Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. Eucken's "The Failure of Speculative Philosophy," is one of several essays devoted to timeless questions. Others are by James Howell on man, nature and the universe, Samuel Johnson on procrastination and the flight of time, Schleiemacher on the social element in religion, Ambrose Bierce on immortality, and Thomas Paine and Jonathan Swift with their famous essays, "The Age of Reason" and "A Modest Proposal" . Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor "Day of Infamy" speech is one of various commentaries on war, politics and the polity...

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. A review of William Carlos Williams' "Kora in Hell" by Robert McAlmon is one of several selections devoted to literature and learning. Others are H. P. Lovecraft's "Literary Composition;" George Herbert Betts's "The Mind and Its Education;" William Wells Newell's "Michelangelo as Poet;" and Thoreau's "Wild Apples." Humor receives its due in "The Methods of Mr. Sellyer: A Book Store Study" ; "The Plumber" ; "The Yawn of the Computer Age" ; and an unnamed boy's "Essay on Girls...

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. "Why Women Should Vote" is one of several selections devoted to women's interests, as are Martha Foote Crow's "The Young Woman on the Farm" , Alice Freeman Palmer's "Three Rules for Happiness," and Myrtle Reed's recipes for "Coffee Cakes, Doughnuts, and Waffles." Tradition and belief are treated in two selections from Kierkegaard, a letter from Japan , a creation myth , and an essay by Mark Twain on "Mental Telegraphy." Topics in history and political...

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.

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...

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]...

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

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...

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 ...

This collection showcases fabricated documents and stories throughout history, and the diversity of purposes and contexts they were deployed in.The "Awful Disclosures of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery of Montreal" is a fabricated anti-Catholic eye-witness account, published in 1836 and purporting to reveal the horrors of life in a convent. The Donation of Constantine is a forged imperial decree, supposedly enacting a perpetual transfer of authority over the western part of the Roman Empire from the emperor to the Pope...

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. "Salve! ye dumb hearts. Let us be still and wait by the roadside." With these words, Kate Chopin decries the "crushing feet, the clashing discords, the ruthless hands and stifling breath” that power the “mad pace" of everyday life. Broadway: the Backbone of New York presents a more up-beat view of city life. Reflections on difficult times are the substance of several volume 073 readings ; while the clash of people and cultures is examined in Everyday Japan , the Passing of Princess Kaiulani, Inca Land, Northern Europe and the Swiss Confederation, the Struggle between the Teutonic Order and Poland, and Pan-Turanism...

Twenty-one short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. "We must learn to dignify common labor." Booker T. Washington spoke plain truth at an 1898 Lincoln Day commemoration. Recorded during months of pandemic virus lockdown, unemployment, and mass dependence on the "common labor" of grocery clerks and delivery persons, Volume 074 of the Short Nonfiction Collection reflects its readers' reactions to uncertain times. Religion and Philosophy figure in several selections .

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. Is the sound of a dripping faucet music? According to Aldous Huxley, "The music of the drops is the symbol and type of the whole universe... asymptotic to sense, infinitely close to significance, but never touching it." . Sensory and psychological exploration define several recordings in Vol. 075 . Narrative history and biography apply a more traditional approach to questions of motivation . Lastly, the importance of critical and scientific observation are highlighted in Velocities Expressed in Meters per Second; The Original Hudson Tunnel; and The Peruvian Earthquake of 1868...

This is a collection of 26 selections, both fiction and nonfiction, in which each topic begins with a different letter of the alphabet.

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. "Our constitution is color-blind... the law regards man as man and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights...are involved." Justice Harlan's eloquent defense of equal rights for Black citizens in his 1866 dissent to Plessy v. Ferguson is one of several Vol. 076 selections which explore social issues and politics: John Adams; Gettysburg Address; Civil Rights Bill ; First Philippic of Demosthenes; Manifesto of the Humanitarian League; and Acadian Reminiscences...

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. President Theodore Roosevelt, in a 1903 speech, declared that "The future welfare of our nation depends upon the way in which we can combine...decency and strength," and opined that being "loose and foul of tongue" was incompatible with good citizenship. Personal and public morality, ethical and religious questions figure in several vol. 077 recordings: . Serious students of literature will relish Literary History of the Arabs. Nature and travel enthusiasts will be informed by The Bittern in the Norfolk Broads, Montenegro: The Smallest Capital in Europe, Ten Types of Clouds, and Controlling Japanese Beetles...

"It was about the month of May...that I received information ...that two photographs of fairies had been taken in the North of England under circumstances which seemed to put fraud out of the question." . Differing foundational beliefs and the varied ways men and women seek truth, whether through science, faith, philosophic speculation or political involvement, are highlighted in the selections for vol 079: The Cottingley Fairies; Scientific Ghosts; Matter and Memory; A Village Discussion; The Early Narratives of Genesis; The Connection Between Church and State; The Prince; Miss Morrison's First Visit to the Petit Trianon; The Scientific Work of Miss N...

The first chapter of a book is often the hook to draw a reader in. It could make you eager for more or realize it isn't for you. In this, the 8th First Chapter Collection, we offer you old favorites, such as Pride and Prejudice and The Call of the Wild. We tour the world, with Mexico and The Natural History of Selbourne, contemplate philosophy with Knowing and Being and relax with a Dissertation on Oriental Gardening with a side of Cakes and Cookies.

