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By: Anthony Weldon (1583-1648)

Book cover Court and Character of King James whereunto Is Now Added the Court of King Charles: Continued unto the Beginning of These Unhappy Times: with Some Observations upon Him Instead of a Character

Gossipy exposés of shenanigans at the heart of government are nothing new. The author, Sir Anthony Weldon , was a courtier of years of experience and standing; his account of court intrigues around the Stuart Kings James I and Charles I was written seemingly in the tense period leading up to the English Civil War in the 1640s, and for a private readership . This text, known as the source for the summing up of James I as "the wisest fool in Christendom", gives us an insider's partisan, at times...

By: Chester D. Berry (1844-1926)

Book cover Loss of the Sultana

April, 1865. The country was in turmoil. The U.S. Civil War had come to an end, thousands of Union prisoners of war had recently been released, and President Lincoln had just been assassinated. The steamship 'Sultana' left New Orleans on April 21st, traveled to Vicksburg, Mississippi where it took on 1,965 federal soldiers and 35 officers, all recently released prisoners of war, most of them held at the prison camps of Cahaba and Andersonville , and now finally headed for their homes. The 'Sultana' arrived in Memphis, Tennessee on April 26th and headed north toward Cairo, Illinois carrying over 2,100 passengers, but designed for a capacity of only 376...

By: David Kalakaua (1836-1891)

Book cover Legends and Myths of Hawaii

A collection of legends and myths of the Hawaiian islands and their 'strange people' as told by His Majesty King Kalakaua, the last king of Hawaii. Introduction, including a history, geography and social and religious commentary on the islands by R.M. Daggett, United States Minister to the Hawaiian Islands 1882-1885.

By: William Wood (1864-1947)

Book cover Chronicles of America Volume 03 - Elizabethan Sea-Dogs

Citizen, colonist, pioneer! These three words carry the history of the United States back to its earliest form in 'the New World called America.' But who prepared the way for the pioneers from the Old World and what assured their safety in the New? The title of the present volume, Elizabethan Sea-Dogs gives the only answer. It was during the reign of Elizabeth, the last of the Tudor sovereigns of England, that Elizabethans won the command of the sea under the consummate leadership of Sir Francis Drake, the first of the modern admirals...

By: Allen Mawer (1879-1942)

Book cover Vikings

This is a concise history of the Vikings by Allen Mawer, MA, Professor of English Language and Literature in Armstrong College, University of Durham: late Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. It includes the following chapters: I.Causes of the Viking movement; II.The Viking movement down to the middle of the 9th century; III.The Vikings in England to the death of Harthacnut ; IV.The Vikings in the Frankish Empire to the founding of Normandy ;V. The Vikings in Ireland to the battle of Clontarf ; VI...

By: William Henry Hudson (1841-1922)

Book cover Idle Hours In A Library

“[these essays on Shakespeare, Pepys, Restoration novels, and bohemianism]—the results of many hours of quiet but rather aimless browsing among books, and not of special investigations, undertaken with a view to definite scholastic ends. They are, moreover, as will readily be seen, completely unacademic in style and intention.” Published in 1897. Hudson was a prolific author, naturalist, and ornithologist. His most popular book in the early 20th century was Green Mansions.

By: Eva March Tappan (1854-1930)

Book cover World’s Story Volume II: India, Persia, Mesopotamia and Palestine

This is the second volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Topics in Part II include India, Siam, Afghanistan, Persia, Mesopotamia and Palestine. - Summary by Sonia Cast list for Sakoontala, or the lost ring: King: Tomas Peter First Attendant: Eva Davis Second Attendant: TJ Burns Child: lorda Sakoontala: Monika M...

By: Osmund Airy (1845-1928)

Book cover English Restoration and Louis XIV: From the Peace of Westphalia to the Peace of Nimwegen

In this trim volume the British historian, Osmund Airy writes of the period between 1648 and 1679 when Cardinal Mazarin, having concluded the masterly Peace of Westphalia for France, confronts the rebellions of the nobility known as the Fronde. By the time of his death in 1661, Mazarin has completed the work of Richelieu and made Louis XIV an absolute monarch, ready to extend his borders by conquest. But in Holland, the young Stadtholder, William III of Orange, resolutely opposes Louis's military...

By: Oliver Optic (1822-1897)

Book cover Haste and Waste; The Young Pilot of Lake Champlain

The sixth and last volume of the Woodville stories contains the record of a mechanical, rather than a moral triumph, though the virtues of patience and perseverance are incidentally illustrated, and the "little captain" of the Woodville is always a good son, a forbearing brother, and a kind friend. Lawry Wilford, the young pilot, is a boy of spirit and energy, who overcomes difficulties by a strong faith in himself, and redeems his family from poverty, in spite of the bad example and the bad conduct of his father and his older brother...

By: Various

Book cover History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 3, November 1909

"The History Teacher’s Magazine is devoted to the interests of teachers of History, Civics, and related subjects in the fields of Geography and Economics. It aims to bring to the teacher of these topics the latest news of his profession. It will describe recent methods of history teaching, and such experiments as may be tried by teachers in different parts of the country. It will keep the teacher in touch with the recent literature of history by giving an impartial judgment upon recent text-books...

