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All free summaries — page 795
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 795 of 988.
Description of a plan for the improvement of the Central Park
Frederick Law Olmsted
This foundational document details the visionary blueprint for New York’s Central Park, outlining how a rugged, rocky landscape was transformed into a deliberate, democratic sanctuary for a rapidly expanding city.
Destination—Death
Wilbur S. Peacock
Trapped on the freezing, high-gravity surface of Uranus, two explorers fight for survival while their desperate greed turns them against each other in a race against a dwindling oxygen supply.
Diary of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
This is the unvarnished account of a man navigating the corridors of power and the messy intimacies of home, documenting a life lived with insatiable curiosity and relentless ambition.
Fair and Warmer
E. G. Von Wald
This story explores the friction between a society of god-like, detached beings and the messy, visceral reality of a primitive species. It is a cynical, darkly comic examination of what happens when absolute control meets human unpredictability.
Fifteen Institute Lessons in Language, Arithmetic, and U.S. History
William Francis Lewis Sanders
A meticulously structured pedagogical guide from the late nineteenth century, this work provides a rigorous framework for mastering the foundational mechanics of grammar, basic arithmetic, and the political evolution of early American history.
Fighting for the Right
Oliver Optic
A dedicated young naval officer navigates the treacherous waters of the Civil War, balancing the demands of national duty against the personal cost of turning against his own kin.
Fighting the Flames
R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
The fire brigade’s brass helmets and galloping horses are the backdrop for a story of duty, bravery, and the quiet heroism required to face London's most fearsome foe.
From England to Iceland
George Charles Sim
Steering past arctic waters into the rugged silence of a northern wilderness, a nineteenth-century traveler captures the raw beauty, austere life, and enduring customs of a solitary island realm.
From the ball-room to hell
Thomas A. Faulkner
The dance hall is not a playground for the innocent, but a calculated trap where societal veneer masks a descent into moral ruin and physical destruction.
From the hidden way
James Branch Cabell
This collection of verse captures the bittersweet transition from the illusions of youth to the resigned wisdom of maturity. It serves as a lyrical map of past attachments, charting the geography of a heart that persists in loving even as its objects drift into the shadows of memory.
Guide book to Williamsburg, old and new
William Clinton Ewing
This guide invites the modern traveler to slow down and immerse themselves in the quiet, living history of a town that has remained remarkably unchanged since the eighteenth century. It serves as a bridge between the colonial past and a community navigating the mid-twentieth century.
Hard-Pan: A Story of Bonanza Fortunes
Geraldine Bonner
This story follows a woman navigating the precarious social landscape of San Francisco, where the ghosts of past mining fortunes haunt the present and the cruel whims of reputation dictate one's survival.
Harold the Klansman
George Alfred Brown
An earnest, polemical work of 1920s fiction, this story serves as a dramatized defense of the Ku Klansman’s worldview, framing the organization as a bulwark for traditional Christian Americanism against perceived external threats.
Harper's Round Table, February 18, 1896
Various
This collection of weekly dispatches from the late nineteenth century captures a vibrant, bygone era of youth, blending earnest instruction with the adventurous spirit of the Victorian schoolboy. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the pastimes and preoccupations of children living at the close of the 1890s.
Harper's Round Table, May 7, 1895
Various
This collection offers a rare, panoramic window into the Victorian era’s spirit, serving as a vibrant, multifaceted snapshot of a week in the life of late 19th-century American youth.
Harper's Young People, February 28, 1882: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
This illustrated weekly digest offers a vibrant window into the nineteenth-century American imagination, blending tales of high adventure, whimsical natural history, and the gentle, moralizing humor of an era gone by.
Harper's Young People, June 15, 1880: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
This issue of an illustrated weekly for children captures the earnest, educational spirit of the late nineteenth century through a blend of moralizing fiction, practical science lessons, and reader correspondence.
Harper's Young People, March 28, 1882: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
The spirit of late nineteenth-century childhood arrives in these pages, captured through a blend of moral instruction, historical curiosity, and the simple, earnest pastimes of a bygone era.
History of Liberia: Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science
J. H. T. (John Hanson Thomas) McPherson
This examination of the West African republic charts the intersection of nineteenth-century American social policy and the ambitious, fragile experiment of establishing a self-governing nation for free Black colonists.
How to live: A manual of hygiene for use in the schools of the Philippine islands
Adeline Knapp
Health is a machine’s most vital requirement, and the human body, when maintained with knowledge and care, is built to function with efficiency and vigor for a full seventy years.
Instant of Decision
Randall Garrett
HOOK A secret agent discovers a device containing the terrifying history of his own civilization, forcing him to confront the possibility that his entire world is merely a meticulously staged historical reenactment.
Jerry
Walter Aimwell
A young runaway returns from a perilous life at sea to face the consequences of his rebellion and the stern expectations of his family.
La Mere Bauche: From Tales of All Countries
Anthony Trollope
In a remote Pyrenean valley, a domineering hotelier maneuvers to break her son’s engagement to an orphan, setting in motion a tragic collision between maternal ambition, fragile romance, and cold social convention.
Little Pills, an Army Story: Being Some Experiences of a United States Army Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly a Half Century Ago
R. H. (Robert Henderson) McKay
A seasoned army physician recounts his years on the American frontier, offering an unvarnished look at the isolation, humor, and profound loss that defined life in the service during the late nineteenth century.
