The whole shelf
All free summaries — page 852
44,127 public-domain books, summarised. Page 852 of 920.
The Restoration of the Gospel
Osborne J. P. Widtsoe
An historical account of the restoration of divine authority, this work details the emergence of a new religious movement through the lens of priesthood, revelation, and the life of its founding prophet.
The rise of a star
Edith Ayrton Zangwill
A daughter of the footlights fights to define herself against a backdrop of inherited expectations, struggling to reconcile her deep-seated artistic ambition with the rigid, gilded world of her wealthy, disapproving father.
The Rise of the Dutch Republic
John Lothrop Motley
This account chronicles the Dutch struggle for independence, a titanic clash where the spirit of national liberty, forged in the fires of religious conviction, defied the overwhelming might of a global empire.
The Rod and Gun Club
Harry Castlemon
This is an adventure of boarding-school rivalries and character-building, where boys transition from petty mischief to acts of genuine bravery. It offers a window into a world of 19th-century youth culture, capturing both the rigid codes of honor and the underlying social tensions of the era.
The San Francisco Fairy: A Tale of Early Times
Anonymous
The waters of a prehistoric inland sea recede to reveal a city of prophecy, as a young woman’s act of kindness towards a magical creature secures her fortune and her future.
The Scripture Club of Valley Rest
John Habberton
The residents of Valley Rest test the boundaries of belief when a skeptical study group forms to interpret the Gospels without the rigid constraints of church dogma.
The Slipper Point Mystery
Augusta Huiell Seaman
Two girls discover a hidden tunnel and a long-forgotten family secret, proving that the most valuable treasures are those buried in history rather than gold.
The Spy in Black
J. Storer (Joseph Storer) Clouston
A German naval officer infiltrates the Scottish coast during the First World War to sabotage the British fleet, only to find himself entangled in a sophisticated web of counter-espionage.
The Thought-Men of Mercury
R. R. (Russell Robert) Winterbotham
A pair of earthmen struggle to escape a planet of telepathic aliens, only to realize their captors’ greatest weakness is the very thing that makes humanity uniquely capable.
The Thunder Bird
B. M. Bower
Johnny Jewel, a young ranch hand with a singular passion for aviation, risks everything to prove himself as a pilot and secure a future with his sweetheart. His journey from the open ranges to the murky world of cross-border intrigue tests his integrity, his judgment, and his loyalty to those who believe in him.
The Time Snatcher
Randall Garrett
A lone lawman travels to the nineteenth-century American frontier to stop a criminal from hijacking history. His mission is complicated by the brutal reality of the past and the strange, splintering nature of time itself.
The Truth about Church Extension: An exposure of certain fallacies and misstatements contained in the census reports on religious worship and education
Anonymous
This polemic dismantles the 1851 Census of Religious Worship, arguing that its widely accepted statistics were based on flawed, speculative methodology that unfairly disparaged the Church of England while erroneously inflating the perceived growth of Dissenting denominations.
The Victory of Klon
Wilbur S. Peacock
This science fiction tale follows a desperate struggle for political power on a dark, swampy Venus, where an alien protagonist’s ambition to secure leadership leads to an unintended planetary tragedy.
The Voyages of the "Ranger" and "Crusader": And what befell their Passengers and Crews
William Henry Giles Kingston
The survival of a marooned community hinges on the courage of the resilient and the folly of the mutinous after a shipwreck forces an unlikely alliance between a naval vessel and an emigrant ship.
The Web of Life
Robert Herrick
A dedicated surgeon struggles to reconcile his medical calling with the suffocating social expectations and moral decay of turn-of-the-century Chicago.
The wilderness
Amy E. (Amy Eleanor) Mack
A small, neglected patch of land tucked away in a bustling suburb becomes a sanctuary where the ancient Australian bush reasserts its quiet, teeming life. This observant chronicle maps the cycles of a single untended garden, showing how nature finds its own way to flourish when left to its own devices.