By: Edmund Christopherson (1903-1974)

Book cover Night The Mountain Fell; The Story Of The Montana-Yellowstone Earthquake

A severe earthquake, centered in the vacation area of West Yellowstone, Montana, shook the ground and its inhabitants and visitors on August 17, 1959, at 11.37 pm. A mountainside fell, a lake formed, roads and houses disappeared, people were trapped, people died. The author of this narrative went to the area the day after the quake, took first-hand stories of the catastrophe, researched in the following months, and wrote this account within a year of the shaking. The printed source has many informative photographs. - Summary by David Wales

By: Stephen Smith (1823-1922)

Book cover City That Was

This 1911 history of the public health revolution that transformed New York City in the nineteenth century is also about every city and town of the world and the sanitary challenges that each encountered. Stephen Smith was an American surgeon and a pioneer in public health. “The story of a great life-saving social revolution, the mightiest in the nineteenth century and one of the most momentous in the history of civilization, is told here for the first time. It is told from the standpoint of the transformation of the City of New York, by a chief actor in the event.” Chapter four, New York The Unclean, is the heart of this work.

By: William Bennett Munro (1875-1957)

Book cover Chronicles of America Volume 04 - Crusaders of New France

The previous volumes in the Chronicles of America series placed Spain and England at the fore in the discovery and development of the New World. This book focuses on the role that France played in America's journey to becoming a world power. Group: Chronicles of America Series

By: Etheria

Book cover Pilgrimage Of Etheria

This late fourth century common era narrative of a Christian pilgrimage is the earliest such text which survives to us. It is an important source of information about early Christian practices. This book has an extended introduction which provides invaluable context and summaries, though some of it is a bit scholarly and dry. The text is damaged with some parts missing; missing parts will be designated in this recording by this verbal usage: “dot dot dot dot” . More information: Egeria, Etheria or Aetheria was a woman, widely regarded to be the author of a detailed account of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land...

By: Henry Mayhew (1812-1887)

Book cover London Labour and the London Poor Volume II

Subtitled, "A Cyclopaedia of the condition and earnings of those that will work, those that cannot work, and those that will not work." "The history of a people from the lips of the people themselves .. their labour, earnings, trials and sufferings, in their own unvarnished language, and to pourtray the condition of their homes and their families by personal observation of the places ..." "My earnest hope is that the book may serve to give the rich a more intimate knowledge of the sufferings, and the frequent heroism under those sufferings, of the poor ...

By: Simon Dubnow (1860-1941)

Book cover History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, Volume 1 [of 3] From the Beginning until the Death of Alexander I (1825)

Simon Dubnow was born in 1860 to a poor Jewish family in Belarussian town of Mstsislaw and later became authority of Jewish history and an activist. Due to his Jewish origin, he had to move to St.Petersburg, Odessa, Vilna, St.Petersburg, Kaunas, Berlin and finally Riga after Hitler came to power. When Nazi troops occupied Latvia 1941, he was moved with thousands of other Jews to Riga ghetto and was eventually killed. His life is a symbol of Jewish suffering in Eastern Europe in the first half of 20 century. This book is one of the most extensive and thorough study of the glory and suffering of the Jews in Russia and Poland for 2000 years. - Summary by S. S. Kim

By: William Patten (1868-1936)

Book cover Junior Classics Volume 2: Folk Tales & Myths

Compilation of tales designed and arranged for young people. This volume covers tales from the North, the Rhine, Greece and Rome, tales from the Hudson River, and animal stories. - Summary by DrPGould

By: Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)

Book cover Key To Uncle Tom's Cabin

After the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which many claim sparked off the Civil War that put an end to legalized slavery in America, there was a great outcry that Stowe had blown her fictional story out of all proportion to the facts. She was viewed by some as an irresponsible monster. Stowe defended herself by painstakingly publishing this Key, describing the actual people, incidents, statutes, court cases, news articles, advertisements, and published facts from whence she drew her material...

By: Eva March Tappan (1854-1930)

Book cover World’s Story Volume III: Egypt, Africa and Arabia

This is the third volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Topics in Part III include Egypt, Northern, Western and Central Africa, South Africa and Arabia. - Summary by Sonia Cast list for The Death of Cleopatra: Dolabella: Tomas Peter Charmian: Monika M...

By: Emily Ponsonby (1817-1877)

Book cover Violet Osborne - Trilogy

"This book is in turns funny and sad. Violet Osborne is a very beloved child with no financial problems. She is both beautiful and good, and of course she must be happy. Yet, as we learn, she is a manipulative and overbearing woman who would do anything to get her way. This book tells us about her life as a girl, and takes us through her marriage and motherhood. It is a pleasant read, as the book is so witty and charming and the descriptions are very realistic". Summary by Stav Nisser.

By: Walter Besant (1836-1901)

Book cover Captain Cook

James Cook , British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy was the son of a farm laborer. Apprenticed to a grocer, he ran away to sea. He saw hard service in the Baltic as a merchant seaman, while applying himself to the study of mathematics, navigation, and astronomy. In 1755 he volunteered for the Royal Navy, working his way up to captain. This little biography by Walter Besant, chronicles Cook's three voyages of discovery and his violent death in Hawaii. Cook replaced vague mythology with accurate observations of people and places, animals and plants...

By: Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846-1916)

Book cover Young Folks' Treasury, Volume 6 - Famous Travels & Adventures

Historical vignettes of selected locations throughout the world and many of our early explorers as well. Fascinating travel adventures throughout Europe, Asia, America, etc. for young and old alike. Perfect for the armchair traveler who enjoys learning of our global past... - Summary by BettyB

By: Forrest Crissey (1864-1943)

Book cover Tattlings of a Retired Politician

"The letters of Hon. William Bradley, Ex-Governor and former veteran of practical politics, written to his friend and protege Ned who is still busy 'carving a career back in the old state.'" This is a novel filled with humorous political anecdotes by the main character, the Honorable William Bradley, told for the benefit of his protege, Ned. It conveys a sense of the ironic and humorous side of politics in Washington and back in their home state.

