart
The sun beats down on a sun-drenched beach, where a young woman rises from the surf, unaware that the elemental forces of life and death are already converging upon her future.
Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World. Part 3
Mark Twain
A traveler records his observations of a changing world, blending sharp wit with the somber realities of colonial expansion and the quiet tragedy of lost civilizations.
Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World. Part 6
Mark Twain
Sacred rivers, burning ghats, mountain railways, and terrifying statistical tables of snakebites fuse into a singular, sharp-eyed record of global travel.
Frank Reade, Jr., with his new steam horse in the great American desert
Luis Senarens
This mechanical odyssey across the American frontier pits a brilliant young inventor against a criminal conspiracy hidden deep within the treacherous, gas-lit wastes of the desert.
Gems for the Young Folks: Fourth Book of the Faith-Promoting Series. Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-Day Saints
Various
A young man fleeing his past finds an unexpected family in the West, while traveling ministers survive shipwrecks, river mobbing, and extreme wilderness hardship through sheer, unyielding faith.
Goat-Feathers
Ellis Parker Butler
Gathering trivial distractions is the fastest way to turn a promising career into a series of half-finished detours.
Harper's Round Table, December 10, 1895
Various
A dark river, a lost boat, and a letter carried through the fog threaten to turn the fate of a nation.
Has Anyone Here Seen Kelly?
Bryce Walton
HOOK Driven by existential dread, a space-faring engineer attempts to shock his hibernating, unified crew out of a state of permanent, blissful apathy, only to trigger a catastrophic disaster that leaves him completely alone.
Hildebrand
Anonymous
Driven by the looming threat of the Spanish Armada and dark personal vendathons, an Elizabethan sea captain must navigate royal intrigue, sea battles, and deadly home-front treachery to save his true love’s family.
His Great Adventure
Robert Herrick
A penniless, discouraged New Yorker suddenly finds himself in possession of a vast fortune, triggering a journey that transforms him from a passive observer of life into a daring, idealistic impresario.
Home Rule: Second Edition
Harold Spender
An urgent political argument disguised as a historical study, this text makes a clear, measured case for granting self-government to Ireland through the Home Rule Bill of 1912.
Home Scenes and Home Influence
T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur
A quietly powerful counterweight to nineteenth-century domestic friction.
Hosanna
Catharine Shaw
The life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth form the bedrock of this collection of narratives, which frames traditional scripture as a series of intimate, transformative encounters between a divine Savior and the human heart.
If You're Smart—
Malcolm Jameson
The business world assumes that if you are truly smart, you must be rich; this inventor proves he can be both by turning the tools of capitalism against a ruthless tycoon.
India
Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
In the lush, volatile landscape of the antebellum American South, a man of steadfast integrity navigates the heavy demands of duty and the haunting pull of two very different women. This sprawling, emotive saga tracks the long arc of a hero’s journey from youthful idealism to the quiet, bittersweet wisdom of maturity.
Joseph Pennell's Pictures in the Land of Temples: Reproductions of a Series of Lithographs Made by Him in the Land of Temples, March-June 1913, Together with Impressions and Notes by the Artist
Joseph Pennell
Centuries of ruin cannot dim the structural majesty of the ancient world. Standing before weathered columns, an artist captures the timeless harmony where classical architecture meets the landscape.
Joseph Pennell's Pictures of War Work in America: Reproductions of a series of lithographs of munition works made by him with the permission and authority of the United States government, with notes and an introduction by the artist
Joseph Pennell
Massive machines dwarf human hands across American industrial yards, converting timber, steel, and fire into the terrifying machinery of modern global warfare.
Just Irish
Charles Battell Loomis
A cheerful American tourist braves torrential downpours and unexpected rail mishaps, recording the warmth, sharp wit, and changing political landscape of turn-of-the-century Ireland with an affectionate, observational lens.
King John
William Shakespeare
A precarious crown, a doubtful inheritance, and the sudden shift of political alliances collide as an illegitimate son steps forward to fight for an unstable realm threatened from within and without.
Lefty o' the bush
Burt L. Standish
The diamond is a stage for reputation as much as sport, where a mysterious newcomer must outpitch both his rivals and the rumors threatening to end his career.
Letters to a Young Housekeeper
Jane Prince
HOOK Master the art of domestic management with this practical guide, written as a series of intimate letters to a young bride navigating the complexities of household economy and staff coordination.
Life on the Mississippi, Part 2
Mark Twain
Stepping onto a steamboat with a pocket full of impossible dreams, a young man quickly discovers that mastering a mighty, shifting river demands nothing less than absolute surrender of his naive romance.
Lion Loose
James H. Schmitz
A rogue criminal faction locks down a floating space hotel to pull off a multi-million-credit heist, unaware that their secret weapon—a deadly alien capable of walking through solid walls—has just broken free.
Little Maid Marian
Amy Ella Blanchard
A lonely girl raised by austere grandparents discovers how warmth, simple play, and steadfast faith can quietly open a closed family circle to joy.
Lives of Two Cats
Pierre Loti
The soul of an animal is a quiet, profound mystery, and these two feline lives serve as the gentle anchors for a man’s memories of home, love, and the inexorable passage of time.
Lot & Company
Will Levington Comfort
A clerk escapes the suffocating grip of a New York office for the open sea, only to find that the true voyage is a radical transformation of the soul.
Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte
Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne
An intimate, unsentimental portrait of power by the man who held Napoleon's pen, tracking how a brilliant republic's general transformed into an unyielding autocrat whose ambition consumed his own empire.
Mingo, and Other Sketches in Black and White
Joel Chandler Harris
Deeply rooted in the shifting soil of Post-Reconstruction Georgia, these atmospheric tales examine the delicate threads of loyalty, pride, and survival binding Black and white rural southerners together after the Civil War.
Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo
E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
In the gilded, high-stakes world of Monte Carlo, an unassuming American becomes the linchpin in a clandestine struggle to prevent a catastrophic European war.
My Year in a Log Cabin
William Dean Howells
A sensitive boy encounters the raw mechanics of nature, hard labor, and sudden grief when his idealist family trades city comforts for an unfinished frontier home.
Nigel Browning
Agnes Giberne
HOOK A young man returns from abroad to a family bound by secrets and rigid expectations, only to discover that the path to his own happiness requires him to dismantle the life he was born into.
No Sons Left to Die!
Hal Annas
HOOK In a future where humanity’s survival depends on child soldiers and endless labor, a young factory worker dares to break the rules to find the boy she once loved.
No Surrender! A Tale of the Rising in La Vendee
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
A spirited young Englishman joins his brother-in-law in the desperate uprising of the Vendean peasants against the tyranny of the French Revolution. This adventure traces a harrowing, historical campaign defined by fierce loyalty and survival.
Notes and Queries, Number 195, July 23, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
This volume serves as a Victorian-era clearinghouse for the curious, a collaborative intellectual space where nineteenth-century readers trade obscure facts and resolve historical ambiguities through open inquiry.
Notes and Queries, Number 75, April 5, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
This periodical serves as a Victorian clearinghouse for the curious, where amateur scholars and antiquarians trade obscure facts to illuminate the shadows of history and language. It is a collaborative intellectual archive.
Notes of a Gold Digger, and Gold Diggers' Guide
James Bonwick
An eye for detail and a practical heart turn the chaos of the bush into a clear, usable roadmap for the wilderness.
Off the Bluebush
J. P. (John Philip) Bourke
The poetry of the Australian goldfields offers an unvarnished, rhythmic portrait of men living by the pick and the pint. It captures a rugged, transient existence where mateship is the only currency that never devalues.