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By: Martha Finley (1828-1909) | |
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Mildred at Home: With Something About Her Relatives and Friends
Book 5 of the story of Mildred Keith by Martha Finley. We join Mildred as she settles into home life as wife and mother. We also see the rest of the Keith children begin to make starts of their own - some near to home, and others far away and perhaps lost forever. The Dinsmore cousins continue to be part of the story as well. - Summary by Michelle Hannah | |
By: Herbert Wildon Carr (1857-1931) | |
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Problem of Truth
A problem of philosophy is completely different from a problem of science. In science we accept our subject-matter as it is presented in unanalysed experience; in philosophy we examine the first principles and ultimate questions that concern conscious experience itself. The problem of truth is a problem of philosophy. It is not a problem of merely historical interest, but a present problem—a living controversy, the issue of which is undecided. Its present interest may be said to centre round the doctrine of pragmatism, which some fifteen years ago began to challenge the generally accepted principles of philosophy... | |
By: Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) | |
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On Famine Fever and Some of the Other Cognate Forms of Typhus
Rudolf Virchow , professor of medicine and pathology at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, published more than 2000 papers and dozens of books. His investigation of the 1847-1848 typhus epidemic in Upper Silesia laid the foundations of public health in Germany. During the Revolution of 1848, Virchow helped found a journal promoting medicine as a social science. For physicians, his contributions to the understanding of the pathophysiology of disease and to the working vocabulary of medicine were fundamental, but Virchow also believed that social injustice and political oppression lay at the heart of many illnesses and that "the physician is the natural attorney of the poor." | |
By: Sir Frederick Maurice Powicke (1879-1963) | |
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Bismarck and the Origin of the German Empire
Despite its brevity, this Little Blue Book #142 by the Oxford historian, Sir F.M. Powicke, provides a valuable overview of the political history of Germany from medieval to modern times, culminating in the career of Otto von Bismarck , the Prussian Junker who masterminded the unification of Germany and served as its first Chancellor. - Summary by Pamela Nagami, M.D. | |
By: Various | |
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Myths and Legends Around the World - Collection 08
This collection is dedicated to recordings of short mythical or legendary works which are in the Public Domain. The stories tell of legends, heroes, myths, and ancient lore from many different cultures. | |
By: Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (724-759) | |
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Fables of Pilpay
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. | |
By: Johan Huizinga (1872-1945) | |
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waning of the middle ages: a study of the forms of life, thought and art in France and the Netherlands in the XIVth and XVth centuries
The Waning of the Middle Ages , subtitled A study of the forms of life, thought and art in France and the Netherlands in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, is Johan Huizinga's most famous work. It was published in 1919 as Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen and first translated into English in 1924. Huizinga defends the idea that the exaggerated formality and romanticism of late medieval court society was a defense mechanism against the constantly increasing violence and brutality of life. The break off between Middle Ages and Renaissance was, according to him, a period of pessimism, cultural exhaustion, and nostalgia... | |
By: Rufus Jones (1863-1948) | |
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Nature and Authority of Conscience
Rufus Matthew Jones was an American religious leader, writer, magazine editor, philosopher, and college professor. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Haverford Emergency Unit . One of the most influential Quakers of the 20th century, he was a Quaker historian and theologian as well as a philosopher. In 1917 he helped found the American Friends Service Committee. This work was delivered as a Swarthmore Lecture in August 1920 and was printed by the Swarthmore Press Ltd. | |
By: Olive Schreiner (1855-1920) | |
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Thoughts on South Africa
'Thoughts on South Africa' is a collection of Schreiner's observations of colonial South Africa in the early 19th century, mostly regarding Boer-English relations. The book was published posthumously in 1923. Prospective listeners should be aware that it reflects the place, culture and language of the time in which it was written. | |
By: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) | |
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Early Greek Philosophy & Other Essays (Version 2)
“The essays contained in this volume treat of various subjects. With the exception of perhaps one we must consider all these papers as fragments. Written during the early Seventies, and intended mostly as prefaces, they are extremely interesting, since traces of Nietzsche's later tenets—like Slave and Master morality, the Superman—can be found everywhere. But they are also very valuable on account of the young philosopher's daring and able handling of difficult and abstruse subjects. "Truth and Falsity," and "The Greek Woman" are probably the two essays which will prove most attractive to the average reader.” - Summary by Maximilian Mügge, Translator | |
By: Arthur Hassall (1853-1930) | |
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Making of the British Empire (A.D. 1714-1832)
