During the last half of the second century B.C. Rome was undisputed mistress of the civilized western world. As the British historian, Augustus Henry Beesly writes, "a brilliant period of foreign conquest had succeeded the 300 years in which she had overcome her neighbors and made herself supreme in Italy. In 146 B.C. she had given the death-blow to her greatest rival, Carthage, and had annexed Greece." But Rome was on the brink of a one hundred year-long revolution. In this slim volume Beesley, recounts the careers of four of its first dynamic leaders: the idealistic Brothers Gracchi, who attempted land reforms, and the rough, resourceful soldier, Marius, who overhauled the army...

During and after the United States' War of Independence, Canada remained loyal to Great Britain. The upheavals of the 1830's and early 1840's led to a Popular Government and union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841, but many still wanted confederation of the provinces into one centralized government. It would take over two decades for that to become a reality, "From Sea to Sea". This work chronicles the birth of the Dominion of Canada.

Written anonymously by "a working 'medium' for the past twenty years", this little book was an inspiration for a young Harry Houdini, and also rather hard to find until a facsimile edition was published in 1922, due to all the copies being bought and destroyed by spiritualists. According to the preface, "the most wonderful of the 'medium's' phenomena will be so thoroughly explained and so completely dissected that, after reading this book, you can perform the feats yourself". - Summary by Jordan

PREFACE This Booklet has been written and compiled for the use of any student or layman who seeks concise and clear information on the history of Influenza. Brief and salient facts are set forth relating to “Flu” epidemics and pandemics: other collateral features have also been discussed, connected with or bearing upon this subject. Honolulu, Hawaii, U. S. A., 1921. - A. Mouritz Notes: Much of the material in "The Flu" is still relevant today, like pandemic terminology, thoughts about causes and micro-organisms, the flu's relationship with pneumonia, the impact on society, and approaches to treatments "The Flu" is included in the Surgeon General's Library at the U...

If Winter Comes, was in many aspects ahead of its time, dealing with an unhappy marriage, eventual divorce, and an unwed mother who commits suicide. According to the New York Times, "If Winter Comes" was the best-selling book in the United States for all of 1922.

While a bit outdated in many of the more complex descriptions of several of the phenomena described, this book is nonetheless still fun and relevant for a person interested in basic chemistry or physics tricks, and the devices built in the book can be easily replicated with more modern materials. The book is split up into many little experiments, tricks, with an explanation on how it works, what's happening, and how to reproduce the effects at home.

The Bittings have written a number of books on canning and home preparation of food. This short volume includes a brief description of the preparation and production of ketchup, primarily from commercial production view, and then a more scientific treatment of this condiment and its ingredients. Note: The last section in the book is titled "Structure of the Tomato". In fact, it is devoted to microbiological examination of pulp and ketchup.

Harry Wethermill, the brilliant young scientist, a graduate of Oxford and Munich, has made a fortune from his inventions, and is taking a vacation at Aix-les-Bains. There he meets, and immediately falls in love with, the young and beautiful Celia Harland, who serves as companion to the aging but warm-hearted Madam Dauvray of Paris. All this is observed by Julius Ricardo, a retired financier from the City of London, who spends every August at Aix, expecting there to find a pleasant and peaceful life...

Like many soldiers at the beginning of their military careers, Harry Penrose has romantic ideas of climbing the ranks and attaining hero status. However, while stationed at Gallipoli, the realities of war begin to take their toll on Penrose, not only physically, but also mentally where the war has become a 'battle of the mind.' This is his story as related by a fellow soldier, as well as the story of the campaign at Gallipoli which is vividly portrayed from the author's own personal experiences.During his tenure as an officer, Penrose slowly asserts himself; the war takes a toll on his personality, but he begins to live up to his early dreams of heroism...

A.M. Hills, theologian and preacher in the Wesleyan holiness tradition, gives us a detailed biography of Charles G. Finney, one of the most influential revivalists of the nineteenth century. Charles G. Finney was a key figure in initiating the Second Great Awakening in the United States. His preaching was passionate an powerful and his very presence would often bring conviction on those around him. Although his background was Baptist and Presbyterian, he vigorously promoted the doctrine of entire sanctification and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Finney also left his mark on education as president of Oberlin College in Ohio. - Summary by Larry Wilson

In 1822, Aaron Smith, a young English seaman, was taken captive by Cuban pirates when his ship was boarded en route from Jamaica to England. Forced to work as a navigator and as a member of pirate boarding parties, he witnessed unspeakable acts of murder and torture. Befriended by a young Cuban woman, he managed to escape with his life, but was arrested as a pirate in Havana and sent back to England in chains. There, he found himself on trial for his life at the Old Bailey courthouse—with the attorney general himself leading the prosecution. Smith's dramatic account of his personal experience is a brutally honest, unromanticized [sic] look at piracy in the 19th century.

