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All free summaries — page 735
42,801 public-domain books, summarised. Page 735 of 892.
Blind Man's Lantern
Allen Kim Lang
Two Amish homesteaders are planted on a foreign world by spacefarers who hope low-energy agriculture will spark a planetary renaissance, only for the couple to discover that surviving requires adapting to foreign sacred traditions.
Border and Bastille
George A. (George Alfred) Lawrence
A fashionable English novelist sets out for America in 1863 to join the Confederate army, but his grand adventure falls apart in a tangle of treacherous guides, muddy rivers, and Federal prisons.
By Reef and Palm
Louis Becke
These tales of the South Pacific capture the raw edge of colonial life, where transient men and island cultures collide in a landscape of indifferent sun and lethal beauty.
Christmas Eve
Robert Browning
A restless soul wanders from a stifling chapel into a stormy night, seeking a purer connection to the divine, only to discover that truth wears many guises in the human search for God.
Cleo The Magnificent
Louis Zangwill
A young poet discovers that the true weight of existence is found not in his private, mystical reveries, but in the gritty, unavoidable demands of the everyday world.
Darrel of the Blessed Isles
Irving Bacheller
A young orphan's struggle for identity and love unfolds alongside an eccentric clock tinker's quiet, noble sacrifice in the rugged backwoods of nineteenth-century America.
Daughters of the Cross: or Woman's Mission
Daniel C. (Daniel Clarke) Eddy
Courageous women abandon comfortable American homes to preach, teach, and endure horrific privations across the nineteenth-century global mission field.
Dave Porter and the Runaways
Edward Stratemeyer
HOOK A persistent student navigates school rivalries, a mysterious "wild man" in the woods, and the fallout of a local hotel bombing, ultimately striving to secure his graduation during his final term at Oak Hall.
Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and Referendum
J. W. (James William) Sullivan
A study of direct democracy, this work argues that the Initiative and Referendum are practical tools for dismantling political corruption and restoring sovereignty to the individual citizen.
Down the River to the Sea
Agnes Maule Machar
Clear water, noble views, and quiet company form the background for a summer trip down Canada's great waterway, where history and gentle romance meet under open skies.
Elves and Heroes
Donald A. (Donald Alexander) Mackenzie
This collection of poems and tales breathes life into the vanishing folklore of the Scottish Highlands, blending the ethereal world of spirits with the tragic grandeur of ancient heroes.
Fifteen Days: An Extract from Edward Colvil's Journal
Mary Lowell Putnam
When young farmer Edward Colvil welcomes two travelers to his quiet rural routine, fifteen days of intense moral reflection and intellectual fellowship permanently reshape his entire world.
Friends and Helpers
Unknown
Learning to view animals with empathy rather than indifference transforms a child into a thoughtful, compassionate person, unlocking a deeper understanding of the living world around us.
From Ocean to Ocean: Across a Continent on a Bicycle: An Account of a Solitary Ride From Adelaide to Port Darwin
Jerome J. Murif
Driven by a quiet, formless restlessness, a solitary cyclist sets out to ride a bicycle across the entire Australian continent from Adelaide to Port Darwin.
Gaslight Sonatas
Fannie Hurst
Fannie Hurst captures the quiet, crushing weight of urban poverty through the lens of women struggling to maintain their dignity amid the "five-in-a-room morality" of the early twentieth-century city. These stories illuminate the hidden, atomic lives of clerks, shopgirls, and widowed mothers, revealing the fragile…
Harper's Young People, August 2, 1881: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
Mistreated by a cruel guardian, an eleven-year-old runaway and his small yellow dog flee into the dusk, seeking safety and a night's shelter along a lonesome country road.
Harper's Young People, September 27. 1881: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
A weekly illustrated periodical for youth captures late-nineteenth-century American reading life through serialized fiction, natural history notes, descriptive travel sketches, and puzzles.
Kelly of the Foreign Legion: Letters of Légionnaire Russell A. Kelly
Russell Anthony Kelly
A young American volunteer records his brief, clear-eyed journey from enlisting in France to the bloody trenches of the Western Front, where romantic notions of war swiftly vanish.
King Henry VIII
William Shakespeare
Power, piety, and political maneuvering collide in this theatrical portrait of Tudor England, where fortunes vanish overnight and royal desires rewrite national destiny.
Long Odds
H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
A veteran hunter sits by a fire in England, recounting the single reckless day in the African bush that broke his body and left him with a lifelong limp.
Macmillan & Co.'s General Catalogue of Works in the Departments of History, Biography, Travels, and Belles Lettres, December, 1869
Macmillan & Co.
A fascinating window into Victorian publishing, this document maps the landscape of nineteenth-century intellectual culture through a carefully curated list of histories, biographies, poetry, and classical reprints.
Margaret Smith's Journal: Part 1 from Volume V of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
A young English woman arrives in the seventeenth-century Massachusetts Bay Colony, documenting her observations of the harsh landscape, the local religious fervor, and the complex social tensions of a nascent society.
Marie Claire
Marguerite Audoux
A young woman’s quiet, luminous search for belonging unfolds across the stark landscapes of rural France and the rigid walls of a convent orphanage.
Marjorie
Justin H. (Justin Huntly) McCarthy
A lad’s wild dream of the sea leads to shipwreck, mutiny, and a desperate battle for love on an isolated island.