By: Mary Johnston (1870-1936)

Book cover Chronicles of America Volume 05 - Pioneers of the Old South

In this remarkably detailed and sweeping fifth installment, Mary Johnston takes us from discoveries and settlements to the evolution into the first colonies, specifically Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, and finally Georgia. Group: Chronicles of America Series

By: John Dewey (1859-1952)

Book cover Human Nature And Conduct - Part 1, The Place of Habit in Conduct

John Dewey, an early 20th Century American philosopher, psychologist, educational theorist saw Social Psychology as much a physical science as Biology and Chemistry. This project encompasses Part 1 of 4 of his book Human Nature and Conduct. Dewey's uses the word "HABIT" as a specialized catch-all word to describe how a person and his/her objective environment interact. This interaction is the basis for moral judgement. Dewey writes: "All habits are demands for certain kinds of activity; and they constitute the self.” In other places he also asserts that "Habits are Will." - Summary by William Jones, Soloist

By: Agnes Arber (1879-1960)

Book cover Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution: A Chapter in the History of Botany

Eminent British botanist Agnes Arber provides an authoritative history of printed Herbals -- books widely used in early modern Europe to catalogue the uses of different kinds of plants. While Herbals often reflected pre-scientific and magical beliefs about the properties of plants, Arber's work reveals that they were also critical to the early development of botany and medicine as empirical sciences. A classic in the history of science. - Summary by Josh Leach

By: Various

Book cover History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 4, December 1909

"The History Teacher’s Magazine is devoted to the interests of teachers of History, Civics, and related subjects in the fields of Geography and Economics. It aims to bring to the teacher of these topics the latest news of his profession. It will describe recent methods of history teaching, and such experiments as may be tried by teachers in different parts of the country. It will keep the teacher in touch with the recent literature of history by giving an impartial judgment upon recent text-books...

By: William Caruthers

Book cover Loafing Along Death Valley Trails; A Personal Narrative Of People And Places

William Caruthers was a retired newspaperman who spent 25 years listening to stories told by the inhabitants of Death Valley. This 1951 book collects those stories; the printed version has many interesting pictures. ''Of the actors who made the history of the period, few remain. It was the writer’s good fortune that many of these men were his friends. It is the romance, the comedy, the often stark tragedy these men left along the trail which you will find in the pages that follow.''

By: Frank Mundell (1870-1932)

Book cover Stories of the Royal Humane Society

Established in 1774, the ‘Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned’ published information on how to save people from drowning, promoted the concept of using methods of artificial resuscitation to attempt to revive victims who had appeared to have lost their life through drowning and rewarded those people who had saved a life. Under the royal patronage of King George the Third, the Society changed its name in 1787 to ‘The Royal Humane Society’ and this organisation still exists...

By: Eva March Tappan (1854-1930)

Book cover World’s Story Volume IV: Greece and Rome

This is the fourth volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Topics in Part IV include Greek mythology, the classical Greek period and the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. - Summary by Sonia Cast list for The sacrifice of Iphigenia: Iphigenia: Devorah Allen / Chorus: alanmapstone / Messenger: Foon / Clytemnestra: Monika M...

By: Robert Marshall Utley

Book cover Custer Battlefield: A History And Guide To The Battle Of The Little Bighorn

It should be noted that this national park is now called the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. “The long, tragic history of Indian warfare in the American West reached its climax with the defeat of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry in Montana’s valley of the Little Bighorn River on June 25, 1876. Although the Indians won the battle, they subsequently lost the war against the white man’s efforts to end their independent way of life. The story of the battle and its consequences is told in the following pages by Robert M...

By: Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899)

Book cover Rough and Ready OR Life Among the New York Newsboys

Join Rough and Ready for his adventure on the streets of New York City. Working as a newsboy, Rough and Ready tries to support himself and his sister on his meager earnings. Unfortunately, their stepfather is seeking to kidnap little Rose, getting an education is hard work, swindlers are trying to trick him out of his money, and thieves are planning nefarious deeds. Luckily for Rough and Ready, he makes some good friends along the way. Summary by Tori Faulder

By: Thomas Petrie (1831-1910)

Book cover Tom Petrie's reminiscences of early Queensland (dating from 1837). Recorded by his daughter.

Tom Petrie , explorer and grazier, arrived in the then convict settlement of Moreton Bay in 1837. His reminiscences of what was to become the colony of Queensland were recorded by his daughter, Constance, in 1904. The book includes a fascinating record the life and customs of the aboriginal population, whose dialect he spoke and in whose activities he was invited to participate. An Australian classic and an important source for researchers of early Aboriginal / White settler conflict. - Summary by barbara2

By: T. W. H. Crosland

Book cover Wild Irishman

History and customs of the Irish and Ireland. A word of warning to the listener: The Wild Irishman contains the biased, uncomplimentary opinions of Englishman, Thomas Crosland. Remember this was written in the late 1800's and published in 1905. Crosland was hyper critical of Irishmen and women at a time when American cities often posted signs, "No Irish Need Apply." If you are Irish, as am I, try to not be overly offended or simply walk away. - Summary by John Brandon

By: Various

Book cover Causes Of The American Civil War: Secession Statements Of Five Confederate States (South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi)

Some of the states who rebelled against the Federal Government in the American Civil War issued statements by nascent governing bodies explaining why they were attempting to leave. Here are the statements, published in 1860 and 1861, of South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia. - Summary by David Wales

By: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)

Book cover Phenomenology of Mind, Volume 2

Phänomenologie des Geistes is Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's most important and widely discussed philosophical work. Hegel's first book, it describes the three-stage dialectical life of Spirit. The title can be translated as either The Phenomenology of Spirit or The Phenomenology of Mind, because the German word Geist has both meanings. Phenomenology was the basis of Hegel's later philosophy and marked a significant development in German idealism after Kant. Focusing on topics in metaphysics,...

