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All free summaries — page 948
47,382 public-domain books, summarised. Page 948 of 988.
Samantha among the Brethren
Marietta Holley
HOOK This spirited chronicle of a farm wife’s battle for equality reveals the absurdity of the "separate spheres" doctrine with sharp wit and unwavering common sense.
Sketches in Verse: respectfully addressed to the Norfolk Yeomenry
James Parkerson
This collection of verse offers a candid, plainspoken look at the anxieties and social landscape of early 19th-century Norfolk. It serves as a rhythmic, often blunt chronicle of rural life, economic hardship, and the moral codes of the time.
Stories of gypsy life
Konrad Bercovici
The high, wild ridges of the Carpathians and the vast, golden wheatfields of the plains serve as the backdrop for these tales of defiance, tradition, and the deep-seated pride of those who live at the margins of settled society. In these pages, the rigid expectations of family and village life collide with the…
Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
This narrative poem explores the precarious journey of a princess through a world of pirates, opportunists, and shifting allegiances. It presents a witty, cynical look at human desire, where the survival of the heroine depends entirely on her capacity for adaptation.
The Amazing Marriage
George Meredith
The marriage of a mountain-born bride to a wealthy, mercurial peer becomes a public spectacle, as the couple’s inability to reconcile their disparate natures turns their private life into a tragedy of pride and public gossip.
The American Missionary
Various
This collection serves as a primary historical record of the late 19th-century American missionary movement, detailing the administrative, social, and spiritual efforts to educate and uplift disenfranchised populations across the United States.
The American novel to-day
Régis Michaud
This critical inquiry examines the American novel as a social mirror, diagnosing how Puritan traditions and modern industry have shaped the country’s search for an authentic cultural identity.
The Boy Scout Fire Fighters
Robert Maitland
A fast-paced adventure featuring resourceful young scouts who use their training to battle forest fires, thwart criminals, and protect their community during a summer of high-stakes emergencies.
The Case of General Ople and Lady Camper
George Meredith
A retired, vanity-prone soldier finds his peaceful suburban life besieged by a witty neighbor who weaponizes caricature to dismantle his delusions of grandeur.
The Emperor
Georg Ebers
The Roman Empire pulses with the tensions of ancient Alexandria, where the weight of imperial power and the whisper of a new faith collide. This narrative explores the intersection of high politics and the quiet, desperate struggles of those living in the shadow of a god-like sovereign.
The Fête At Coqueville: 1907
Émile Zola
A storm off the Normandy coast washes a trove of fine spirits ashore, transforming an isolated, feuding fishing village into a week-long, joyful open-air bouse.
The Galleries of the Exposition
Eugen Neuhaus
A guiding companion for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, this work serves as an intimate, critical tour through the Palace of Fine Arts. It invites readers to look past the surface of paintings and sculpture to understand the artist's conscience.
The Insurrection in Paris
Davy (An Englishman)
A neutral observer arrives in the shadow of war to document the chaotic, violent collapse of a city torn apart by its own citizens. This firsthand record captures the final days of the Paris Commune through the eyes of a traveler caught in the crossfire.
The Last of the Barons
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
HOOK A titan of the medieval battlefield struggles to navigate a shifting political landscape where the sharp edge of a sword no longer outweighs the whispers of a royal court.
The Life of Saint Bridget, Virgin and Abbess
Anonymous
The story of a saint who shaped the spiritual landscape of early Ireland, this account traces the life of a woman whose devotion transformed her into a national icon and the founder of a lasting religious tradition.
The Little Skipper: A Son of a Sailor
George Manville Fenn
The Skipper, a spirited nine-year-old boy, believes himself a seasoned sailor, but his rash attempt to follow his father to sea leads to a harrowing encounter with the real perils of the ocean.
The Lost Dispatch
Anonymous
In the shadow of the American Civil War, a daring Union officer embarks on a perilous mission behind enemy lines to recover a critical piece of intelligence that could turn the tide of conflict.
The Ordeal of Richard Feverel
George Meredith
The high-minded dreams of a father collide with the burning, impulsive heart of his son, sparking a collision between rigid philosophy and the messy, inescapable reality of human desire.
The pearl of charity
Madeline Leslie
The strength of a community rests on the fragile, necessary choice to believe the best of one another when suspicion is easier. This narrative explores the cost of hasty judgment and the quiet, deliberate labor of restoring trust.
The Slave of the Mine
Bracebridge Hemyng
This adventure tale follows a resilient young Englishman through a gauntlet of kidnappings, gambling dens, and forced labor in the diamond mines of Brazil. It is a brisk, turn-of-the-century narrative of high stakes and persistent, lethal villainy.
The Son of My Friend
T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur
An ordinary social obligation becomes a moral catastrophe when a couple decides that the expectations of their fashionable circle matter more than the safety of a friend’s struggling son.
The Subspecific Status of Two Central American Sloths
E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond) Hall
This focused scientific report reclassifies two Central American sloth populations, shifting their standing from distinct species to subspecies. It provides a precise, technical look at how museum specimens reshape our understanding of biological taxonomy.
The Tapu of Banderah: 1901
Louis Becke
A peaceful tropical island erupts into violence when a yacht carrying fugitives and an opportunistic crew touches shore.
The Trader's Wife: 1901
Louis Becke
In the isolated reaches of the South Pacific, a betrayed trader exacts a chilling, calculated retribution against his unfaithful wife and her lover.
The True Life of Betty Ireland: With Her Birth, Education, and Adventures. Together with Some Account of Her Elder Sister Blanch of Britain. Containing Sundry Very Curious Particulars
Anonymous
A satirical allegory, this narrative traces the turbulent relationship between two sisters, Betty Ireland and Blanch of Britain, whose fractured bond reflects the complex, often fraught history of their respective lands.