Disagreeable old Miss Terry spends her Christmas Eve getting rid of toys from her childhood toy box. One by one she tosses them onto the sidewalk in front of her house, then secretly watches the little scenes that occur, which seem to confirm her belief that true Christmas spirit does not exist. Then the Angel from her childhood Christmas tree appears to show Miss Terry that she has not yet witnessed the final act of each of those little dramas...Living Age magazine in 1910 observed of The Christmas...

Now the interesting facts about birds we have always with us. We can find them out for ourselves, which is a very pleasant thing to do, or we can take the word of others, of which there is no lack. But it is the quaint fancies about birds which are in danger of being lost. The long-time fancies which the world's children in all lands have been taught are quite as important as the every-day facts. They show what the little feathered brothers have been to the children of men; how we have come to like some and to dislike others as we do; why the poets have called them by certain nicknames which we ought to know; and why a great many strange things are so, in the minds of childlike people.

This book is made of the stories told by the Northern folk,—the people who live in the land of the midnight sun, where summer is green and pleasant, but winter is a terrible time of cold and gloom; where rocky mountains tower like huge giants, over whose heads the thunder rolls and crashes, and under whose feet are mines of precious metals. Therefore you will find the tales full of giants and dwarfs,—spirits of the cold mountains and dark caverns. You will find the hero to be Thor, with his thunderbolt hammer, who dwells in the happy heaven of Asgard, where All-Father Odin is king, and where Balder the beautiful makes springtime with his smile...

Reading bedtime stories to children can be a wonderful way to relax and at the same time act out the exciting things happening in the story for them. If you've done it, you know the feeling and if you haven't I can only hope that you were the rapt audience for such stories when a child. We can let ourselves go and perform all the parts with abandon because the only audience are those who unreservedly appreciate our thespian talents. These 25 stories are all original and all sparkling examples of Abby Walker's ability to spin a witty story that is fun to read and listen to...

A book of sleepy bed time stories for children read for you, no matter what age you are, read to you by talented and wonderful volunteers. - Summary by phil chenevert

Have you every read a bed time story to a child? Or had one read to you? Fun, isn't it? These 28 delightful, short, well written and whimsical stores by the famous storyteller Abby Phillips just beg to be read aloud by adults or children. With titles like THE REVENGE OF THE FIREFLIES and SALLIE HICKS'S FOREFINGER how can you go wrong? Turn on the nightlight, tuck 'em in, settle down in the rocking chair and ... enjoy.

Tales of a cat's life told by the cat in hopes of saving cats from death by animal shelters or abandonment.

A collection of the legends and stories of North Eastern Indians "In the summer of 1882 and 1883, I was associated with Charles G. Leland in the collection of the material for his book The Algonquin Legends of New England, published in 1884. I found the work so delightful, that I have gone on with it since, whenever I found myself in the neighborhood of Indians. The supply of legends and tales seems to be endless, one supplementing and complementing another, so that there may be a dozen versions of one tale, each containing something new...

A lavish palace, a giant, a poor boy seeking his fortune, a beautiful girl in danger... these are all the elements of a charming tale. Spoiled princesses, a robbers' cave and fairies round out this story for children. - Summary by Lynne T

These moralistic stories within stories date back to the Sanskrit text Panchatantra . They were first translated into Arabic by a Persian named Ruzbeh who named it Book of Kalilah and Dimna and then by Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa and later Joseph Harris in 1679 and then remodeled in 1818. Max Mueller noted that La Fontaine was indebted to the work and other scholars have noted that Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont and John Fletcher were both familiar with the fables. The Fables of Pilpay are a series of inter-woven fables, many of which deploy metaphors of anthropomorphized animals with human virtues and vices.