By: Justin McCarthy (1830-1912)

Book cover History of Our Own Times From the Accession of Queen Victoria to the General Election of 1880, Volume I

An engaging history of Great Britain in the heyday of Queen Victoria and of her empire by the liberal Irish Member of Parliament, Justin McCarthy. He brings us the larger than life personalities of the day, Victoria and Albert, Russell and Peel, O'Connell and Palmerston, Gladstone and Disraeli, and relates great events, the Afghan War, the Irish famine, and the Crimean War without ever losing sight of the hopes and fears of the common people at home and abroad.

By: John Tulloch (1823-1886)

Book cover Rational Theology and Christian Philosophy volume 1

This work addresses the birth and development of a rationalist stream in the Christianity of England in the seventeenth century. In this volume, Tulloch focuses on five latitudinarian churchmen, examining their lives and thought. - Summary by Barry Ganong

By: William Platt

Book cover Stories of the Scottish Border

Nothing seems to be known about Mr and Mrs William Platt, the writers of Stories of the Scottish Border. What they produced is an eccentric guidebook and history, seen partly through the ballads of the region. The book recounts the military stratagems, treachery and courage of those who struggled for control of the Border lands and of the whole country, and tells of the triumphs or tragic fate of those who took part on both sides. It also tells us stories of the Border Reivers, raiders who lived by riding out and stealing their neighbours’ livestock...

By: Jean McKishnie Blewett (1862-1934)

Book cover Christy and The Pipers

volunteers bring you 9 recordings of Christy and The Pipers by Jean McKishnie Blewett. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for November 4, 2018. ------ This poem, set in Scotland, tells of a woman's reaction to the Pipes .

By: George Broke (1861-1932)

Book cover With Sack and Stock in Alaska

In 1888, George Broke with Harold Topham and William Williams, made the first exploration of the Alaskan Mt. St. Elias range, including the crossing of the great Malaspina Glacier and an attempt on the S.E. face of Mt. St. Elias itself. The journey is described in the interesting work With Sack and Stock in Alaska, vividly detailing the country visited and the characters met along the way. - Summary by Fritz

By: Lionel Allshorn

Book cover Stupor Mundi: The Life and Times of Frederick II Emperor of the Romans King of Sicily and Jerusalem 1194-1250

Frederick II , under whose reign the Holy Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent, was called by his contemporaries "Stupor Mundi," the "astonishment of the world." Frequently at war with the papacy, which was hemmed in between Frederick's northern and southern Italian lands, he was excommunicated four times. Frederick spoke six languages and was an avid patron of the arts. He negotiated a peace treaty ending the sixth crusade, reigned over a cosmopolitan court at Palermo, and entrusted the administration of his southern kingdom to an efficient Muslim and Jewish bureaucracy...

By: Carl Parcher Russell (1894-1967)

Book cover One Hundred Years In Yosemite: The Story Of A Great Park And Its Friends

This recording of the 1931 book about Yosemite National Park comprises the narrative text about the Park from its discovery by non-natives in the Indian War of 1851 to the mid-twentieth century. The printed book contains dozens of early photographs and drawings, as well as an extensive timeline and bibliography, which are not here recorded. The author was an ecologist, historian, and administrator. He was an officer of the U.S. National Park Service for thirty four years, serving as the Chief Naturalist of Yosemite from 1923-1929 and later as Park Superintendent. - Summary by David Wales

By: Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Book cover Practice and Theory of Bolshevism

This book records Bertrand Russell's impressions of the new regime after a 1920 visit to Russia following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, including his meetings with Lenin, Trostky, and Gorky. It includes a chapter that was authored by Dora Black, educational theorist and feminist author, and Russell's spouse. This chapter was unfortunately removed in the second edition, which was issued after Dora and Bertrand divorced. This recording is dedicated to my darling wife, Jill. Happy Hanukkah and Happy 2020! - Summary by Landon D. C. Elkind

By: John Milton (1608-1674)

Book cover History of Britain

A reader of this history, encountering the frequent references to “my author,” meaning the current source, will be reminded of DON QUIXOTE and of THE MORTE D'ARTHUR, for Milton employs a style that might be called dissertational rather than novelistic; he carefully identifies his sources and often quotes from them. However, much of the scholarly documentation has been omitted from the reading—all except footnotes indicating the years—to avoid cumbersome interruptions. What will be obvious to a listener, though, is that Milton uses earlier chronicles with discretion...

By: Various

Book cover History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 5, January 1910

"The History Teacher’s Magazine is devoted to the interests of teachers of History, Civics, and related subjects in the fields of Geography and Economics. It aims to bring to the teacher of these topics the latest news of his profession. It will describe recent methods of history teaching, and such experiments as may be tried by teachers in different parts of the country. It will keep the teacher in touch with the recent literature of history by giving an impartial judgment upon recent text-books...

By: Anonymous

Book cover Santa Claus, Kriss Kringle or St. NIcholas

volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Santa Claus, Kriss Kringle or St. NIcholas by Anomymous. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for December 16, 2018. ------ This poem was published in booklet form with illustrations in 1897. - Summary by David Lawrence

By: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Book cover Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future (Version 2)

By turns illuminating, infuriating, bewildering, and amusing, Nietzsche's masterwork covers a lot of ground. He rejects most strands of Western thought, especially on the subject of morality, and develops his own theme demanding that individuals embrace their own 'will to power' to give life intention and direction. First published in German in 1887, this translation was produced in 1907 by Helen Zimmern, a long-standing acquaintance of Nietzsche.There is an accessible text at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4363 but it leaves out all words in Greek, and is not in alignment with any printed edition; hence using the archive.org version. - Summary by Cori Samuel

By: Bartolomé Mitre (1821-1906)

Book cover Emancipation of South America

THREE great names stand forth conspicuous in the annals of America, those of Washington, Bolívar, San Martin. Of Washington, the great leader of the Democracy of the North; of Bolívar and of San Martin, who were the emancipators of the southern half of the continent. The story of the life-work of the latter of these two is the Argument of this book.The scene of action passes on a vast theatre, a territory extending for more than fifty degrees of latitude, from Cape Horn to the Tropic of Cancer, and occupies twenty years of strife...

