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4,129 public-domain books, summarised. Page 72 of 87.
The Condition and Tendencies of Technical Education in Germany
Arthur Henry Chamberlain
This study examines the rigorous framework of technical schooling in Germany at the dawn of the twentieth century, detailing how a nation transformed its workforce through specialized, state-supported industrial training.
The New Pun Book
Unknown
This collection of wordplay serves as a vintage archive of American humor, where a simple double meaning or a twist of grammar creates a momentary spark of wit. It is a light, episodic romp through the early 20th-century preoccupation with the pun.
The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1
Frederick Whymper
The vast, unforgiving ocean has always been the stage for humanity’s most daring exploits, and here those tales of iron, ice, and ambition are collected in one sweeping chronicle. It is a grand survey of the maritime spirit, capturing the intersection of naval history, desperate survival, and the relentless drive…
Three Ghost Stories
Charles Dickens
These three tales weave the uncanny into the fabric of the everyday, exploring how the mind grapples with shadows that refuse to be dismissed. They endure as masterful studies of human perception, suspense, and the lingering echoes of tragedy.
The Old Stone House and Other Stories
Anna Katharine Green
An unfinished house, a forgotten grave, and a series of unraveling secrets reveal the fragility of the human heart when faced with betrayal and obsession. These stories explore the shadows cast by the past, where the pursuit of truth often exacts a price heavier than the mystery itself.
Cuore (Heart): An Italian Schoolboy's Journal
Edmondo De Amicis
A young boy’s journal captures the moral education and daily life of a third-grade class in late 19th-century Italy. Through lessons of character, patriotism, and social duty, school becomes a microcosm of the nation itself.
Five Children and It
E. (Edith) Nesbit
Five children discover an ancient sand-fairy that grants one wish a day, only to learn that magic is often more trouble than it is worth.
Myths of Babylonia and Assyria
Donald A. (Donald Alexander) Mackenzie
HOOK This work traces the rise and fall of Mesopotamian empires, weaving together the myths of ancient gods, the brutal realities of imperial conquest, and the enduring cultural legacies that shaped the cradle of civilization.
A Defence of Poetry and Other Essays
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Poetry is the lightning-rod for the human spirit, a transformative force that turns the leaden weights of habitual existence into golden perceptions of beauty and truth.
Jamaica Anansi stories
Martha Warren Beckwith
Anansi the spider is the ultimate survivor, a trickster whose wit turns the tables on power, greed, and the dangers of the natural world. These tales capture the sharp, rhythmic voice of Jamaican oral tradition, where intelligence always outweighs brute strength.
Psychopathology of Everyday Life
Sigmund Freud
The smallest slips of the tongue, the names we cannot recall, and the items we misplace are not accidents of a faulty memory, but profound, meaningful expressions of the unconscious mind.
The Free Press
Hilaire Belloc
The modern newspaper is not a neutral messenger of truth, but a commercial instrument designed to suppress news and manufacture consent. This incisive analysis exposes the mechanics of how, in an era of unchecked capitalism, the press became a tool for an invisible, unaccountable oligarchy.
The iron heel
Jack London
A prescient, harrowing vision of a twentieth-century American oligarchy that crushes democracy under an iron boot, leaving only the spark of revolutionary hope in the darkness.
Finger-ring lore
Jones, William, F.S.A.
The circle of the finger-ring has long served as a vessel for human history, binding together the sacred and the profane through stories of love, superstition, and royal authority. This collection reveals how these small tokens of gold and stone have acted as silent witnesses to the most significant moments of our…
St John Damascene on Holy Images (πρὸς τοὺς διαβάλλοντας τᾶς ἁγίας εἰκόνας). Followed by Three Sermons on the Assumption (κοίμησις)
Saint John of Damascus
These foundational texts defend the use of religious imagery and honor the life of the Virgin Mary. They serve as a crucial historical bridge for understanding the theological roots of icon veneration within the early Church.
