Free summaries
Adventure — page 115
5,687 public-domain adventure books, summarised. Page 115 of 119.
Two American Boys with the Dardanelles Battle Fleet
Sherman Crockett
Two adventurous American cousins navigate the dangerous waters of the Gallipoli Peninsula during the First World War to locate a missing aviator brother amid naval bombardments and covert operations.
You'll Like It on Mars
Tom W. Harris
Nobody could figure out how a ruthless movie mogul shot his terrifyingly realistic Martian monster scenes until one desperate studio employee risked everything to uncover the gruesome truth.
An aviator's luck
Frank Cobb
In this brisk tale of espionage and aviation, a group of resourceful boys accidentally stumbles upon a dangerous anarchist plot and uses their amateur radio skills to help the government dismantle a cell of domestic bombers.
Beyond the hills
Maysel Jenkinson
The lure of the unknown world across the river calls to three children who seek to transform their everyday lives into a grand, romantic journey. When they finally venture beyond their familiar forest home, they discover that true adventure is not a place you visit, but a spirit you carry.
Bob the Castaway
Frank V. Webster
An incorrigible village prankster finds his mischievous spirit severely tested when a long sea voyage leads straight into a violent shipwreck and survival on a desolate island.
Christmas on the briny : The innocents abroad
W. Bede (William Bede) Christie
A band of holiday travelers sets sail from Western Australia into the Indian Ocean, trading modern comforts for the stark, bird-haunted coral reefs of the Abrolhos Islands.
Concerning "Bully" Hayes: From "The Strange Adventure of James Shervinton, and Other Stories" - 1902
Louis Becke
A glimpse into the adventurous life of "Bully" Hayes, a notorious yet charismatic figure of the Pacific in the 19th century.
Flying down a rainbow
Homer King Gordon
The dream of sudden fortune meets the harsh reality of the frontier in this tale of an aging prospector and a young pilot who find their luck in the most unexpected of wreckage.
Harper's Round Table, July 28, 1896
Various
This issue of a late-Victorian periodical offers a vibrant window into the pastimes, ambitions, and moral instruction of young people in the 1890s. It captures the spirit of an era through a mix of adventure, practical advice, and gentle humor.
Harper's Round Table, March 9, 1897
Various
This collection of stories and dispatches offers a vivid, multifaceted window into the cultural life and adventurous spirit of the late nineteenth century. It preserves the earnest, instructional, and action-oriented tone of a period that valued grit, discovery, and civic engagement.
Harper's Round Table, October 27, 1896
Various
This collection offers a vibrant window into the Victorian imagination, blending historical drama, athletic grit, and the playful wit that defined a generation of young readers at the close of the nineteenth century.
Harper's Young People, April 25, 1882: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
A vibrant, multifaceted window into the Victorian era, this collection captures the curiosity and innocence of childhood through a blend of adventurous fiction, global exploration, and parlor games.
Hervey Willetts
Percy Keese Fitzhugh
A reckless, irrepressible boy finds himself constantly at odds with authority, turning every misadventure into a test of his own strange, unguided courage.
My Queen: A Weekly Journal for Young Women. Issue 2, October 6, 1900: Marion Marlowe's Courage
Lurana Sheldon
The city is a gauntlet of villains, but for one farm-bred girl, every trial is a chance to prove her grit. In this Victorian-era serial, courage is the only currency that truly matters.
Nan Sherwood at Rose Ranch
Annie Roe Carr
When a spirited Western girl brings her vast Montana ranch home to the bustling world of an Eastern boarding school, youthful mischief soon gives way to genuine frontier adventure.
Pierre and His People: Tales of the Far North. Volume 2
Gilbert Parker
Outcast yet unquenchable, Little Hammer walks the plains as the Mounted Police and the Hudson's Bay Company look on, while Pretty Pierre plays cards for the love of winning and guards the fiery brother of the girl he watches.
Ronicky Doone
Max Brand
A worn Western gambler rides east to unravel a quiet urban tyranny, sparking a trail of high-stakes loyalty and redemption.
Secret of the Painting
Robert Moore Williams
An inventor discovers a hidden power in an ancient painting that can rewrite the very fabric of human life. This discovery launches him into a desperate race against corporate greed and shadowy forces determined to seize the technology for themselves.
The Fourth Watch
H. A. (Hiram Alfred) Cody
A humble country clergyman and his devoted daughter weather malicious slander and financial ruin in a tight-knit Canadian river community, finding redemption through unexpected loyalty and quiet grace.
The gray god
Dunn, J. Allan, (Joseph Allan)
A penniless American in the Fiji Islands finds his fortune and his fate entwined with a mysterious, ancient stone deity on a remote, treacherous island.
The Little Girl Lost: A Tale for Little Girls
Eleanor Raper
Lost in the crowded streets of Peking, a little English girl is spirited away into the Chinese countryside by a family seeking a ransom.
The treasure on the beach
Julian Street
The hunt for a relative’s hidden fortune serves as a clever pretext for two strangers to discover something far more valuable than gold beneath the Florida sun.
The Young Engineers in Nevada
H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock
A rugged ridge in Nevada tests two young engineers' grit, testing their professional resolve against gold fever, claim jumpers, and bitter winter storms.