By: Howard Carter (1874-1939)

Book cover Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen Vol. 1

On 26 November 1922, after eight years of work in the Valley of the Kings, archeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen, a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty . Different than all the tombs hitherto excavated, this was the first to be virtually undisturbed, and Carters words on a first look inside "Wonderful things!" have gone down in history. Excavating the tomb in full took eight years, and most of the 5,398 items that were found there are now on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with the exception of the mummy of Tut-Ankh-Amen that remained where it had been laid to rest...

By: Thomas Southwood Smith (1788-1831)

Book cover Use Of The Dead To The Living

In 1827 Thomas Southwood-Smith published The Use of the Dead to the Living, a pamphlet which argued that the current system of burial in the United Kingdom was a wasteful use of bodies that could otherwise be used for dissection by the medical profession. "If, by any appropriation of the dead, I can promote the happiness of the living, then it is my duty to conquer the reluctance I may feel to such a disposition of the dead, however well-founded or strong that reluctance may be". Southwood-Smith's lobbying helped lead to the 1832 Anatomy Act, the legislation which allowed the state to seize unclaimed corpses from workhouses and sell them to surgical schools...

By: Rosa Nouchette Carey (1840-1909)

Book cover Other People's Lives

A series of stories by Rosa Nouchette Carey who was a popular English novelist, whose works reflected the wholesome values of her time. They often contained the grit and realism of the day. Carey often wrote about the domestic fiction of the period, which she was presumed to have had personal acquaintance with such as - families making do on small means, coming to terms with bereavement and new responsibilities, moving into a new neighbourhood or a different house and allegiances, frictions and jealousies among members of a large family. - Summary by Lynda Marie Neilson

By: David Masters (1883-1965)

Book cover Romance of Excavation

The Romance of Excavation: A Record of the Amazing Discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, Troy, Crete, etc., with Twenty-Nine Illustrations, From the Foreword: "In the following pages I have sought to reveal some of the romance of excavation, to tell the fascinating story of the men who have gone out into the desert places and dug up long-lost cities and the fabled treasure of ancient kings."

By: Fanny Stenhouse (1829-1904)

Book cover ''Tell It All'': The Story of a Life's Experience in Mormonism

Fanny relates the experiences of a 19th century missionary as she and her young husband proselytize throughout Europe in search of converts to the new Mormon faith. Her religious zeal is sorely tested upon receipt of news from America revealing that their religion has adopted the practice of polygamy as the means to exaltation. The couple is summoned to Utah only to find themselves firmly ensconced in Brigham Young's inner circle and called upon to practice plural marriage or risk a fall from family, friends, and faith. - Summary by Spiffycat

By: Alexander Dunlop Lindsay (1879-1952)

Book cover Philosophy of Immanuel Kant

Born in Scotland, Alexander Dunlop Lindsay was a teacher of philosophy at a number of universities in England in the early 1900s. This brief commentary on Kant's philosophy is a work that focuses solely on some of the main ideas Kant put forth in the three Critiques. Although not comprehensive, the narrative style of this volume makes it a pleasant read and will be a valuable "break-in" point the complex philosophy of Immanuel Kant.

By: A. G. Seklemian

Book cover Golden Maiden and Other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories Told in Armenia

Armenians trace their history back to before the time of the Babylonians and earliest recorded history - in fact, to Togarmah, a grandson of Japhet, Noah's son, who settled in Armenia after the Ark came to rest on mount Ararat. Armenia was also the first State in the world to adopt Christianity as their official religion, around the 3rd Century AD. This book contains many wonderful folk and fairy tales culled from this long history of the Armenian country people, to whom all nature is full of stories, by the scholar and storyteller Mr. A. G. Seklemian. - Summary by Noel Badrian

By: William Elliot Griffis (1843-1928)

Book cover Korean Fairy Tales

Everywhere on earth the fairy world of each country is older and perhaps more enduring than the one we see and feel and tread upon. So I tell in this book the folk lore of the Korean people, and of the behavior of the particular kind of fairies that inhabit the Land of Morning Splendor.

By: Frederick Douglass

Book cover My Bondage and My Freedom

The life of Frederick Douglass, recorded in the pages which follow, is not merely an example of self elevation under the most adverse circumstances; it is, moreover, a noble vindication of the highest aims of the American anti-slavery movement.

By: Sir Grafton Elliot Smith (1871-1937)

Book cover Tutankhamen: and the Discovery of His Tomb by the Late Earl of Carnarvon and Mr. Howard Carter

“Never before in the history of archaeological inquiry has any event excited such immediate and world-wide interest as Mr. Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in November 1922. It gives us a new revelation of the wealth and luxury of Egyptian civilization during its most magnificent period. In beauty and design and perfection of craftsmanship, Tutankhamen's funerary equipment is indeed a new revelation of the ancient Egyptians' artistic feeling and technical skill.” “At the time of Tutankhamen the great peoples that had built up civilization were losing their dominant position...

By: Susan Edmonstoune Ferrier (1782-1854)

Book cover Inheritance

"As the noblest attribute of man, family pride had been cherished time immemorial by the noble race of Rossville. Deep and incurable, therefore, was the wound inflicted on all its members by the marriage of the honorable Thomas St. Clair, the youngest son of the Earl of Rossville, with the humble Miss Sarah Black, a beautiful girl of obscure origin and no fortune." And so the stage is set for our plot, which focuses on the implications and complications of the return from France to Scotland of the Rossville widow and her daughter-heiress Gertrude, who must suffer the onslaught of relations and suitors as well as a mysterious, threatening stranger who plagues her mother...