The American Bee Journal is the “oldest bee paper in America established in 1861 devoted to scientific bee-culture and the production and sale of pure honey. Published every Wednesday, by Thomas G. Newman, Editor and Proprietor” In this issues are topics from Colchian Honey and Honey-Producing in California to Early Importations of Italian Bees and Tardiness in Fecundity. - Summary by Larry Wilson

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. "Not one of us actually thinks for himself, or in any orderly and scientific manner. The pressure of environment, of mass ideas, of the socialized intelligence... is too enormous to be withstood." The individual and society were central to several vol. 080 reads: The Genealogy of Etiquette; A Lounge on the Lawn; Alexander Pushkin; Princess Zizianoff; The Hanseatic League; and The Limits of Atheism. Science and the inventive mind were covered in "On the Science of Experiments; Coffey's Science of Logic; Medicine and It's Subjects; How a Fast Train is Run; and The Telephone...

"There has always been a tendency on the part of men of brains to look with contempt on women's work in the arts." Screenwriter and novelist Anita Loos' acerbic opinion is part of "Women in Film Speak Their Minds .” Ida Tarbell's "Women as Inventors" showcases female accomplishment. Vol. 081 contains commentary on a variety of human concerns: fame ; scandal ; religion ; education ; entrepreneurship ; patriotism ; and books . Technical ingenuity is highlighted in "Pompeian Surgical Instruments" and "Submarines...

"Is sin a necessary stage in the development of humanity, or a yawning chasm in the very structure of the universe?” Theologian J. Gresham Machen's exploration of "eternal ideas" is joined, in vol. 082, by readings in philosophy and psychology by Immanuel Kant, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Johnson. Insights from forestry, geography, astronomy, and zoology expand the view . Human resiliency, inventiveness and heroism are exemplified in A Heroine of the Black Hole; The Great Yorkshire Llama; The Terry Touch Alphabet; The Man O'War's 'Er 'Usband'; and a biography of pioneering physician Elizabeth Blackwell...

“Oh, mother, I would like to know everything.” “You can never know everything, my child, but you can learn many things from books.” According to children's book author James Baldwin , book reading was the key to success in life . Several vol. 083 selections tackle the thorny questions of how to foster open-mindedness, creativity, and compassion in the child and adult: : How Five Notable Women Were Educated; Winter Talk; and the Fantastic Imagination). Even Rural Free Mail delivery, new in 1900, is seen as effecting a “social revolution...

Ghosts everywhere, and of any colour," was the promise of Spectropia, a book of "surprising spectral illusions" published in 1863. Optical illusions were among the twenty vol. 084 topics, chosen by their readers, which were concerned with science, technology, and medicine, including the societal implications of decision making in these fields: . This Troubled World, a 1938 essay by Eleanor Roosevelt, is joined by others with a sociological focus: ; A Letter to a Hindu: The Subjection of India ; and Not Revolution, but Evolution)...

"A regard for decency, even at the cost of success, is but the regard for one's own dignity" was novelist Joseph Conrad's take on fame, a quote from the preface to his autobiography A Personal Record . Other lives chosen by readers to examine in vol. 085 include the Borgias; the Cynocephali; Hermann von Helmholtz; Edgar Allan Poe; John Burroughs; a pre-Revolutionary War magnate named Browne, who built a mansion on the ridge of a hill; women as a social class; and an 1821 rabies victim named Thomas, who exhibited hydrophobia...

"The democracy of the future will sicken of a chronic and mortal boredom," was Aldous Huxley's prophecy for the United States in 1923. You won't be bored listening to these 20 recordings, selected by their readers, with topics ranging from Leacock's humorous Manual of Education to Unamuno's Tragic Sense of Life. There's an artist's diary ; an after-dinner speech ; reflections on Beauty by John Burroughs; Willa Cather and Christopher Morley on writing; and Leibniz on the Origin of Things. Political topics include the Power of Third Parties; the House of Commons; the 1904 South Dakota Land Lottery; and an NAACP anti-lynching poster...

"Certitude is not the test of certainty." This pithy phrase is from Jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr's essay on Natural Law, one of twenty nonfiction pieces chosen by their readers for inclusion in volume 087. Selections from Pascal, Josiah Royce, and C.S. Peirce also delve philosophical themes. Builders, warriors, artists, and activists, the many faces of mankind, are illuminated in selections on Ferdinand De Lesseps, Stanislaus Koniecpolski, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Mark Twain, Charlie Chaplin, Frederic Edwin Church, the 14th century citizens of Liège, who vanquished Sir Radus' castle, and Simon Pokagon's The Red Man's Rebuke...

This collection is a mix of poems from several authors, all of which talk about health and disease from both the patient and the doctor's perspectives. - Summary by Maryam Arabi

"With opinions, possession is more than nine points of the law. It is next to impossible to dislodge them." Woodrow Wilson's Study of Administration examines public opinion's role in politics. It is one of 20 nonfiction readings chosen by the readers. Other faceted topics in volume 088 include culinary taste the existence of the supernatural ; slavery ; peace and war and culture . Rounding out the volume are a survey of Martinique, and a medical treatise on the Organs of the Human Voice.

"From vocalists you may learn much, but do not believe all that they say." Robert Schumann's Advice to Young Musicians is replete with good counsel. How, what, and from whom we learn is thematic to many of these 20 nonfiction selections, chosen by their readers. We learn from the lives of valorous persons ; from literature ; from journalists, activists, and the opinionated , and from nature . Summary by Sue Anderson

In his autobiographical essay "The Intellectuals and the Boston Mob," Booker T. Washington wrote: "It is not argument, nor criticism, nor hatred, but work in constructive effort, that gets hold of men and binds them together in a way to make them rally to the support of a common cause." Individual and group dynamics are at the core of most of the reader-chosen nonfiction pieces in Vol. 090. (Rugby School; Questions of Divorce; The Sage of Vienna, Popular Folk Poetry, The Use and Abuse of Church Bells, Superstition and Crime, Social Control, The Importance of Marking Historic Spots, The Pirates Who's Who, Catherine Tegahkouita, the Iroquois Mission of Sault St...