The Critics Versus Shakspere: A Brief for the Defendant
Francis Asbury Smith
This defense of a literary giant systematically dismantles academic theories that suggest the playwright was merely a derivative imitator. It stands as a spirited, evidence-based rebuttal to critics who have sought to diminish his originality.
The Son of Monte-Cristo
Jules Lermina
HOOK A sprawling, adventurous saga of vengeance and redemption, this narrative follows the son of a legendary count as he confronts the ghosts of his father’s past to save his own future.
Paul and the Printing Press
Sara Ware Bassett
The power of the written word ignites a young student’s ambition, sparking a journalistic journey that tests his integrity and introduces him to the mechanical marvels of the early twentieth century.
The Meaning of Truth
William James
The nature of truth is not a static property of ideas, but a dynamic process—a "cash-value" experience that unfolds as we navigate a world of concrete realities.
Essays Towards a Theory of Knowledge
Alexander Philip
The physical universe is a shimmering map of energy, but the key to unlocking its true nature lies not in passive observation, but in the active, muscular exertion of the human will.
The Box-Car Children
Gertrude Chandler Warner
Four orphaned siblings find freedom and independence by turning an abandoned railway boxcar into their secret home, learning that the most profound security comes from self-reliance and the bonds of family.
O Pioneers!
Willa Cather
The open prairie is a character as much as a setting, indifferent to the lives of those who struggle to tame it. This story of endurance and tragic love explores the cost of carving a life out of the vast, silent Nebraska plains.
The adventures of a donkey
Arabella Argus
This autobiographical account invites readers to experience the trials and triumphs of a donkey who narrates his own life, offering a poignant perspective on the treatment of animals in early nineteenth-century England.
Christie's old organ
Walton, O. F., Mrs.
A lonely boy and an elderly street musician find redemption and a shared sense of belonging through their mutual love for a simple, evocative song. This moving tale traces their journey from the shadows of urban poverty toward a spiritual home.
Chinese Painters: A Critical Study
Raphaël Petrucci
This critical study explores the expansive history of Chinese painting, tracing the evolution of its aesthetic philosophies from ancient traditions through the stylistic shifts of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties. It offers a bridge between Eastern and Western artistic sensibilities, arguing for the profound unity of…
The tale of Master Meadow Mouse
Arthur Scott Bailey
The story of a plump, clever rodent navigating the hazards of Pleasant Valley, this book follows a young mouse as he outwits predators, finds shelter, and eventually earns his place as a full-grown member of the meadow community. It is a gentle, episodic tale of survival and self-discovery that has persisted for…
The Traitors
E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
A small, embattled Balkan nation struggles for sovereignty against the encroaching shadows of imperial ambition, while a clandestine band of loyalists and foreign sympathizers navigates a labyrinth of betrayal to secure a future for their king.
The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2
Jonathan Swift
This collection gathers the private and public verse of an incomparable satirist, revealing a man who moved effortlessly between the warmth of intimate friendship and the cold, precise fury of political warfare. It is a portrait of a mind that found the world’s absurdities as worthy of investigation as its cruelties.
The poetry of pathos & delight
Coventry Patmore
The capacity for deep, enduring love is not a triumph of the will, but a quiet, fragile art that matures through the steady rhythms of a life shared.
Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses
M. G. (Maurice Grenville) Kains
Culinary herbs are the secret to transforming simple, inexpensive ingredients into memorable meals. This guide serves as an essential manual for anyone looking to cultivate, harvest, and preserve these flavorful plants at home.
Hildegarde's Holiday: A Story for Girls
Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards
Hildegarde’s life undergoes a quiet transformation when a summer journey brings her into the orbit of new friends, forgotten histories, and the simple, restorative power of nature. This is a gentle story of maturity, empathy, and the small acts of kindness that mend broken spirits.
The Angels' Song
Thomas Guthrie
The birth of a child in a stable, rather than a palace, serves as the central anchor for a deep meditation on the nature of divine glory, human duty, and the promise of ultimate peace.
