This is a story of magnificent failures. The men who equipped the expeditions of which I shall tell you the story died in the poorhouse. The men who took part in these voyages sacrificed their lives as cheerfully as they lighted a new pipe or opened a fresh bottle. Some of them were drowned, and some of them died of thirst. A few were frozen to death, and many were killed by the heat of the scorching sun. But what of it? It was all in the day's work. These excellent fellows took whatever came, be it good or bad, or indifferent, with perfect grace, and kept on smiling...

Robert James Manion was a Canadian doctor who volunteered in the Canadian medical corps during World War I. This book is his memoir of the war. After the war he entered politics and served in several Canadian governments. The listener may note a lack of mention of the United States soldier; this is because the memoir was written before the entry of that country into the war. - Summary by David Wales

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. Two U.S. Presidents are remembered in "A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison" and Washington's "Address to Congress on Resigning His Commission ." Other topics in history and political theory include two of George W. Ball's memos about the Vietnam War from 1965, "Irish Marriage Rites," "Celts and Celtophiles," Kropotkin on "Anarchism in Socialistic Evolution," a tragedy at sea , and a look back at "The Passing of the Sailing Ship." Religion and philosophy are represented with two selections from Kierkegaard's "Preparation for a Christian Life" and a sermon by Spurgeon ...

A collection of pieces, both fiction and non-fiction, that have as its subject a word beginning with a specific letter of the English alphabet. Subjects can range from coffee to tea, animals to vampires, law to emotions.

When Albert Einstein published his first paper on relativity theory, it caused a stir in the physicists' community. When more and more evidence was gathered to prove the theory correct, even laymen became interested in it. Since the theory of relativity uses involved higher mathematics, it is considered notoriously difficult to grasp, and at the time it was published, it was claimed that only 12 people in the world were able to fully understand it. One of these was the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, who wrote the articles collected in this book for a lay audience...

In a nineteenth century Sicilian fishing village, the Malavoglia family gambles everything on being able to profit from a cargo of lupin nuts. The cargo is lost at sea and a succession of misfortunes and tragedies assails the family. A masterpiece of social commentary hailed within Italy but neglected by the wider world, The House by the Medlar Tree ranks alongside the works of Zola, Dickens or Balzac among the great books of European literature. The book is the inspiration behind the 1948 film 'La Terra Trema' , one of the earliest works of the great Italian director Luchino Visconti. - Summary by Tom Denholm

Natalie Page is coming to visit her aunt and uncle in New York. Of course they want her around, but every social engagement is more important, even when she is ill. So Natalie starts to focus on small mysteries like her stolen bracelet, and observe the people around her. She writes a lot about their norms, habits and deeds. Would she be able to frive during her stay or would she always remain in the shadow of her socialite aunt and cousins? Would she be able to find herself? - Summary by Stav Nisser.

The Artist, or Young Ladies' Instructor in Ornamental Painting, Drawing etc. is a delightful art instruction book from 1835. Follow Charlotte as she teaches her cousin Ellen a range of art forms that were widely taught at the time, from painting in the Grecian and Japanese style, to Oriental and Mezzotinting, as well as Inlaying. A few simple projects with paper are mentioned at the end of the book. - Summary by Ava Cast: Mamma read by LCaulkins Ellen read by MrsHand Charlotte read by Availle Narration and Preface and Epilogue by ToddHW

Nami-ko, a young woman of a noble Japanese family, has recently married the naval officer Takeo, the only heir of a friend of her father's. The couple is very happy together and Takeo is doing everything to create the perfect life for his wife, even more so when she contracts tuberculosis. Takeo's mother, however, sees Nami's illness as a threat to the survival of the family line. Egged on by Chijiwa, a spurned lover of Nami's and Takeo's cousin, she uses her son's absence to send Nami back to her family, thus effecting a divorce...

Twenty short nonfiction works in the public domain. "The Regulation of Time" and "Uniform Standard Time" are two of several readings which touch on social regulation, societal norms, and individual expression. Others examine dancing mania ; gender conformity ; race laws ; etiquette and social class "; "Opportunity" ; organized religion ; oratory and persuasion ; legal protection for original ideas ; and an exhortation to judge men by their deeds, not their names . Music and books are celebrated in "Fidelio;" "The Function of a National Library;" "Books in the Wilderness;" and Oscar Wilde's "To Read or Not to Read...