The Young Rajah
William Henry Giles Kingston
A young man journeys to India to secure his father’s legacy, only to find himself thrust into the role of a reluctant ruler during the turbulent buildup to the Indian Mutiny.
Three plays : Lawing and jawing
Zora Neale Hurston
This collection of plays captures the vibrant, rhythmic vernacular and social textures of African American life in the early 20th century. Through farce, music, and sharp-tongued banter, it offers a window into a world defined as much by its wit as by its hardships.
To Pay the Piper
James Blish
A government official seeks a shortcut to a forbidden surface, unaware that the secret science he craves is a trap of his own making. In the shadow of a long-standing stalemate, the price of survival is more than just blood.
Two New Pelycosaurs from the Lower Permian of Oklahoma
Richard C. Fox
In the limestone fissures of Oklahoma, tiny fragments of bone preserved across two hundred and eighty million years reveal two previously unknown species of early Permian reptiles.
Uncle Jo's Old Coat
Eleanora H. Stooke
A young boy’s impulsive act of charity triggers a sequence of deceptive choices, teaching him that the path to true integrity requires the courage to own one’s mistakes.
Up in the garret
Robin Ranger
A rainy Saturday turns a quiet afternoon into a lesson in perspective and gratitude. Within the rafters of a family home, childhood play yields to the gentle wisdom of a parent’s guidance.
Valuation of Real Estate in the Town of Acton. November 2, 1850
Abraham Conant
HOOK This catalog serves as a silent, granular portrait of mid-nineteenth-century rural life, capturing the precise material standing of every landowner in an evolving New England town.
West o' Mars
Charles L. Fontenay
A master gambler bets his wife in a high-stakes Martian game, only to discover that the laws of physics—and human emotion—are far more unpredictable than the roll of the dice.
A Captain of Industry: Being the Story of a Civilized Man
Upton Sinclair
The life of a titan of industry is a gilded cage, where the cold mechanics of wealth eventually silence the human soul. This portrait captures the descent of a man who mistakes financial dominance for the ultimate measure of existence.
A constitutional league of peace in the stone age of America
J. N. B. (John Napoleon Brinton) Hewitt
The Five Nations of the Iroquois established a visionary constitutional league in the sixteenth-century American wilderness, seeking to end the cycle of violence through a sophisticated structure of peace, justice, and shared authority.
A Letter to the Bishop of Exeter
Alderson, Edward Hall, Sir
A legal mind dissects a volatile church trial, arguing that a flawed judicial ruling need not threaten the theological integrity of the institution it purportedly regulates.
A New Extinct Emydid Turtle from the Lower Pliocene of Oklahoma
Edwin C. (Edwin Carter) Galbreath
A rare, newly identified species of extinct turtle from the Pliocene epoch is meticulously described through its fossilized remains, offering a glimpse into the ancient environments of Beaver County, Oklahoma.
A New Hochelagan Burying-ground Discovered at Westmount on the Western Spur of Mount Royal, Montreal, July-September, 1898
W. D. (William Douw) Lighthall
An amateur archaeological inquiry in 1898 reveals a hidden, prehistoric Indigenous burial site in Westmount, Montreal, grounding the city's modern identity in the ancient, often overlooked, soil of the Hochelagans.
Against This Age
Maxwell Bodenheim
A collection of sharp-edged, restless verses and prose sketches that dissect the artifice of American life, this volume remains a bracing encounter with a mind at war with its own surroundings. It serves as an artifact of early twentieth-century modernism, capturing the tension between the grit of urban existence…
Annie o' the Banks o' Dee
Gordon Stables
A young doctor is wrongfully accused of murder in a tale that sweeps from the quiet, pine-shaded banks of the Scottish Dee to the perilous, gold-rich islands of the South Pacific.