London street games
Norman Douglas
The city streets of early twentieth-century London come alive through the inventive, chaotic, and often profane play of the children who occupied them, turning curbs and cobblestones into entire worlds of imaginative sport.
Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI
Mme. Du Hausset
A lady’s maid’s quiet observations from behind the curtain of the French royal court offer a candid, unvarnished look at the private anxieties and internal politics of the monarchy during its final, waning eras.
Methods of Destroying Rats
David E. (David Ernest) Lantz
This technical bulletin serves as a practical, enduring manual for mitigating the immense economic and sanitary damage caused by the brown rat, a pervasive and destructive invasive species.
Mindsnake
Jim Harmon
In a future where instant travel across the stars risks the total dissolution of the human soul, a solitary wanderer must navigate the psychic wreckage of the void. He is a man apart, a "Witch" whose only tether to sanity is the simple, non-human presence of a dog.
Missing
Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
The echoes of a vanishing world tremble in the quiet of the Lake District as a young woman grapples with the devastating, hidden cost of a war that has reached into the heart of her home.
Mitchelhurst Place: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 2)
Margaret Veley
The ghosts of Mitchelhurst Place refuse to stay buried, weaving a web of unrequited longing and quiet tragedy around those who dare to seek a future within its shadow. This somber, lyrical novel explores the fragile intersection of memory, pride, and the inexorable currents of human fate.
Modern cosmogonies
Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke
The history of the universe is a grand, unfolding narrative of transformation, where stars and systems emerge from the silent, formless mists of the distant past. This work examines the evolution of the cosmos through the lens of shifting scientific inquiry.
Motor Matt's Mandarin
Stanley R. Matthews
A pair of motor-cycling adventurers find themselves entangled in a high-stakes hunt for a stolen ruby after a chance encounter with a frantic mandarin.
Notes and Queries, Number 30, May 25, 1850
Various
A scholarly clearinghouse for the curious, this Victorian periodical gathers the stray threads of history, language, and folklore into an engaging tapestry of nineteenth-century intellectual life.
Of Stegner's Folly
Richard S. Shaver
A scientist’s invention to cure aging and disease inadvertently creates a race of power-hungry giants, forcing humanity to evolve its own super-soldiers to prevent a global catastrophe.
Og—Son of Fire
Irving Crump
The primitive struggle for survival transforms into a journey of discovery when a young cave dweller masters the most dangerous force in the natural world. This narrative charts the dawn of human ingenuity, tracking the evolution of a boy from a scavenger into a pioneer who brings light and warmth to his people.
Old Songs
Unknown
These verses hum with the rhythms of a vanished England, capturing the bittersweet ache of fleeting romance and the simple, robust pleasures of rural life.
On the Border with Andrew Jackson
John T. (John Thomas) McIntyre
Two young scouts navigate the perils of the Alabama wilderness during the War of 1812, eventually joining forces with the legendary Andrew Jackson to decide the fate of the frontier.
Over Paradise Ridge: A Romance
Maria Thompson Daviess
A spirited young woman finds her calling in the rural rhythms of Tennessee, discovering that the most profound harvest of all is the one she reaps alongside her oldest friend.
Paradise Planet
Richard S. Shaver
The vast, silent void of space leads a weary traveler to a planet that mirrors his own, only to reveal a chilling, artificial perfection. He must decide whether to retain his fragile humanity or succumb to a manufactured, timeless existence.
Pastoral Poems by Nicholas Breton, Selected Poetry by George Wither, and Pastoral Poetry by William Browne (of Tavistock)
Nicholas Breton
A tapestry of rural song, courtly longing, and fierce independence weaves through these three early modern voices as they praise the quiet countryside and defend the integrity of the mind.
Pioneer boys of the gold fields
Edward Stratemeyer
Three young men from different walks of life unite to seek their fortunes in the California gold rush, facing rugged terrain, dangerous criminals, and the promise of wealth in the wild American West.
Pioneer Surgery in Kentucky: A Sketch
David Wendel Yandell
These surgeons, working in the isolated wilderness of early 19th-century Kentucky, performed world-first operations that defined the future of medical science.
Pistols for two
H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken
In this unorthodox dual biography, a pseudonymous observer attempts to capture the essence of two prominent literary figures by assembling a mosaic of trivial, contradictory, and deeply personal details rather than relying on traditional, unified narrative arcs.
Poems
Robert Southey
This collection offers a candid look at the early development of a major Romantic voice, charting a path from youthful idealism to a more weary, reflective maturity. It serves as both a poetic record and a deliberate act of self-curation.
Preliminary report on a visit to the Navaho National Monument, Arizona
Jesse Walter Fewkes
Deep in the rugged canyons of northern Arizona, stone dwellings remain tucked into the high sandstone walls, silent witnesses to a complex history of migration and survival.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98 January 11, 1890
Various
The London of 1890 is a theater of stark contrasts, where the grinding exhaustion of the working class unfolds in the shadow of a glittering, self-indulgent society. This collection captures the pulse of a city divided between the midnight oil of the shop-serf and the champagne-soaked wit of the elite.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, May 9, 1891
Various
This volume captures the irreverent pulse of late Victorian London, offering a satirical snapshot of a society obsessed with status, politics, and the theater. It serves as a lively, biting guide to the preoccupations of 1891.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, February 28, 1917
Various
A snapshot of a nation enduring the Great War, this collection captures the biting, defiant, and absurd humor of a society maintaining its composure amidst the deepening pressures of 1917.