By: Eva March Tappan (1854-1930)

Book cover World’s Story Volume VI: Russia, Austria-Hungary, the Balkan States and Turkey

This is the sixth volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Topics in Part VI include the Russian Empire, the fights for independence in Hungary and the Balkan states and the politics of early Turkey...

By: Charles Edward Chapman (1880-1941)

Book cover History of California: The Spanish Period

If you have ever wondered why Spain was first to “settle” the Golden State, this book is for you. Professor Chapman has produced a comprehensive and highly entertaining popular history of “the Californias,” beginning with a nod to geography and the native races and carrying on through to the arrival of Old Glory in 1848. What might in less capable hands have proved a heavy historical loaf to digest is lightened and leavened with the yeast of “interesting incident” throughout. Consider...

By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915)

Book cover Sons of Fire

"He was a stranger in Matcham, a 'foreigner' as the villagers called such alien visitors. He had never been in the village before, knew nothing of its inhabitants or its surroundings, its customs, ways, local prejudices, produce, trade, scandals, hates, loves, subserviencies, gods, or devils , and yet henceforward he was to be closely allied with Matcham, for a certain bachelor uncle had lately died and left him a small estate within a mile of the village."

By: Henry Cadwallader Adams (1817-1899)

Book cover Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand

A young man travels to South Africa to find his Mother and sister. He wants to be a clergyman and a farmer when he arrives there. This story includes accounts of the Zulu-Boer wars. - Summary by Ingrid Kennedy

By: Frederick Whymper (1838-1901)

Book cover Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1

Everything about the sea: history of ships, famous mariners and life on shipboard, adventure, shipwrecks and daring rescues. - Summary by Kikisaulite

By: Hugh Robert Watkin (1868-1937)

Book cover Short Description of Torre Abbey

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the time of Henry VIII, a significant part of the buildings of Torre Abbey, particularly the church area, lay in ruins. Then, during the 17th century and subsequently, surviving parts of the abbey were incorporated into the creation of a grand private residence, the owner of which in the early part of the 20th century was Colonel Lucius Cary. With the permission of the colonel, Hugh Watkin, who at that time was living in the Chelston district of Torquay, fairly close to the abbey, undertook certain excavations of the remaining ruins between the years of 1906 and 1911...

By: Marguerite Henry (1902-1997)

Book cover Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio

Each summer, in the ancient hill town of Siena, Italy, there erupts one of the most extraordinary, exciting, and dangerous horse races in the world— the Palio. So furious is the rivalry that it is often said the Palio is more battle than race, and that "Fate is the Queen of the Palio." This magnificent book is a true story of the Palio —a thrilling, heart-stirring tale of a boy and a beautiful half-Arabian mare who won undying fame. Marguerite Henry tells—as only she can—how the life of Giorgio Terni, a boy of the Maremma marshes, became linked in strange and dramatic fashion with that of the cart horse Gaudenzia, whose Arabian blood brought her into the contest of the Palio...

By: Henry Blake Fuller (1857-1929)

Book cover Cliff-Dwellers

Between the former site of old Fort Dearborn and the present site of our newest Board of Trade there lies a restricted yet tumultuous territory through which, during the course of the last fifty years, the rushing streams of commerce have worn many a deep and rugged chasm. These great canons—conduits, in fact, for the leaping volume of an ever-increasing prosperity—cross each other with a sort of systematic rectangularity, and in deference to the practical directness of local requirements they are in general called simply—streets...

By: Justin McCarthy (1830-1912)

Book cover History of Our Own Times From the Accession of Queen Victoria to the General Election of 1880, Volume II

Volume II of this popular history opens in the revolutionary year, 1848, with the Chartist movement for manhood suffrage and with the rise of Young Ireland. Next we join the crowds in 1851 at the opening of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, of which Queen Victoria wrote, ''A little rain fell just as we started, but before we came near the Crystal Palace the sun shone and gleamed upon the gigantic edifice, upon which the flags of all nations were floating.'' Hopes for a new era of peace expired in...

By: Walter Besant (1836-1901)

Book cover Fifty Years Ago

Sir Walter Besant was a prolific novelist and historian. He wrote Fifty Years Ago to present a picture of life, manners, and society in Great Britain as it was when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne. In 1837, the seeds of new technology and new ideas were present and monumental changes from the ways of the 1700's were about to be felt. Starting first in London and over several decades, the progress moved outwards to the country towns of the British Isles. - Summary by Gary Clayton

By: Smedley Butler (1881-1940)

Book cover War Is a Racket

Marine Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler's expose of American Corporate Imperialism. Butler said, “I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to Major General. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. I suspected I was just part of the racket all the time. Now I am sure of it.” - Summary by John Greenman and https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/major-general-smedley-butler

By: Elizabeth W. Grierson (1869-1943)

Book cover Tales Of English Minsters: Canterbury Cathedral Kent and Saint Paul's London

These simple stories of two of England’s greatest cathedrals were originally written for youth but adults will also enjoy them. St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent County are central to the story of England, especially church history though not exclusively so. Here are stories of great spiritual leaders, saints, sinners, politicians, kings, soldiers, murders, pilgrimages, common folks, peoples’ spiritualities, spiritual life, civil life. - Summary by david wales

By: Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911)

Book cover Book of American Explorers

This book tells the story of exploration in America in the words of the explorers themselves. It consists of extracts from narratives of the early discoverers and explorers of the American continent from the Northmen in 10th century to 17th century Massachusets Bay Colony. - Summary by Kikisaulite

By: Robert Glass Cleland (1885-1957)

Book cover History of California: The American Period

The Author's own summary surveys “first the faint awakenings of American interest in the Spanish province of Alta California. The New England merchants traffic again along the sunlit, poorly guarded coast; the shadow of Russia hangs for a moment over San Francisco Bay; the hide and tallow vessels laboriously collect their cargoes at every little port...the first adventurous immigrants wind wearily down the mountain trails.... “Then the scene changes...English ambitions hold a threat of danger to the program of the United States; the Sacramento settlers raise the crude Bear Flag as a symbol of revolt; and finally a strong-willed President acquires California as the fruit of war...

