In November 1889, the New York World announced that it was sending its reporter Nellie Bly around the world, in a bid to beat Phileas Fogg's fictitious 80-day journey in Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Catching wind of this publicity stunt, John Brisben Walker, who had just purchased the three-year-old and still-fledging Cosmopolitan, decided to dispatch Bisland on her own journey.] Six hours after being recruited, Bisland departed westward from New York. Meanwhile, Bly left on a steamer headed to Europe, both on the same day—November 14, 1889...

This is a 1905 memoir of one great litterateur’s latter days written by another great litterateur. This recording omits the numerous footnotes and two letters in French untranslated by the translator. -Summary by david wales

A history of Florence Nightingale , the founder of modern nursing. Here's the definitive biography, gleaned from a lifetime of her notes, letters and writings, that goes way beyond the mere legend of "The Lady With The Lamp", and the "Founder Of Modern Nursing". This well written saga covers the vastly more expanded story of her development into an intelligent woman with a high purpose, her social standing and family connections that opened many doors for her, her extensive work after the Crimean War working with governments to develop better health care delivery systems to the indigent in England and in India, and her voluminous writings on numerous topics...

Enos Mills , naturalist and conservationist, was instrumental in the creation of Rocky Mountain National Park. Like his mentor John Muir, Mills was an intrepid solitary high country rambler, as well as an accomplished Colorado mountain guide. There are mountain tales aplenty in "Adventures of a Nature Guide." At one point, Mills climbs Long's Peak alone in a gale with winds topping 170 mph., "carried away with the wild, elemental eloquence of the storm." Near the summit, the wind is so fierce he cannot make headway, so he concludes to "reverse ends...

“Here are boys, all sorts of boys: French, English, Italian, American… These are soldiers’ letters written home. But reading, one finds that he does not think of them as letters at all, but as boys… but the spirit of these letters cannot be defeated. The dead will rise again.” Each letter is introduced by a paragraph or two about the writer. - Summary by Author's Introduction and David Wales

Madame Germaine de Staël was the daughter of the Swiss banker and statesman, Jacques Necker. Her mother hosted a popular Paris salon where intellectuals gathered, many of whom contributed to the education of the brilliant girl. After his fall from political power in 1781, her still-wealthy father was able to marry Germaine to Baron Erik Magnus Staël von Holstein, but the couple separated in 1797. A successful novelist, Madame de Staël was a fervent defender of J.J. Rousseau and of the ideals of the French Revolution...

Louis Pasteur famously said, "In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind." Pasteur brought to the study of chemistry, microbiology, and applied immunology, a mind open, innovative, and insightful. Born of peasant stock in the French Jura, he worked with dogged determination all his life and often in the face of strenuous opposition. Through an unbroken succession of rigorously designed and meticulously performed experiments, Pasteur developed veterinary vaccines and halted grievous losses in the French wine, silk, and dairy industries...

Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 5 chronicles Lincoln's life from November 1861 through August 1862.

After the Civil War, Harriet and her husband Charles bought an Orange Plantation in Mandarin, on the upper east coast of Florida, where they lived during the winter months. Over the years they expanded their cottage to accommodate many guests . They opened schools to educate and churches to care for the recently freed negros pouring into Florida seeking refuge and opportunity. These charming essays, each describing a largely undeveloped rural land, became one of the first travel guides written about Florida and stimulated the first boom of tourism and residential development to that area...

Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre , , was the sister of Francis I, King of France. She was highly-educated and was courted by the future Henry VIII of England. However, at the age of seventeen, she was married by royal decree to the untutored dolt, Charles IV of Alençon. After his death she wed Henry II of Navarre by whom she had a daughter and a son, who died in infancy. The author takes us with Margaret on her perilous journey over the Pyrenees to Spain to attempt to free her brother, Francis, held captive by the Holy Roman Emperor...

Dumas's play talks of American Naval Hero John Paul Jones's romantic entanglements and affairs of honor ashore in France. He later converted it to a novel. - Summary by ToddHW Cast list: The Marquis D'Auray: Amy Gramour The Marchioness, his wife: Sonia Count Emanuel, their child: Tomas Peter Margaret, their child: Leanne Yau Baron De Lectoure: Nemo Paul Jones: ToddHW Louis Achard: Thomas A. Copeland Mr. De La Jarry: Roger Melin Mr. De Nozay: RecordingPerson Notary: Zames Curran Laffeuille, valet to the Marchioness: Son of the Exiles Jasmin, valet to Emanuel: Eva Davis Stage Directions: Sandra Schmit Edited by: ToddHW

This volume, published in 1919 by the American Women's Baptist Home Mission Society, opens with an introduction spelling out the important work done by African American women. It speaks both to the "invisible work" of as mothers and wives, and the work done outside the homes in all sorts of industries, as well as in medicine, education, and arts. In addition, it contains short biographies of five brave, inspiring women. - Summary by kathrinee

Written by a fictitious first-person narrator, this book puts a humorous spin on encounters with several famous people of the time. "I set forth from my office in London upon my pilgrimage to the shrines of the world's illustrious. Readers everywhere are interested in the home life of men who have made themselves factors in art, science, letters, and history, and to these people I was commissioned to go." -- Summary by TriciaG and from the book.