Army Boys on German Soil: Our Doughboys Quelling the Mobs
Homer Randall
The struggle for peace in post-war Germany turns into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse for four young American soldiers. They must outwit vengeful rioters and shadowy conspirators to survive their occupation duties.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 443: Volume 17, New Series, June 26, 1852
Various
This mid-nineteenth-century periodical serves as a vital bridge between the rigid intellectualism of the past and the rapid, industrializing pulse of the Victorian age. It offers a singular window into how a society balanced the preservation of high-minded poetry with the relentless march of technological and…
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 11, Vol. I, March 15, 1884
Various
This collection of Victorian-era essays, fiction, and biography invites readers to look beyond the "mirage" of fairy-tale endings to find satisfaction in the fleeting, golden reality of the everyday.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 35, Vol. I, August 30, 1884
Various
This Victorian miscellany captures the restless, practical, and inquisitive spirit of 1884, offering a window into a world balancing scientific wonder with the domestic rigors of the age. It is a vivid portrait of late-century life.
Christmas on Wheels
Willis Boyd Allen
This mid-winter romance follows a cynical young lawyer whose cross-country trip is interrupted by a blizzard, transforming a tedious train journey into a life-changing encounter with grace and community.
"Clear the Track!" A Story of To-day
E. Werner
Amid towering mountains and sprawling industrial works, a powerful master’s grip on his enterprise and family is tested by hidden pasts, bitter political strife, and unexpected romance.
Dave Darrin's Third Year at Annapolis
H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock
A midshipman navigates tough athletic rivalries, disciplinary scrapes, and explosive personal clashes during his second-class year at Annapolis.
Diary of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
The private observations of a rising government official, this record offers an unvarnished window into the Restoration of the English monarchy. It remains a singular achievement for its blend of administrative detail and startlingly honest self-portraiture.
Diary of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
A man of immense curiosity and restless ambition records the pulse of a transforming nation, finding as much significance in the details of a quiet evening as in the tremors of the state. These pages capture the singular tension of a life lived at the intersection of public duty and private desire.
Diary of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
A private record of a life lived in the corridors of power, this work captures the fleeting anxieties, petty triumphs, and enduring appetites of a man navigating the Restoration court. It is a mirror held up to the mundane and the momentous alike.
Dorothy's Double. Volume 1 (of 3)
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
A web of malicious impersonation threatens a woman’s reputation, forcing her to untangle a conspiracy that strikes at the heart of her social standing and her sense of self.
Easy come, easy go
Edwin L. (Edwin Legrand) Sabin
Laramie Red, a seasoned cowboy with a lifetime of trail dust in his lungs, reaches his breaking point when a pompous ranch owner insults his character. He quits the range, determined to trade his saddle for a taste of sophisticated city life, only to learn that some habits—and some loyalties—are impossible to outrun.
Every Man His Own Poet
W. H. (William Hurrell) Mallock
The age of inspiration has yielded to the age of artifice, where poetry is no longer a divine gift but a mechanical skill. This manual provides the aspiring writer with the precise, cynical ingredients required to mimic the most famous literary voices of the nineteenth century.
Famous Affinities of History: The Romance of Devotion. Volume 4
Lyndon Orr
These biographical sketches explore the intimate, often turbulent, personal lives of iconic literary figures. By peering behind the public masks of authors and poets, the narrative reveals the profound influence of their private devotion and disillusionment.
Five Little Starrs in the Canadian Forest
Lillian Elizabeth Roy
The Starr children trade the comforts of home for the rugged reality of a Canadian lumber camp, where they learn that nature—and machinery—demand respect. Through narrow escapes and forest adventures, they find a winter of unexpected independence.
Flood waters
Leland Jamieson
A harrowing, high-stakes flight during the great Mississippi River floods, this story pits the sheer grit of a pilot against a broken landscape and a desperate, midnight deadline.
Free Trade with India: An Enquiry into the True State of the Question at Issue Between His Majesty's Ministers, the Honorable the East India Company, and the Public at Large, on the Justice and Policy of a Free Trade to India
active 1813 Common sense (Writer)
A defense of regulated commerce shows how opening India's ports to unsophisticated private merchants threatens economic stability and concentrated royal power.