Free summaries
Adventure — page 71
3,840 public-domain adventure books, summarised. Page 71 of 80.
Up the River
Oliver Optic
A young captain navigates the treacherous currents of the Mississippi River, racing a rival yacht while outmaneuvering villains in a high-stakes journey home.
Where Strongest Tide Winds Blew
Robert McReynolds
This memoir-driven adventure chronicles the restless, wandering life of a man driven by fate across continents, from the shipyards of Scotland to the volatile political landscapes of Peru and the rugged mining camps of the American West. It is a sprawling, episodic account that captures the erratic, often dangerous…
A Hero of Romance
Richard Marsh
An imaginative, restless schoolboy trades the constraints of his boarding school for a perilous, eye-opening odyssey through the criminal underbelly of London and beyond.
A Vendetta of the Hills
Willis George Emerson
A dramatic tale of love, hidden identity, and the passing of the Old West, this story follows a group of settlers and outlaws navigating a changing California landscape. It captures the tension between the lawless history of the mountains and the encroaching progress of modern industry.
Charles Rex
Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell
HOOK A brooding aristocrat rescues a desperate young runaway, initiating a high-stakes psychological game that spans the Mediterranean and the high-society circles of France.
Crown and Sceptre: A West Country Story
George Manville Fenn
A secret passage, a fractured home, and a friendship tested by the fires of the English Civil War define this tale of survival.
Dave Dawson at Dunkirk
Robert Sidney Bowen
The teenage son of an American government official finds himself in the crosshairs of the Nazi advance, forcing him to grow up overnight as he fights to survive the chaos of the fall of France.
Dusty Star
Olaf Baker
The life of a boy raised between two worlds reaches a poignant climax when he must choose between his human heritage and the wild, untamable heart of his companion.
In the Hands of the Cave-Dwellers
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
A young American sailor, far from home, finds himself thrust into the perilous politics of 1830s California, where a chance act of bravery leads to a life-altering rescue mission deep within the American Southwest.
Motor Matt's Race
Stanley R. Matthews
When a loyal friend is wrongly accused of a serious crime, a skilled young mechanic races against time and a speeding locomotive to clear his name.
"Old Mary": 1901
Louis Becke
A young trader visits an island in the South Seas and discovers that an elderly, crippled woman holds the secrets of a lifetime defined by colonial conflict, survival, and deep tragedy.
On Board the Esmeralda: Martin Leigh's Log - A Sea Story
John C. (John Conroy) Hutcheson
A young orphan escapes a cruel boarding school to find his true purpose on the high seas, where he must prove his mettle against fire, shipwreck, and the unforgiving elements.
Pee-wee Harris on the Trail
Percy Keese Fitzhugh
A diminutive, over-eager scout accidentally hitches a ride with auto thieves, inadvertently triggering a frantic, high-stakes rescue mission across the wilderness.
Red Rooney: The Last of the Crew
R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
A shipwrecked sailor finds himself a stranger in a frozen land, where he must rely on his wits and his faith to bridge the divide between two vastly different worlds.
Steve Yeager
William MacLeod Raine
A rugged, quick-witted cowboy finds himself caught in a dangerous game of shadows and survival across the Mexican border. He must outmaneuver a lethal rival and a ruthless revolutionary commander to save an innocent woman.
The Battle and the Breeze
R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
The Battle and the Breeze follows a trio of British sailors whose loyalty to one another is tested by the relentless demands of the Napoleonic Wars. It is a stirring, high-stakes chronicle of naval combat and the stubborn persistence of the human spirit.
The Boy Allies on the North Sea Patrol
Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes
A young man finds himself thrust into a high-stakes maritime conflict, relying on his wits and bravery to outmaneuver seasoned enemies on the open sea. This fast-paced adventure captures the fervor and moral certainty of the early years of the First World War.
The Boy Scouts of the Eagle Patrol
John Henry Goldfrap
The Eagle Patrol of Hampton, Long Island, navigates the treacherous waters of adolescence and the Atlantic alike, finding that moral clarity is the most essential gear for any scout’s kit.
The Boy Scouts on the Yukon
Ralph Victor
The wilderness of the North offers a test of grit for the prepared mind, where the lessons of the scout manual meet the raw challenges of glaciers, grizzlies, and gold-seekers.
The City Curious
Jean de Boschère
A husband and wife stumble into a surreal landscape of living sugar and magical architecture in a desperate search for three lost girls. This whimsical fable blends the logic of a fever dream with the gentle, rhythmic cadence of a bedtime story.
The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 06: Paris
Giacomo Casanova
A restless traveler navigates the salons and boulevards of 18th-century Europe, documenting a life defined by insatiable curiosity, fleeting romances, and a relentless pursuit of personal liberty.
The secret in the hill
Bernard Capes
The secret in the hill follows a young orphan and his eccentric uncle, whose quiet life in a coastal village is upended by the arrival of a mysterious, obsessed stranger searching for a long-lost fortune.
The Wizard of the Sea
Roy Rockwood
The ocean hides a secret far more dangerous than any storm, and for a group of schoolboys, a summer outing becomes a desperate struggle for survival against a man who rules the deep.
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.
Tom Swift and His Wireless Message
Victor Appleton
A resourceful young inventor must rely on his technical ingenuity and a makeshift telegraph to save himself and his companions from a disappearing island. This fast-paced tale blends high-stakes survival with the thrill of early twentieth-century innovation.