To the lights
Roy Norton
HOOK A seasoned captain faces the ultimate gale in a final attempt to secure his family's future, proving that true courage is found not in avoiding the storm, but in navigating it with a faithful heart.
Virginia's Adventure Club
Grace May North
The pursuit of personal improvement and the bonds of friendship define life at an exclusive boarding school for girls. A group of students learns that true success comes not from status, but from curiosity, kindness, and the courage to face the unknown.
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.
From Sea to Sea
W. Bert (Walter Bertram) Foster
The sea is a vast, unforgiving stage where characters are tested, rivalries are forged, and the true measure of a person emerges through the salt spray and the storm.
Harper's Round Table, June 4, 1895
Various
This compendium of turn-of-the-century journalism captures the intellectual and adventurous spirit of a bygone era, blending historical gravity with the earnest, inquisitive energy of youth. It offers a unique window into the values and pastimes that shaped a generation of readers.
Harper's Young People, May 31, 1881: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
A curated window into the nineteenth-century American imagination, this illustrated weekly blend of moral tales, nautical adventures, and community puzzles captures the spirit of a bygone childhood.
Harper's Young People, November 7, 1882: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
This weekly periodical offers a vivid glimpse into the Victorian imagination, blending adventurous tales of survival and morality with charming domestic sketches and educational curiosities for the young reader.
Harper's Young People, September 14, 1880: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
A late-nineteenth-century weekly magazine offers a captivating snapshot of American childhood, balancing serialized fiction with nature studies, historical adventures, and energetic reader exchanges.
Lost in the Forest: Wandering Will's Adventures in South America
R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
A voyage of leisure turns into a desperate struggle for survival when a mutinous crew abandons a small party in the unforgiving wilderness of South America.
Paul Clifford
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
This is a story of a young man caught between the allure of a criminal life and the pull of a refined world he was never meant to occupy. It explores the blurred lines between legality and morality, suggesting that the difference between a gentleman and a brigand is often nothing more than opportunity and social…
Ralph Osborn, Midshipman at Annapolis: A Story of Life at the U.S. Naval Academy
Edward L. (Edward Latimer) Beach
This is a rigorous, earnest depiction of the demanding life at the U.S. Naval Academy, where honor and discipline are the only currencies that matter. It captures the transition from raw youth to disciplined officer through the eyes of a resilient student.
Rhythm rides the rocket
Bob Olsen
When a transport ship carrying a female band to a remote colony is captured by hostile extraterrestrials, the crew must rely on musical performance and experimental sound technology to survive a lethal alien trap.
The crystal ray
Raymond Z. (Raymond Zinke) Gallun
The year is 2141, and the fate of the United States rests on a single scientific discovery. A young man’s brush with a mysterious Andean mineral transforms a personal tragedy into the weapon that decides a global war.
The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies
Frank Gee Patchin
Four spirited friends swap the confines of their village for the rugged expanse of the Rockies, learning that true adventure requires both steady nerves and a loyal heart.
The Tory Maid
Herbert Baird Stimpson
A young Maryland patriot finds his loyalties tested when he falls in love with the daughter of a staunch Tory during the turmoil of the American Revolution. This romantic adventure traverses the battlefields of the War of Independence and the complex personal allegiances of a fractured colonial society.
Trumpeter Fred: A Story of the Plains
Charles King
A young trumpeter finds himself accused of theft and desertion while caught in the dangerous crossfire of a frontier war. This story follows his struggle to clear his name and prove his loyalty.
Two Boys of the Battleship
Frank V. Webster
Two brothers find their lives upended by a sudden family tragedy and discover that their only path to justice lies in the disciplined, high-stakes world of the United States Navy.
Wacousta : a tale of the Pontiac conspiracy
Major (John) Richardson
Set against the backdrop of the 1763 Pontiac uprising, this gothic military thriller follows a British garrison’s desperate struggle for survival against a mysterious, vengeful antagonist.
White Cockades: An Incident of the "Forty-Five"
Edward Prime-Stevenson
A Highland boy’s quiet life is shattered when he shelters a wounded fugitive, only to discover he has risked everything for the prince of a lost cause.
X Marks the Asteroid
Ross Rocklynne
A desperate man races across the solar system to locate a hidden asteroid, guarding a map that promises either a fortune or the resurrection of his dangerous, exiled ancestors.
"Five-Head" Creek
Louis Becke
A solitary man confronts the harsh extremes of the Australian wilderness, finding beauty and sustenance in the cycles of the natural world before reflecting on the fragile, disappearing traditions of the Pacific.
Harper's Round Table, April 14, 1896
Various
The world is large, filled with the wonders of science, the breadth of geography, and the small, spirited triumphs of youth. It is a vast, interconnected landscape waiting for the curious mind to chart it.
Harper's Young People, September 7, 1880: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
A vibrant, turn-of-the-century window into the past, this collection gathers stories, natural history, and correspondence, capturing the earnest curiosity and adventurous spirit of American youth in 1880.
Isle of the Undead
Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
A doomed yachting party stumbles upon a cursed island where ancient, blood-drinking corpses wait for fresh victims. It is a desperate race against the rising moon to escape a trap of living death.
Pardners
Rex Beach
This collection of frontier tales captures the raw, desperate, and often darkly humorous essence of life in the American West and the Alaskan gold fields, where the only currency that truly matters is the bond between men.