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, commonly referred to as the Jefferson Bible, was a book constructed by Thomas Jefferson in the later years of his life by cutting and pasting with a razor and glue numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus. Jefferson's condensed composition is especially notable for its exclusion of all miracles by Jesus and most mentions of the supernatural, including sections of the four gospels that contain the Resurrection and most other miracles, and passages that portray Jesus as divine. - Summary by Wikipedia

Emily Brontë is best known for her only novel, "Wuthering Heights." She was born in Yorkshire, northern England, where her father was an Anglican curate. When Brontë was three years old her mother died of cancer. At the age of six she joined her three sisters briefly at the Clergy Daughters' School, where privations and abuse contributed to the deaths of two of them. Her elder sister, Charlotte, immortalized this terrible place in "Jane Eyre." In 1846 Emily Brontë, under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, published a selection of her poetry...

The results of a survey undertaken by Galton to learn more about individual differences and similarities between the "pre-eminent" men of his time. Brief biographical information, biometric data and extensive quotations have been compiled and presented. Summary by niobium.

Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 6 chronicles Lincoln's life in early 1862.

Lady Jane Grey was an English noblewoman, great-granddaughter of Henry VII. As her cousin, Edward VI, lay on his death-bed, he nominated her as his successor to the English crown ahead of his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Jane's reign lasted a mere nine days, before she was convicted of treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Often considered one of the most romantic characters of royal history, Taylor gives us a full biography of the Nine Day Queen. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick , wealthy and powerful peer of England, was one of the leaders of the Wars of the Roses . He joined Richard, Duke of York in opposing the ineffectual and often incapacitated Lancastrian king, Henry VI. Falling out with York's son, King Edward IV, he switched sides and joined forces with Henry's exiled queen, Margaret of Anjou, but was killed at the Battle of Barnet. In this short biography, the British military historian, Charles Oman brings to life a consummate medieval warrior, who was also a politician ahead of his time.. - Summary by Pamela Nagami

Phineas Pett was a Master Shipbuilder from one of England's greatest shipbuilding families of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and kept a journal of his experiences and thoughts at this important and turbulent time in the industry. Although some pages were damaged or lost, the diary was transcribed by Samuel Pepys and preserved in the British Library. It was edited and published in the form of an autobiography by William Gordon Perrin of The Council of the Navy Records Society in 1918. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

The Lives of the Queens of England is a multi-volumed work attributed to Agnes Strickland, though it was mostly researched and written by her sister Elisabeth. These volumes give biographies of the queens of England from the Norman Conquest in 1066. Although by today's standards, it is not seen as a very scholarly work, the Stricklands used many sources that had not been used before.Volume eight includes the biographies of Henrietta Maria and Catharine of Braganza.

These biographical essays of British subjects were written in 1907-1908 for The Daily News newspaper and reflect their subjects as seen before the great cataclysm of World War I. Gardiner was a British newspaper editor, journalist, and author. His essays were and are highly regarded. - Summary by David Wales

Written for the centenary of Jane Austen's death, W. H. Helm reflects poetically on the timelessness of her work: the must of age has not settled on her books. The lavender may lie between their pages, but it is still sweet. Helm briefly surveys Jane Austen's influences, literary contemporaries and themes. He is particularly interested in her ideas and characters, and his short book is fully of pithy quotes encapsulating "the best of Jane Austen". Summary by Beth Thomas

Memoirs of General George Brinton McClellan, commanding general of the Army of the Potomac during the early years of the American Civil War. The work covers the time that McClellan commanded the Army of the Potomac, including the Peninsula Campaign, the Seven Days' Battles, and the Battle of Antietam.

This little book by the British military historian, Charles Oman, begins with the accession of the warrior king, Edward III, to the English throne in 1327 and ends with the downfall of Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485. By carrying the story of the Hundred Years' War through the Wars of the Roses, Oman portrays this era of battle and plague within the larger context of the dynastic struggles and civil wars which destabilized England and left France vulnerable to invasion and conquest. Summary by Pamela Nagami.

This book gives an exciting account of Napoleon's rise to power. It opens with his humble beginning on the island of Corsica and ultimately emperor of over half of Europe. This book focuses on his victorious military campaigns, his disastrous Russian campaign, his exile to the island of Elba, his final loss at Waterloo, and his last days on the lonely island of St. Helena. Summary by pjcsaville.

In this 1916 work, Albert Payson Terhune introduces twelve immensely influential women, whose actions influenced world history. Terhune chooses well-known figures whose stories are as much myth as history, like Cleopatra and Helen of Troy, artists such as George Sand, and a number of ladies whose names are not so well-known today, because their work was not immediately visible to the uninitiated. All stories will be interested to the modern feminist, and each reader and listener should be able to find a personal heroine among these select twelve. - Summary by Carolin

Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 7 chronicles Lincoln's life from 1862, including the major battles in the American Civil War that year.

Sergeant Sullivan tells the story of his life as a Texas Ranger for 12 incredible years in the late 1800s.

This is Volume VIII of the National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs series. It is read as 33 sections using the memoir headings. John Wesley Powell was a leading figure in the geological explorations of the West and helped establish the federal U.S. Geological Survey in 1879. He also led the Bureau of Ethnology and advocated for better treatment and study of Native American tribes and culture. He wrote a definitive study of the arid western U.S., advocating for thoughtful irrigation and land management practices...

A biographical summary of the pre-eminent men of Britain grouped by profession. The extensive survey draws from information including college graduation, reputation during career, fellowships, and even known relatives. Includes discussions on findings and observations as well as referenced appendices. - Summary by Leon Harvey

The Meditations is divided into 12 books that chronicle different periods of Marcus' life. Each book is not in chronological order and it was written for no one but himself. The style of writing that permeates the text is one that is simplified, straightforward, and perhaps reflecting Marcus' Stoic perspective on the text. Depending on the English translation, Marcus' style is not viewed as anything regal or belonging to royalty, but rather a man among other men which allows the reader to relate to his wisdom...