Under Cover
Wyndham Martyn
A high-stakes game of cat and mouse unfolds as a mysterious traveler attempts to smuggle a fortune in pearls past a corrupt and relentless government official. Love and deception collide in this tense, fast-paced thriller.
White Wings: A Yachting Romance, Volume II
William Black
The sea-breezes of the Scottish Highlands carry more than just salt air; they carry the tangled, unspoken affections of a small party of travelers aboard the yacht White Dove.
A Sub and a Submarine: The Story of H.M. Submarine R19 in the Great War
Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
When a naval officer’s loyal terrier smuggles herself aboard his submarine during the Great War, she unwittingly becomes an essential participant in a high-stakes mission across the mine-infested Baltic.
Christmas-Tree Land
Mrs. Molesworth
HOOK Two children find refuge from a stiff, lonely household by slipping into a secret, magical forest where the trees hold mysteries and the animals talk.
Crusoes of the Frozen North
Gordon Stables
The Arctic wilderness tests the resolve and ingenuity of three young stowaways who find themselves stranded among ice, hunger, and predators after their uncle’s ship is swept away by a storm.
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.
Jim and Wally
Mary Grant Bruce
Two young Australian soldiers, convalescing from the horrors of the Great War, find unexpected purpose and danger in the quiet, mist-covered hills of rural Ireland.
Martin Rattler
R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
A spirited, mischievous boy sets out from his quiet village to pursue a life at sea, only to find himself cast into the vast, untamed wilderness of Brazil.
Pierrot, Dog of Belgium
Walter A. (Walter Alden) Dyer
A faithful dog endures the horrors of the Great War, searching through battlefields and occupied lands to return to his displaced family. This story captures the profound, silent bond between a creature and the people who raised him.
Ralph Denham's Adventures in Burma: A Tale of the Burmese Jungle
G. (George) Norway
A young boy leaves his widowed mother to seek his fortune in Burma, only to face shipwreck, jungle predators, and brutal conflict in a desperate struggle for survival.
Sailor and beachcomber: Confessions of a life at sea, in Australia, and amid the islands of the Pacific
A. (Arnold) Safroni-Middleton
A wandering youth finds beauty and hardship in equal measure while drifting through the South Seas and the Australian bush. His journey is a restless search for identity across the edges of the British Empire.
Strange Stories from History for Young People
George Cary Eggleston
This collection gathers dramatic, often overlooked vignettes from global history, designed to pique the curiosity of young readers through tales of resilience, ambition, and sudden fortune. It bypasses conventional textbook summaries in favor of vivid, narrative-driven accounts of conflict and character.
The Black Bear
William H. (William Henry) Wright
A seasoned outdoorsman recounts his years spent observing the American black bear, blending intimate personal anecdotes of a hand-reared cub with careful study of the species' habits in the wild.
The black cat, vol. I, no. 3, December 1895
Various
This collection of short fiction serves as a window into the popular literary tastes of the late nineteenth century, offering a variety of dramatic, often atmospheric tales packaged for the common reader.
The Boss of Wind River
A. M. (Arthur Murray) Chisholm
A young man inherits a struggling lumber company and must navigate a treacherous landscape of corporate sabotage, bitter labor rivalries, and the high-stakes dangers of a river log drive.
The Brighton Boys with the Submarine Fleet
James R. Driscoll
Two schoolboys trade their textbooks for the perilous life of a submarine crew, joining the front lines of the Great War to hunt the enemy beneath the waves.
The Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake
Jane L. Stewart
The Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake offers a wholesome glimpse into a bygone era of organized youth adventure, centering on a group of young women whose resourcefulness and camaraderie are put to the test in the great outdoors.
The Castaways
Mayne Reid
After a shipwreck in the Celebes Sea, a captain and his children must traverse the wild interior of Borneo, relying on a skilled local pilot to survive a gauntlet of lethal nature.
The Cruise of the 'Alerte': The narrative of a search for treasure on the desert island of Trinidad
E. F. (Edward Frederick) Knight
A band of amateur treasure hunters abandons the comforts of Victorian England to challenge the treacherous, jagged coast of a desolate South Atlantic island. Their quest is a grueling test of endurance, patience, and the limits of human greed.
The Cruise of the Dolphin
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
The sea is a constant, alluring presence for the boys of Rivermouth, promising adventure to those brave enough to test its depths. But when a day of youthful exploration turns into a tragedy, the world changes forever.
The Deep Sea's Toll
James B. (James Brendan) Connolly
The sea is a hard master, but for the men who sail the Gloucester fishing fleet, it is the only life worth living. These stories capture the fierce, unrelenting struggle between human will and the infinite power of the Atlantic.
The House of Spies
Warwick Deeping
A young man finds himself tangled in a web of international intrigue and local obsession, forcing him to choose between the safety of his home and the defense of an innocent woman. Amidst the rising threat of a French invasion, loyalty and love collide on the quiet shores of Sussex.
The Mystery Boys and Captain Kidd's Message
Van Powell
The Mystery Boys are a trio of self-reliant chums whose curiosity leads them into the crossfire of international pirates and dangerous treasure hunters. They must rely on their wits, their secret society, and a fair bit of luck to survive a high-stakes search for hidden gold in the Florida Keys.