Louisa Lilias Plunket Greene was an Irish author of children's books. However, like any good book for children, this book is also for adults. Everybody knows Violet, the girl who always sits in the window and looks at any passerby, the girl who is just looking, and never playing outside. The children tell her she is a hunchback. The adults consider them cruel. This book is exactly about that conflict. How much to tell? How much to shelter a girl from a world she might never be able to join? Can Violet be happy with her lot, even in the face of trouble? This is a very touching book for those who want to learn about children, the adults who love them, and what it truly means to be different...

Reading this book, I had a vision of a land, heretofore sunk in the mists of muteness, suddenly rising up into the eminence of song. Innumerable books have been written about the South; some good books have been written in the South. This book is the South. . . . . Part One is the primitive and evanescent world of Georgia. Part Two is the threshing and suffering brown world of Washington. . . . Part Three is Georgia again . . . this black womb of the ferment seed: the neurotic, educated, spiritually stirring Negro. From the Forward by Waldo Frank

This work is a selection of Christmas stories of Lucy Maud Montgomery from different sources and different times. The focus is widened a bit to include a few works about Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day. LMM was a prolific Canadian author in the early 20th century whose works were very popular in her own country as well as the United States, and indeed around the world. Perhaps her most read novel was her first, Anne Of Green Gables. - Summary by david wales

Twenty short nonfiction works selected by the readers. “Shall we ever be able to visit the moon?” queries journalist Charles Nevers Holmes in 1920. Holmes was hopeful. Technology had come a long way since 1862, when balloonist James Glaisher made a daring ascent to 37,000 feet above the earth and passed out for lack of oxygen [Travels in the Air]. Glaisher had to best-guess the altitude to which his balloon had climbed while he was unconscious. Technology requires a rational system of accurate measurement [A Metric America]...

Hamlet is Jeremy’s dog. This 1923 book is Hugh Walpole’s second volume in his Jeremy semi-autobiographical trilogy , Jeremy at Crale ), about a ten-year-old English boy. One commentator wrote this of the first book: “With affectionate humor, Mr. Walpole tells the story of Jeremy and his two sisters, Helen and Mary Cole, who grow up in Polchester, a quiet English Cathedral town…. Mr. Walpole has given his narrative a rare double appeal, for it not only recreates for the adult the illusion of his own happiest youth, but it unfolds for the child-reader a genuine and moving experience with real people and pleasant things...

Henry Dawson has written several vignettes of railroad men from the days of steam locomotives. His goal is to show the reader that they are not just rough men, but are also brave and heroic men through descriptions of divers dangers encountered on the tracks.

2019 collection of items with a Christmas theme containing traditional stories, Christmas traditions, Christmas cakes. We hope you will enjoy it.

In this Journal, Joseph Banks records almost daily observations of the journey of the ship the Endeavour on the first of James Cook’s voyages to the Pacific during the years 1768-1771. There are also more detailed accounts of the events, people, flora, fauna and geology of the places where they landed. They landed at Brazil, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Batavia, Cape Town and St. Helena. Joseph Banks was one of the naturalists on the Endeavour, appointed by the Royal Society. The joint Royal Society, Royal Navy journey of the Endeavour was overtly a scientific expedition with the stated purpose of observing the transit of Venus from Tahiti...

Orphaned Emily Starr is sent to live at New Moon Farm on Prince Edward Island with her aunts Elizabeth and Laura Murray and her Cousin Jimmy. She quickly befriends three other children named Ilse Burnley, Teddy Kent, and Perry Miller, each of whom are unique and special in personality. At home, however, Emily has trouble getting along with her strict, severe Aunt Elizabeth; the plot climaxes when Emily accidentally uncovers a dreadful secret about Ilse's mother. The story is told in a simple, yet endearing fashion by Anne of Green Gables author Lucy Maude Montgomery, and is truly a good book for children or children at heart.

Joseph Rogers was an English physician, medical officer, and health care reformer in London. The system of poor-law dispensaries and separate sick wards, with proper staffs of medical attendants and nurses, was due to the efforts of Rogers and his colleagues. His memoir, published in 1889, contains an informative biography written by his brother. His career was not without conflict as his zeal sometimes offended governing boards. - Summary by David Wales

A continuation of the adventures of Mary Ware, the chum of the Little Colonel and the heroine of the tenth volume in the "Little Colonel" series. Mary Ware goes to Texas where during a winter with her mother and Jack in San Antonio and the hill country she has new and varied experiences which are entertainingly set down for the enjoyment of young readers.