By: Elizabeth O'Neill (1877-1951)

Book cover England In The Middle Ages

A short study examining the historical framework of England from the period of the Norman Conquest to the end of the fifteenth century. The period from the Norman Conquest to the end of the fifteenth century may be conveniently and aptly labelled "Mediæval". Rich and varied as were the phases of its life, it has a certain homogeneity which marks it clearly off from the days before the Conquest and from the Tudor period.

By: Edward Foord

Book cover Byzantine Empire

A concise and comprehensive guide to the Byzantine empire from Constantine to its dissolution. Foord explores in an accessible manner why it was important to history, the significance of noteworthy events, and how it eventually fell. While sometimes describing the experience of the everyday people, he mainly focuses on the wars and policies of Byzantine emperors.

By: Elizabeth F. Ellet (1818-1877)

Book cover Women of the American Revolution Volume 1

Excerpt from Preface: Their patriotic sacrifices were made with an enthusiasm that showed the earnest spirit ready on every occasion to appear in generous acts. Some gave their own property, and went from house to house to solicit contributions for the army. Colors were embroidered by fair hands, and presented with the charge never to desert them; and arms and ammunition were provided by the same liberal zeal. They formed themselves into associations renouncing the use of teas, and other imported luxuries, and engaging to card, spin, and weave their own clothing.

By: Charles A. Ward (1846-1908)

Book cover Oracles of Nostradamus

Charles A. Ward was considered one of the most knowledgeable in his studies of the prophecies of Nostradamus. Ward viewed the prophecies of Nostradamus as predictions that only make sense in hindsight, rather than a tool for predicting future events. This work includes Ward's theories regarding the methods of prediction and his theoretical belief that the predictions were sequential. Ward details only a few of the actual predictions of Nostradamus in his interpretations but attempts to shed light on his theoretical orientation in hopes of making them easier to understand for the reader. - Summary by CJ Plogue

By: Thomas Cleland Dawson (1835-1912)

Book cover South American Republics, Part I

The question most frequently asked me since I began my stay in South America has been: "Why do they have so many revolutions there?" Possibly the events recounted in the following pages may help the reader to answer this for himself. I hope that he will share my conviction that militarism has already definitely disappeared from more than half the continent and is slowly becoming less powerful in the remainder. Constitutional traditions, inherited from Spain and Portugal, implanted a tendency toward...

By: Annie Denton Cridge (1825-1875)

Book cover Man's Rights; or, How Would You Like It?: Comprising Dreams

"Man's Rights; or, How Would You Like It?: Comprising Dreams" is the first known feminist utopian novel written by a woman. The text features nine dreams experienced by a first-person female narrator. In the first seven dreams, she visits the planet Mars, finding a society where traditional sex roles and stereotypes are reversed. The narrator witnesses the oppression of the men on Mars and their struggle for equality. In the last two dreams, the narrator visits a future United States ruled by a woman president.

By: Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)

Book cover Dred, A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp

This is Stowe's second book, another one depicting the horrors of southern slavery, published 4 years after Uncle Tom's Cabin and 5 years before the commencement of the Civil War, when new territories wanting admittance into the US , were vying to become slave states, threatening to spread the heinous system. While a work of fiction, the book successfully documents the horrors of the slave system, and depicts how some slaves escaped into the Dismal Swamp , where they often lived for years hiding from their pursuers, often in community...

By: John Tulloch (1823-1886)

Book cover Rational Theology and Christian Philosophy volume 2

In this second volume of his work on English rational theology in the seventeenth century, Tulloch describes the lives and works of the group of theologians known as the Cambridge Platonists. - Summary by Barry Ganong

By: Carl E. Koppenhaver (1915-2000)

Book cover Martin Luther

This short, engaging volume summarizes the life of a priest who, intending to spark a lively academic debate by nailing 95 theses on a church door, unwittingly sets the continent aflame with the 1517 Reformation of the Catholic Church. - Summary by Elyse J. Wood

By: Ernest Belfort Bax (1854-1926)

Book cover Story of the French Revolution

Preface Excerpt: "The following sketch of the course of the French Revolution was originally published during 1889 in serial form in "Justice," the weekly organ of the Social Democratic Federation. It has been revised, corrected, and, in some parts, added to, for the present re-issue. It need scarcely be said that it in no way pretends to be a complete history of the great political, social, and intellectual movement it describes. The present volume is designed primarily as a guide to those who,...

By: Henry Inman (1837-1899)

Book cover Tales Of The Trail; Short Stories Of Western Life

This 1898 collection of thirteen previously published articles exhibits the acute perception of one of the most popular writers of the late 19th-early 20th centuries. “These "Tales of the Trail" are based upon actual facts which came under the personal observation of the author… and will form another interesting series of stories of that era of great adventures, when the country west of the Missouri was unknown except to the trappers, hunters, and army officers.” Henry Inman was an American soldier, frontiersman, and author...