At its height, the British Empire was the largest in history. This short volume traces its development through the long 18th century, from 1714 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Founded on the prosperity of Sir Robert Walpole's ministry , the Empire emerged from the Indian conquests of that gifted military amateur, Lord Clive, and was extended under the leadership of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who drove the English to victory in the Seven Years' War . Surmounting the loss of the American colonies and twenty years of conflict with France, by the first quarter of the 19th century, the British navy, master of the oceans, presided over an Empire upon which the sun never set. | |
By: Walter A. Wyckoff (1865-1908) | |
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Workers - An Experiment in Reality: The West
A young scholar, recently graduated from Princeton College, travels across the United States as a member of the working class, taking any job he could find, enduring hardships and struggling to make a living. He travelled mainly on foot, designing for himself a social experiment on experiencing different class and culture structures and the reality of working conditions at the end of the 19th century. This volume continues the story that began in the first volume , and spans the region from Illinois to California - Summary by Phyllis Vincelli | |
By: Ida M. Tarbell (1857-1944) | |
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Life of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 1
Volume 1 of Ida Tarbell's biography of Lincoln covers his life from his boyhood to his election to the presidency in 1860. Tarbell, in addition to her famous work in investigative journalism , was a noted Lincoln scholar. Her writings on Lincoln, originally published as articles in McClure's Magazine, were highly acclaimed. - Summary by Ciufi Galeazzi LIfe of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2 | |
By: Anonymous | |
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St. Clair's Defeat 1791
St. Clair's defeat was a battle fought between the United States and the Western Confederacy of Native Americans on November 4, 1791, during the Northwest Indian War. Out of a US force of roughly 1000 men and officers, only 24 escaped unharmed. It has been cited as the most decisive defeat in the history of the American military and its largest defeat ever by Native Americans. This pamphlet is a compilation of three articles published in 1847, 1851 and 1864. | |
By: Thomas Davidson | |
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Rousseau and Education According to Nature
In my Volume on Aristotle in this series, I tried to give an account of ancient, classical, and social Education; in the present volume I have endeavored to set forth the nature of modern, romantic, and unsocial Education. This education originates with Rousseau. With much reluctance I have been obliged to dwell, at considerable length, on the facts of his life, in order to show that his glittering structure rests, not upon any broad and firm foundation of well-generalized and well-sifted experience, but upon the private tastes and preferences of an exceptionally capricious and self-centered nature... | |
By: Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) | |
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In Old Plantation Days
With this collection of short stories, Dunbar sought to draw on the success of his dialect poems by recreating and portraying the southern plantation during slavery. The stories focus on the stereotypical portrait of slaves as obedient workers happy to spend their lives in service of their benevolent owner. His attempt to find success was only partially realized, as his stories drew not only criticism but, in some cases, anger at their very stereotypical nature. The book itself, however, proved to be more lucrative than previous fiction works had been for the author. | |
By: Justus Ebert (1869-1946) | |
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Trial of a New Society
In 1912 textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, mostly immigrants, went on strike in response to a pay cut, speedups, and unsafe working conditions. Representatives from the Industrial Workers of the World came in to help organize the strike. The city declared martial law and a tense standoff went on for weeks. National newspapers provided breathless coverage of the strike and painted drastically different pictures of what was happening and who was to blame. When a woman was shot in ambiguous circumstances, strike leaders were tried for murder--not for shooting her, but for purportedly inciting mob violence leading to her death... | |
By: Horatio W. Dresser (1866-1954) | |
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World’s Story Volume XV: The World War
This is the last volume of the 15-volume series The World’s Story, originally started by Eva March Tappan. This book, edited by Horatio W. Dresser deals exclusively with the time of the First World War, the events leading up to it, the battles and war engines, the political and diplomatic background endeavours and the cost - human and monetary - of this War. - Summary by Sonia | |
By: The Sisters of Notre Dame | |
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Leading Events in the History of the Church: Part 1 - Christian Antiquity
The first volume in a series of Catholic Church history books written for children. Volume 1 covers the time period from after Our Lord's death till the 5th Century. | |
By: Various | |
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Cambridge Modern History. Volume 03, The Wars of Religion
The Cambridge Modern History is a universal history covering the period from 1450 to 1910. It was published in 14 volumes between 1902 and 1912. The series was planned by Lord Acton, who intended it to be a monument of objective, collaborative scholarship, and edited by A.W. Ward, G. W. Prothero and Stanley Leathes. From the preface: "The present volume, as its title imports, relates a complicated series of conflicts of which the origin or the pretext has for the most part to be sought in the great religious schism with which the preceding volume was concerned... | |
By: Stanley Lane-Poole (1854-1931) | |
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Story of Cairo