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. "Suffrage for women will not usher in a millennium of peace and leisure" was the editorial opinion of the Boston Cooking School Magazine in May, 1914. [Woman's Problems]. Disillusionment with easy answers is the theme of several Vol. 071 readings [On Thinking for Oneself; Limitations of Truth-Telling; On Demagogues]. Rebellion and war, heroics and aftermath, are treated in Alexander at Gordium; Before Grant Won His Stars; Draft Riots in Wisconsin; The Truth About Greece; and Sophie Treadwell Interviews Pancho Villa...

The original version of Hannah Glasse’s ‘The Complete Confectioner’ was first produced about 1760 but the publication referenced here is from the year 1800 with considerable additions and corrections made by Maria Wilson, who played a significant part in editing this version of the book. ‘The Complete Confectioner’ gives an insight not only into a diverse range of recipes for desserts, sweet confections and sweetmeats popular for the dining table in 18th & 19th century Britain but also numerous instructions for pickling and preserving fruit and vegetables as well...

Subtitle: "The Human Side of What the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act Have Done to the United States" From Chapter 1: "The strange phenomenon of Prohibition, after an appearance amongst us of over three years, is still non-understandable to the majority of a great, and so-called free, people. It is one of the most astonishing manifestations the world has ever witnessed. It came upon us like a phantom, swiftly; like a thief in the night, taking us by surprise. Yet the Prohibitionists will tell you that no one should be amazed, since for years—for almost a century—quiet forces have been at work to bring about this very thing." - Summary by Charles Hanson Towne

In the days before telescope photography, astronomers had to draw what they thought they saw through the eyepiece throughout the long dark nights. Sometimes they saw saw more than there really was to see, and a bit over 100 years ago Percival Lowell published books on what he was sure were canals on Mars, signs of intelligent civilization. by Alfred Russel Wallace.) - Summary by ToddHW

This short work attempts to establish that Jesus had black ancestry dating back to Ham, the son of Noah, who had been made black-skinned as a punishment for having seen his father naked. Furthermore, Canaanites are here also identified as being black, and according to the author, several important Jewish figures and ancestors of Jesus had children by this group of people. - Summary by Jim Locke

Mildred returns home from visiting her mother's relatives. She continues to grow in wisdom and beauty and receives many proposals of marriage. She is an ever-increasing blessing to her family and community. In-laws are added to the family, and they enjoy a visit from Horace Dinsmore and his daughter Elsie. - Summary by Amy

The Reverend Mr. Artman is a widower of three years and is worried he might not be able to escape the clutches of Miss Carlton, his housekeeper, much longer. Luckily, if he dismisses her from his employ, he has Doris and three other daughters to run his household.

Twenty short nonfiction works, individually chosen by the readers. "The ground rose and fell in successive furrows, like the ruffled waters of a lake, and I became bewildered in my ideas..." John James Audubon's vivid recollection of the 1812 New Madrid earthquake is one of several Vol. 072 selections with a scientific focus. Others include Luminous Plants; The Sunbeam and the Spectrascope; and biographies of two shipbuilders: Robert Fulton and Thomas Andrews. The emotive and rational sides of human nature are evinced in essays ; treatises ; and the records of two very different murder trials: John Kimber ; and James Sullivan ...

The Homesteader is a semi-autobiographic novel about Jean Baptiste, an African-American homesteader in the Dakotas. He meets Agnes who he falls in love with, however as Agnes is presumed to be white, he is not allowed to marry her, so instead he marries the daughter of a black preacher, Orlean, which eventually, due to family issues, ends in a tragedy. Returning to his homestead, he finds Agnes again and discovers her upbringing and past, which brings the book to its conclusion.

Lina and Adelia Beard, co-founders of the first American girls' scouting group, originally called the Girl Scout Society, then the Girl Pioneers, and finally as the Camp Fire Girls, provide practical advice and encouragement to girls and young women who wish to explore a "free, wholesome, and adventurous outdoor life." - Summary by Christine Lehman, aka stoogeswoman

A series of biographies of the wives of the doges of the Venetian Republic. - Summary by Timothy