By: Edward Carpenter (1844-1929)

Book cover Intermediate Sex: A Study of Some Transitional Types of Men and Women

Written in 1908 by socialist critic and gay rights activist Edward Carpenter, The Intermediate Sex is a thoughtful, humanizing, and frequently utopian treatise on homosexuality that defies some of the period's more stultifying notions about human sexuality. In it, Carpenter argues for the legitimization of “uranianism,” recounts the history of homosexuality from antiquity to present day, highlights the great social and aesthetic work done by Uranians, and outlines some of the transformative social effects that might occur from a greater acceptance of homosexuality.

By: Ralph Keeler (1840-1873)

Book cover Vagabond Adventures

Ralph Keeler failed as a novelist, but this autobiography reflects a life well-lived with humor and adventure. Keeler was in the same literary circle as satirist Bret Harte, novelist Charles Warren Stoddard, editor Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and essayist William Dean Howells. He so impressed Mark Twain that Twain wrote an essay about him called "Ralph Keeler". In 1873, on his way to Cuba, he reportedly was thrown overboard by a Spanish loyalist who objected to his backing of the revolutionary, anti-Spanish movement. - Summary by John Greenman

By: John Woodhouse Audubon (1812-1862)

Book cover Audubon's Western Journal: 1849-1850

John Woodhouse Audubon , son of the famous painter John James Audubon and an artist in his own right, joined Col. Henry Webb's California Company expedition in 1849. From New Orleans the expedition sailed to the Rio Grande; it headed west overland through northern Mexico and through Arizona to San Diego, California. Cholera and outlaws decimated the group. Many of them turned back, including the leader. Audubon assumed command of those remaining and they pushed on to California, although he was forced to abandon his paints and canvases in the desert…...

By: Thomas Cleland Dawson (1835-1912)

Book cover South American Republics, Part II

This history begins when Pizarro and Almagro, Valdivia and Benalcazar, led their desperadoes across the Isthmus to the conquest, massacre, and enslavement of the prosperous and civilised millions who inhabited the Pacific coast of South America. It ends with the United States opening a way through that same Isthmus for the ships, the trade, the capital of all the world; with American engineers laying railroad iron on the imperial highway of the Incas; with British bondholders forgiving stricken Peru's national debt; with their debtor bravely facing the fact of bankruptcy, and turning over to them all its railways.

By: Robert Balmain Mowat (1883-1941)

Book cover Wars of the Roses 1377-1471

The Wars of the Roses, 1377-1471, were a series of English civil wars fought for the control of the throne of England between two rival cadet branches of the House of Plantagenet, Lancaster and York. The Scottish historian, Robert Balmain Mowat writes that these wars saw "the death of the old England and the beginning of the new." But they also saw the emergence of great personalities: the noble Richard of York, Warwick the Kingmaker, King Edward IV, indolent and energetic by turns, and his relentless opponent, Margaret of Anjou, a true she-wolf of France.

By: Robert James Manion (1881-1943)

Book cover Surgeon In Arms

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

By: Giovanni Verga (1840-1922)

Book cover House by the Medlar Tree

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

By: Eva March Tappan (1854-1930)

Book cover World’s Story Volume VIII: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland and the Search for the Poles

This is the eighth volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Topics in Part VIII include excerpts from the Eddas, the life of the Vikings, the Scandinavian kings' fight for supremacy and the race towards the North and South Pole...

By: Justin McCarthy (1830-1912)

Book cover History of Our Own Times From the Accession of Queen Victoria to the General Election of 1880, Volume III

Volume III of this history of Victorian Britain begins in 1856 with the gunboat diplomacy of the Second Opium War and then moves to the harrowing days of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In June 1858, Benjamin Disraeli secures passage of the Jews Relief Act and Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild takes his seat in Parliament. Prince Albert dies after a short illness in December 1861, leaving a distraught and cloistered Queen. Lord Palmerston's diplomacy increases Britain's influence on the Continent, while the Civil War in America divides the country in surprising ways. Bismarck emerges and Prussia begins her ascent to power.

By: Edmund Dene Morel (1873-1924)

Book cover Red Rubber: The Story of the Rubber Slave Trade on the Congo

Morel explains the history and formation of the Congo Free State, owned by King Leopold II. However, Morel, a humanitarian, focuses on the atrocities commited in the Congo through the enslavement of the native population, leading to the deaths of as much as 50 percent of the population. Writing in the early 20th century, he argues Britain can and should stop these horrific human rights violations. - Summary by Elsie Selwyn

By: Carter Woodson (1875-1950)

Book cover Century of Negro Migration

Dr. Woodson describes the internal migration of African Americans within the United States, including the Northern Migration and the draw of California. Cultural and sociological observations are made as well as a study of principal economic factors in this migration. Summary by KevinS.

By: Jan Hus

Book cover Letters of John Huss

Personal correspondence of Bohemian religious reformer John Huss from 1411 when he was exiled from Prague through his death by burning as heretic in 1415 by order of the Council of Constance. These were first published in 1536 by the German Protestant reformer Martin Luther and his introduction is included here. - Summary by Rom Maczka

By: Ierne Lifford Plunket (1885-1970)

Book cover Europe In The Middle Ages

Though sometimes called the "Dark Ages", the period of Middle Ages is far from dull or uninteresting. In this book I. L. Plunket masterfully shows the colorfullness and diversity of the Middle Ages. Heroes like Charlemagne, Richard the Lion Hearted, Joan of Arc and many others come to life in these pages. The rich religious life of the Middle Ages, controversies between different secular and religious authorities and general rising of nations in Europe are disclosed to the reader. - Summary by Kikisaulite

By: Jean Toomer (1894-1967)

Book cover Cane

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

By: Helen W. Pierson

Book cover History of England In Words of One Syllable

A simple history of England written principally with words of one syllable. Books of these kind, I understand, are helpful for both beginning and remedial reading students. - Summary by KevinS


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