Free summaries
British Literature — page 19
882 public-domain british literature books, summarised. Page 19 of 19.
Victory: An Island Tale
Joseph Conrad
A detached Swedish aristocrat retreats to a remote tropical island, only to find his total isolation shattered by a desperate act of compassion.
The Queen of Hearts
Wilkie Collins
Three elderly brothers in a remote Welsh valley attempt to hold an heiress captive through storytelling, only to find their own hidden histories unraveling in the process.
Guy Mannering
Walter Scott
An exiled heir, a prophecy forged in his cradle, and a network of smugglers, gypsies, and corrupt lawyers collide along the stormy coast of eighteenth-century Scotland.
Lord of the World
Robert Hugh Benson
A charismatic peacemaker unites a war-weary globe under a single secular creed, while a solitary priest struggles to keep faith alive as the world hurtles toward its final reckoning.
Caesar and Cleopatra
Bernard Shaw
Under the serene light of an ancient Egyptian moon, a middle-aged Roman general stumbles upon a terrified young princess hiding between the paws of a Sphinx.
Confessio Amantis
John Gower
A weary lover lays his open heart before the priest of Venus, finding that the true nature of desire is a mirror for the soul's salvation.
The Great English Short-Story Writers, Volume 1
Unknown
Masterful storytellers capture human ambition, folly, and mortality through small, intensely focused narratives that linger long after the final page is turned.
Under Western Eyes
Joseph Conrad
A solitary student betrays a revolutionary fugitive to protect his own future, only to find himself trapped in a nightmare of moral isolation and mandatory espionage.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, Jan. 8, 1919
Various
Fresh off the heels of the Great War, this January 1919 issue captures a weary yet triumphant Britain navigating demobilization, political upheaval, and the comical absurdities of returning to peacetime life.
The Rivals: A Comedy
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
When a young romantic demands a broke, lowly lover, a wealthy officer invents a dirt-poor alter ego to win her heart. In 18th-century Bath, their tangled deceptions snowball into a sparkling, high-stakes duel of wits and weapons.
Poems 1817
John Keats
Youthful ambition meets natural splendor as a fresh voice reaches toward poetic mastery, invoking ancient myths, quiet bowers, and close friendships.
Where Angels Fear to Tread
E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster
A poignant tale of love, loss, and cultural clash, set against the backdrop of Italy's beauty and England's social norms.
Eighteenth Century Essays on Shakespeare
David Nichol Smith
Long before romantic critics claimed to rediscover the English playwright, an earlier century waged fierce battles over his text, his learning, and his human genius. This anthology uncovers how those foundational debates built modern literary criticism.
King Richard II
William Shakespeare
When a monarch misjudges his absolute power, the foundation of an entire kingdom fractures under the weight of his excess.
The Phoenix and the Carpet
E. (Edith) Nesbit
When four London siblings accidentally acquire a magic carpet and a mythic bird, their ordinary Victorian nursery becomes the launching pad for wild, unpredictable adventures.
A Child's Garden of Verses
Robert Louis Stevenson
Transforming routine daily domestic boundaries into vast, uncharted realms of imagination, this collection captures the internal life of childhood with rare precision.
The Odd Women
George Gissing
To be a woman without private means in late-Victorian England is to stand upon a narrow ledge, where a single misstep or sudden bereavement precipitates a swift slide into poverty.
The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice
Wilkie Collins
A sinister Countess, a vanished courier, and a grand Venetian palace converted into a luxury hotel converge in a tale of murder, unnatural presences, and inescapable guilt.