Montgomery, the Capital City of Alabama: Her Resources and Advantages
Montgomery Real Estate Agents' Association, Montgomery, Ala.
A flourishing hub of commerce and agriculture in the late nineteenth-century South, Montgomery offers abundant natural resources, exceptional transportation links, and an inviting climate for prospective settlers and investors.
Mr. Dide, His Vacation in Colorado
Lewis B. France
Nature’s grandeur demands a respectful, observant spirit, and in this rugged landscape, the true traveler finds that peace is a byproduct of letting go of one’s urban pretenses.
Multitude and Solitude
John Masefield
A London dramatist leaves his literary life behind to pursue medical science in the African wilderness, seeking a cure for sleeping sickness while reckoning with personal grief and intellectual doubt.
Narrative of the Life of J.D. Green, a Runaway Slave, from Kentucky: Containing an Account of His Three Escapes, in 1839, 1846, and 1848
J. D. (Jacob D.) Green
Driven by a fierce resolve to escape the lash, an enslaved man repeatedly risks his life to break free from the brutal plantation system of nineteenth-century Maryland and Kentucky.
News from the Duchy
Arthur Quiller-Couch
A collection of tales set in the remote, salt-sprayed corners of Cornwall, where the line between the ancient world and the modern day perpetually blurs.
Ninth annual report of the St. Mary Abbott's, Kensington, Church of England District Visiting Society: with some account of the different societies subordinate or affiliated to it
Anonymous
A detailed annual report exposes the hidden social and financial struggles of mid-nineteenth-century Kensington, tracking a dedicated parish community's efforts to uplift its urban poor through organized charity, education, and moral guidance.
Notes and Queries, Number 183, April 30, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
This nineteenth-century periodical captures the vibrant, sprawling curiosity of Victorian intellectual life. It serves as a persistent public bridge for scholars, hobbyists, and antiquaries to exchange rare knowledge and solve minor mysteries.
Notes and Queries, Number 239, May 27, 1854: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
This weekly periodical functions as a nineteenth-century clearinghouse for intellectual curiosity, inviting readers to exchange obscure facts and solve historical, literary, and scientific mysteries through collaborative investigation.
Old Lady Number 31
Louise Forsslund
A penniless, aging couple faces heart-wrenching separation when financial ruin forces them out of their Long Island home and into a women’s charity refuge.
Oliver Wendell Holmes (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
William Dean Howells
In a quiet nineteenth-century Boston, a distinguished medical professor writes with such sparkling, generous wit that he becomes the beloved voice of an entire intellectual community.
Polite Satires: Containing The Unknown Hand, The Volcanic Island, Square Pegs
Clifford Bax
A light-hearted triquetra of verse comedies, Clifford Bax’s collection plays upon the universal longing for another identity, another era, or a more dramatic version of oneself, only to return its heroines to the present with a smile.
Psyche
Molière
Beauty drives a mortal woman to the brink of death when jealous gods and envious sisters turn her virtue into a tragic curse.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105 December 9, 1893
Various
A Victorian weekly periodical captures the political squabbles, theatrical absurdities, and literary chatter of late-1893 England through biting satire and verse.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 108, March 16, 1895
Various
A sharp satirical glance at the ridiculous absurdities of late-Victorian society, where solemn propriety and frivolous obsession share the exact same room.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 109, October 12, 1895
Various
A biting yet whimsical weekly snapshot of late-Victorian society, where political satire, bicycle mishaps, and comical verse collide.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, January 3, 1891
Various
This volume offers a sprawling, satirical window into the Victorian state of mind, capturing the frantic energy, class anxieties, and peculiar pastimes of London life at the dawn of 1891.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, August 29, 1891
Various
This volume captures the frantic, biting, and often absurd energy of Victorian London at the close of the summer season in 1891. It is a mosaic of satire, social commentary, and light verse that reveals a society both obsessed with appearances and exhausted by the relentless pace of "modernity.
Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 29, October 15, 1870
Various
A sharp, satirical snapshot of 1870s New York, this periodical captures the era's anxieties through biting wit, absurd fiction, and a relentless mockery of social pretension.
Ralph Clavering
William Henry Giles Kingston
An arrogant boy’s claim to a wealthy English estate is shattered by a sudden, disruptive revelation, forcing him to confront his own profound snobbery and find a path toward genuine redemption.
Sea Scouts up-Channel
Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
A crew of young Sea Scouts takes over a floating guardship, rescues an injured yachtsman, and embarks on a demanding coast-wise voyage along the English Channel.
Silhouettes
Arthur Symons
Ephemeral impressions, urban twilight, and fleeting encounters converge in a poetic exploration of modern sentiment where the artificial and natural blend seamlessly into delicate art.
Sir George Tressady
Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
A young aristocrat finds his political convictions and his marriage upended by an unexpected infatuation with a woman dedicated to the cause of the poor. He must choose between the rigid loyalties of his party and the moral awakening stirred by a life he previously ignored.
Snow Bound, and other poems: Part 4 From Volume II of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
A fierce New England blizzard traps a family inside their rural homestead, turning an icy isolation into a sanctuary of warmth, memory, and enduring love.
Squire Arden
Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant
An old family tree, a disputed inheritance, and a brother and sister struggling against their quiet provincial world.