Although Cairo is most famous for the ancient Egyptian pyramids of Giza located at its outskirts, the city as we know it today dates back only to 969. Since then, numerous rulers of different Muslim dynasties built fortifications, mosques and other buildings that earned Cairo the name "city of a thousand minarets". In this book, Stanley Lane-Poole traces the history of Cairo from the early Muslim period to the British Invasion of 1882. While doing so, he gives vivid descriptions of many of the mediaeval buildings that shape Cairo's cityscape to this day. This book is part of the "Mediaeval Town" series published in the early 20th century. Proof listeners: SaraHale and MrsHand | |
By: Alexander Berkman (1870-1936) | |
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Bolshevik Myth
The Bolshevik Myth is a book by Alexander Berkman who with his partner Emma Goldman was deported from the USA under the 1918 Anarchist Exclusion Act and shipped to the young Soviet Russia. He describes his experiences in Bolshevik Russia from 1920 to 1922, where he saw the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Written in the form of a diary, The Bolshevik Myth describes how Berkman's initial enthusiasm for the revolution faded as he became disillusioned with the Bolsheviks and their suppression of all political dissent... | |
By: Homer Greene (1853-1940) | |
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Lincoln Conscript
A heartwarming novel which visits the last two years of the American Civil War. The center of the story is the conflict of emotions and deeds between a father and son who hold opposing views of the conflict and the surprising role that President Lincoln plays in wishing to reconcile the two. A novel of both pathos and rejoicing. - Summary by KevinS | |
By: H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925) | |
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Jess
The setting for this novel is the Boer War in South Africa in 1880. This novel is interesting and exciting on several levels: there are complicated love entanglements, evil Machiavellian treachery, political reflection having to do with the ethics of the colonialism of the day, for one subject for thought, and war in all its lurid and shocking and murderous detail. | |
By: John Gregory Bourke (1846-1896) | |
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Apache Campaign In The Sierra Madre
An account of the expedition [of the U.S. Army] in pursuit of the hostile Chiricahua Apaches in the spring of 1883. Bourke was a Medal of Honor awardee in the American Civil War whose subsequent Army career included several campaigns in the Indian wars of the mid to late 19th century in the American West. He wrote prolifically. He was mostly free of the unfortunate disdain for Native Americans common in 19th century America. He was quite admiring of many aspects of the Native American. “… Bourke had the opportunity to witness every facet of life in the Old West—the battles, wildlife, the internal squabbling among the military, the Indian Agency, settlers, and Native Americans... | |
By: Helen S. Wright | |
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Great White North
Sketches of those who braved the 'Great White North' in exploration and adventure. - Summary by KevinS | |
By: Dan DeQuille (1829-1898) | |
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History of the Comstock Silver Lode and Mines
This is a brief account of the Comstock Lode silver mines, and description of the geographic features of the state of Nevada including the railroads. Silver not only defined Nevada, but influenced the opening of the American West as far as San Francisco. Dan De Quille wrote extensively on the history of mining in the area of Nevada, and published the larger work “The Big Bonanza” assisted by Mark Twain, both of whom were part of the Sagebrush School of writers. - Summary by Larry Wilson | |
By: Muriel O. Davis | |
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Political History of France, 1789-1910
This little book opens on the eve of the French Revolution. The government is crippled by financial mismanagement, ruled by a King who, in the author's words, is "devoid of both ability and energy," and resented by a tax-oppressed peasantry and a rising middle class. The Revolution escapes the control of its instigators and France is plunged into the Terror and international war. Enter Napoleon, a man with "an enormous capacity for work," who can "get to the root of a matter and master technicalities with great swiftness," but whose "vulgar desire for recognition... | |
By: Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) | |
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Fortunes of Nigel
During the turbulent moment in English history involving King James 1 and 6, Nigel Olifaunt, a Scottish lord, seeks to protect his family home and holdings, but meets with recalcitrance and treachery, which eventually results in his imprisonment. But there are forces of good that help to set him free and right injustices. | |
By: Abigail Mott (1766-1851) | |
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Narratives of Colored Americans
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 | |
By: Elizabeth O'Neill (1877-1951) | |
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Story Of The World: A Simple History For Boys And Girls
Dedicatory Letter. Dear Doris, I could not tell you all the things which have ever happened in the world, but I have tried to tell you shortly about all the most important things from the very beginning, even before people had come into the World at all, right down to our own wonderful times. I have chosen the greatest men and women to tell you about, and in reading their stories I hope you will understand better something of what the times were like in which they lived, and what the other people too were like who were not so great and the kind of lives they led... | |
By: Edward Keble Chatterton (1878-1944) | |
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Daring Deeds of Famous Pirates
Edward Chatterton, a prolific British author of maritime adventures, presents fascinating stories of pirates and their exploits from earliest times through the 19th century. Chapters include the history of piracy in Tudor and Elizabethan times and stories of legendary pirates such as Black Beard, Henry Morgan, and Captain Kidd. - Summary by Larry Wilson | |