“Much has already been written of the visit of Abdul Baha, Abbas Effendi, to Europe,” writes Lady Blomfield in her Preface to Paris Talks, “During his stay at Paris at 4, Avenue de Comoens, he gave short “Talks” each morning to those who crowded, eager to hear His Teaching. These listeners were of many Nationalities and types of thought, learned and unlearned, members of various religious sects, Theosophists and Agnostics, Materialists and Spiritualists, etc., etc. Abdul Baha spoke in Persian, which was translated into French...

“Much has already been written of the visit of Abdul Baha, Abbas Effendi, to Europe,” writes Lady Blomfield in her Preface to Paris Talks, “During his stay at Paris at 4, Avenue de Comoens, he gave short “Talks” each morning to those who crowded, eager to hear His Teaching. These listeners were of many Nationalities and types of thought, learned and unlearned, members of various religious sects, Theosophists and Agnostics, Materialists and Spiritualists, etc., etc. Abdul Baha spoke in Persian, which was translated into French...

The Mysterious Forces of Civilization (Persian: Risálih-i-Madaníyyih) is a work written before 1875 by ‘Abbás Effendí, known as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (the Servant of Bahá) (1844-1921). The Persian text was first lithographed in Bombay in 1882 and printed in Cairo in 1911. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the eldest son and appointed successor of Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith. The original text of this work was written and published anonymously, and the first English translation (by Johanna Dawud) was published in London in 1910 and Chicago in 1918, under the title ‘Mysterious Forces of Civilization’ written by "an Eminent Bahai Philosopher...

“This book is the history of a proscribed and persecuted sect written by one of themselves,” writes Professor Edward Granville Browne, the Cambridge Orientalist who translated this narrative. “After suffering in silence for nigh upon half a century, they at length find voice to tell their tale and offer their apology. Of this voice I am the interpreter.” This work is the story of the life of the Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad-i-Shírází (1819-1850), known as the “Báb”, which is Arabic for “Gate”...

Some Answered Questions was first published in 1908. It contains questions asked to `Abdu'l-Bahá by Laura Clifford Barney, during several of her visits to Haifa between 1904 and 1906, and `Abdu'l-Bahá's answers to these questions. Prominent among the topics are detailed explanations of Christian subjects, including interpretations of chapters 11 and 12 of the Book of Revelation, chapter 11 of the Book of Isaiah, the story of Genesis, and many other subjects. Topics covered include God, Prophets of God, Christian subjects, evolution, the soul, immortality, fate, free will, healing, the non-existence of evil, and reincarnation. (Introduction derived from Wikipedia)

“Two years before the crash of world war shook the continents and upheaved oceans,” Howard MacNutt relates. “‘Abdu’l-Bahá ‘Abbás visited the United States of America proclaiming the Glad-Tidings of Universal Peace and the oneness of the world of humanity. In his message he reviewed social, religious and political conditions of the nations, foretold clearly the impending clash and conflict of militarism, summoning mankind to the standard of divine guidance upraised in this cycle of the cycles by the manifestation and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh...

Abigail Mott was a Quaker and abolitionist from New York who, along with fellow Quaker M. S. Wood, has compiled a provocative collection of stories of “Colored Americans.” They range from well-known figures such as Phillis Wheatley and Sojourner Truth to the common men and women who give poignant insights of their life. Selections consist of short anecdotes, essays, stories, letters and poetry. Many have strong religious and spiritual themes. - Summary by Larry Wilson

Abner Doubleday was a busy man. He rose to be a major general during the American Civil War, started the first cable car company in San Francisco, and is credited (though perhaps erroneously) with inventing the game of baseball.In 1861, he had the distinction as a captain to be second-in-command of Ft. Moultrie, one of the harbor defenses of Charleston, SC.. When that state seceded from the Union, Doubleday and the garrison of artillerists manning the fort were cut off from supplies and reinforcements...

Abner Doubleday began the Civil War as a Union officer and aimed the first cannon shot in response to the bombardment opened on Ft. Sumter in 1861. Two years later, after a series of battles (including Antietam, where he was wounded), Doubleday took over a division in the Army of the Potomac's 1st Corps.These are his memoirs of service in two of the War's great campaigns. At Chancellorsville, a very promising start made by General Hooker against Lee's Confederate forces fell to a defeat when, in...

LibriVox volunteers bring you 13 recordings of The Wish by Abraham Cowley. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for February 24, 2013. Abraham Cowley (/ˈkuːli/) was a leading English poet in the 16th century.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, given November 19, 1863 on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live...