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Karl Marx
To penetrate the "material cover" of modern commerce is to discover that the exchange of things is, in reality, a complex social drama between people.
The Life of Gordon, Volume I
Demetrius Charles Boulger
This biography captures the restless, singular spirit of a British officer whose professional genius and moral intensity defined an era of imperial expansion. It tracks a life balanced between iron-willed military command and an evolving, deeply personal devotion to others.
The Romance of Mathematics: Being the Original Researches of a Lady Professor of Girtham College in Polemical Science, with some Account of the Social Properties of a Conic
P. H. (Peter Hampson) Ditchfield
A playful Victorian satire, this work imagines a brilliant female academic who applies the rigid logic of mathematics to the chaotic, evolving art of politics. It is a witty, intellectual romp through the gendered biases of its time.
Japan
David Murray
This sweeping survey of Japanese history traces the nation’s evolution from its mythological origins through centuries of feudal rule to its emergence as a modern constitutional empire. It serves as a foundational bridge for Western readers seeking to understand the complex political and cultural shifts that shaped…
The Fables of La Fontaine: Translated into English Verse by Walter Thornbury and Illustrated by Gustave Doré
Jean de La Fontaine
These timeless vignettes feature animals acting with all-too-human vanity, folly, and wisdom. They use the mask of the fable to offer sharp, enduring reflections on the nature of power, ambition, and the human heart.
The last September
Elizabeth Bowen
A young woman teeters on the edge of a vanishing world, caught between her own awakening desires and the violent, inevitable collapse of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy she calls home.
History of the Origin, Formation, and Adoption of the Constitution of the United States, Vol. 1: With Notices of Its Principle Framers
George Ticknor Curtis
The path to American governance was not a single stride, but a slow, precarious climb out of the wreckage of war and the failures of a loose confederation of states.
Mesopotamian Archaeology: An introduction to the archaeology of Mesopotamia and Assyria
Percy S. P. (Percy Stuart Peache) Handcock
This primer explores the buried material culture of ancient Mesopotamia, offering a window into the daily lives, artistic achievements, and architectural legacies of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Oliver Wendell Holmes
A literary portrait of a singular American mind, this biography captures the life of a quiet revolutionary who transformed the intellectual landscape of the nineteenth century.
My Father's Dragon
Ruth Stiles Gannett
A young boy leaves home on a secret, perilous mission to rescue an enslaved baby dragon from a remote, wild island. Armed only with a knapsack of curious supplies, he outwits a menagerie of ferocious beasts.
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
This ethereal, melancholic chronicle explores the boundary between the innocence of childhood and the permanent, iron-barred reality of growing up. It invites readers into the hidden, nocturnal life of London’s Kensington Gardens, where the lines between human boys, birds, and fairies blur into a singular, haunting…
The library of Photius, Volume 1 (of 1)
Photius I, Saint, Patriarch of Constantinople
A singular window into the lost archives of antiquity, this collection captures a polymath’s obsessive summaries of hundreds of vanished or rare manuscripts.
Among the Sioux: A Story of the Twin Cities and the Two Dakotas
R. J. (Robert J.) Creswell
These accounts of pioneering missionaries bring the vast, often brutal frontier of the 19th-century American Northwest into sharp focus through the lens of faith and cultural collision.
The System of Nature, or, the Laws of the Moral and Physical World. Volume 1
Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Nature is a closed system of matter and motion, governed by immutable laws. Human misery arises not from divine displeasure, but from our own ignorance of these fundamental, physical realities.
Glaucoma
Unknown
HOOK This collection captures a pivotal moment in early twentieth-century medicine, as leading specialists debate the causes and surgical evolution of a sight-stealing disease.
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
This collection gathers the essential verse of a foundational figure in English Romanticism, mapping the growth of a poet’s mind and his profound connection to the natural world. It stands as a testament to the belief that common life and the landscape of the English Lakes hold the key to human truth.