The unbidden guest
Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs.
HOOK A jealous bride’s obsession turns deadly, setting off a desperate struggle for love, fortune, and redemption in this high-stakes Victorian drama.
The World English Bible (WEB): Micah
Anonymous
The Book of Micah is a searing prophetic work that demands social justice and moral integrity from a society crumbling under its own corruption. It remains a foundational text for its unflinching critique of power and its insistence on mercy.
The Young Berringtons: The Boy Explorers
William Henry Giles Kingston
A family of British immigrants finds their new life in the Australian bush tested by floods, isolation, and conflict, forcing them to transform from refined outsiders into resilient pioneers.
This House to Let
William Le Queux
The quiet streets of post-war Kensington conceal a desperate game of identity, where a vacant house serves as the stage for a haunting, cycle-breaking tragedy.
Trouble Near the Sun
Alan J. Ramm
Survival in the vacuum of space demands absolute cohesion, yet two bickering officers find themselves at each other’s throats while navigating the lethal, roiling currents of the sun. Their pride is the only thing more dangerous than the furnace they must traverse.
Wayside Weeds
William Hodgson Ellis
These verses capture a scholar’s dual life, where the rigorous demands of chemistry and the classroom give way to the whimsical, observant joy of a man wandering the Canadian outdoors.
What Will He Do with It?
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
A man of iron pride and a mysterious, orphaned girl find their paths inextricably linked as they navigate the shadows of past secrets and the potential for a new, shared future.
When Valmond Came to Pontiac: The Story of a Lost Napoleon. Volume 3
Gilbert Parker
HOOK A charismatic stranger arrives in a quiet Canadian village claiming the legacy of a fallen emperor, setting into motion a tragic, inevitable collision between romantic ambition and the cold reality of the law.
Why Colored People in Philadelphia Are Excluded from the Street Cars
Benjamin P. (Benjamin Peter) Hunt
This examination of mid-19th-century Philadelphia exposes the deep-seated racial prejudice that denied African Americans equal access to public streetcars despite the outcome of the Civil War.
A brief sketch of the work of Matthew Fontaine Maury during the war, 1861-1865
Richard L. (Richard Lancelot) Maury
This account chronicles the development of naval mine warfare during the American Civil War, detailing how a displaced scientist transformed the conflict’s tactical landscape through clandestine invention and engineering.
A Few Remarks on the Scripture History of Saul and the Witch of Endor
J. (John) Church
To understand the tragic end of a king, one must look past his crown to the state of his soul, where the departure of God leaves only the hollow echoes of pride and despair.
A Hymn on the Life, Virtues and Miracles of St. Patrick: Composed by his Disciple, Saint Fiech, Bishop of Sletty
Fiech, Saint, Bishop of Sletty, active 6th century
A sixth-century verse chronicle traces the life, spiritual endurance, and miraculous mission of Ireland’s patron saint. This foundational poem preserves an ancient perspective on the conversion of a nation through the eyes of a direct disciple.
A Little Pilgrim in the Unseen
Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant
A gentle soul finds that passing from life is not an end, but a quiet, unfolding transition into a state of profound clarity and service. This narrative offers a tender meditation on the mystery of what awaits beyond the threshold of death.
A Man of the World
Annie Payson Call
True wisdom requires one to look beyond the surface of life, distinguishing between the hollow, selfish habits of the worldly and the profound, expansive understanding of a person fully engaged with humanity.
A Napa Christchild
Charles A. Gunnison
The Napa Valley serves as the backdrop for a quiet, spectral transformation, where a lonely immigrant’s Christmas vigil brings forth an unexpected guest who reshapes his entire world. This narrative weaves together the rugged, rain-swept reality of early Californian homesteading with a haunting, folklore-infused…
A Ryght Profytable Treatyse Compendiously Drawen Out Of Many and Dyvers Wrytynges Of Holy Men
Thomas Betson
The path to a quiet, focused life of faith is paved with small, daily acts of intentionality and a heart set on the divine. This guide offers a framework for maintaining that focus amidst a world of distraction.
An artist's life
Harry Harrison
Haunted by the alien emptiness of the Moon, a dying painter discovers that a rival’s brilliant canvases hide an impossible, extraterrestrial secret.
Arachne
Georg Ebers
In the shadow of ancient Egypt, a blinded sculptor battles the crushing weight of his own hubris and the perceived wrath of the gods. He must reconcile his artistic legacy with the bitter reality of his dark, sightless existence.
Atlanta: A Twentieth-Century City
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
Atlanta defines itself as a "city of the new regime" built upon the ruins of the old, championing a spirit of industrial renewal that seeks to transform post-Civil War devastation into a modern commercial hub.
Charity's birthday text
Agnes Giberne
On her tenth birthday, a young London girl receives an illuminated text that becomes her silent anchor when sudden tragedy uproots her life.
Chums of the Camp Fire
Lawrence J. Leslie
The outdoors are calling, and for four inseparable friends, the woods offer a perfect escape from the predictable rhythm of town life. Here, every rustle in the leaves promises a new, shared adventure.
Connected Poems
Charles Seabridge
A meditation on the transient nature of love and beauty, this collection of verse explores the bittersweet tension between the human desire for permanence and the inevitable reality of change.
Count Ulrich of Lindburg: A Tale of the Reformation in Germany
William Henry Giles Kingston
The sixteenth century is a time of upheaval, where the light of the Gospel challenges the old feudal order. A young nobleman ventures into this changing world, seeking truth amidst the fires of the Reformation.