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By: Amice MacDonell

Book cover Saxon and Norman

Edward the Confessor is very weak and will die soon. But with no son to succeed him, who will gain the throne? The common folk and loyal Saxon barons in England want Harold, while the Norman barons and the people in Normandy, France want Duke William. They claim Edward gave William the throne. Who is right? Will Britain be Normanized? - Summary by Esther ben Simonides Cast List King Edward the Confessor: Beth ThomasHarold, Earl of Wessex: Adele de PignerollesGyrth, brother to Harold; Cecilia, daughter...

By: Frederick Winthrop Hutchinson

Book cover Men Who Found America

This Book is about the Men Who Found America and how it started - Summary by Elijah

By: Various

Book cover Poems of American History, The Period of Growth

This volume covers the age of expansion from the Revolution to the Civil War, including the creation of the Constitution, the Presidency of George Washington, the War of 1812, and the settling of the West, along with tales of Johnny Appleseed, the Alamo, the Gold Rush, the death of Jefferson, and The Wreck of the Hesperus. Authors include Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Francis Scott Key, John Greenleaf Whittier and Lord Byron. - Summary by Ed Humpal

By: Katharine Berry Judson (1866-1929)

Book cover Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes

It is a loss to American literature that so much of the legendary history of these Indian tribes has gone, beyond hope of recovery. Exquisite in color, poetical in feeling, these legends of sun, moon, and stars, of snow, ice, lightning, thunders, the winds, the life of the forest birds and animals about them, and the longing to understand the why and the how of life—all which we have only in fragments…. As in all the other volumes of this series, no effort has been made to ornament or amplify these legends in the effort to make them “literary,” or give them “literary charm...

By: Songling Pu (1640-1715)

Book cover Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio, volume 1

"Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" is a collection of nearly five hundred mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling during the early Qing Dynasty. It was written in Classical Chinese rather than Vernacular Chinese. Pu is believed to have completed the majority of the tales sometime in 1679, though he could have added entries as late as 1707. He borrows from a folk tradition of oral storytelling to put to paper a series of captivating, colorful stories, where the boundary between reality and the odd or fantastic is blurred...

By: Richard Wilson (1887-1976)

Book cover Indian Story Book

Richard Wilson has taken tales from the two great Indian epics, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, as well as other early sources, and has retold them in English, in an effort to showcase to young English-speaking readers that 'oriental' stories share the same elements as tales they are used to. Love, hate, virtue, oppression, tenderness, bravery and resourcefulness and an ultimate desire to conquer evil. - Summary by Paraphrased from the Introduction

By: Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Book cover Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays

This anthology collects a number of fascinating strands of Bertrand Russell's thought. "Mathematics and the Metaphysicians" details the impact of the 1900 World Congress of Philosophers on Russell's development and the hope that new methods in mathematics could be applied to the solution of ancient philosophical problems. Many of the subsequent essays show the evolution of this hope as Russell worked on the foundations of mathematics and applied the new methods to the reconstruction of physical objects on the basis of sense-data, and the redefinition of matter and cause.

By: Joshua Giddings (1795-1864)

Book cover Exiles of Florida

“The Author of the following work has endeavored to give a faithful record of … the Exiles of Florida. Torn from their native land, their friends and homes, they were sold in the markets of Carolina and Georgia. Feeling the hand of oppression bearing heavily upon them, they fled to Florida, and, under Spanish laws, became free. … At a time of profound peace, our army, acting under the direction of the Executive, invaded Florida, murdered many of these free men, and brought others to the United States and consigned them to slavery...

By: John Gilmary Shea (1824-1892)

Book cover Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley

"It has long been a desideratum to have in English the early narratives, of the discovery and exploration of the Mississippi. Marquette's map and voyage have indeed appeared, but the narrative varies in no small degree from the authentic manuscript, and the map is not at all a copy of that still preserved, as it came from the hand of the great explorer. These published from original manuscripts, and accompanied by the narratives of the missionaries in La Salle's expedition, are now first presented in an accessible shape, and complete the annals of the exploration...

By: Columbia Accident Investigation Board

Book cover Columbia Accident Investigation Board Final Report, Volume 1

In 1981, Columbia became the first spacecraft of its type to fly in Earth orbit and successfully completed 27 missions over more than two decades. During the STS-107 mission, Columbia and its crew traveled more than six million miles in 16 days. The Orbiterʼs destruction, just 16 minutes before scheduled touchdown, shows that space flight is still far from routine. It involves a substantial element of risk, which must be recognized, but never accepted with resignation. The seven Columbia astronauts believed that the risk was worth the reward...

By: John Henry Patterson (1867-1947)

Book cover With the Judæans in the Palestine Campaign

From the Preface: The formation of a Battalion of Jews for service in the British Army is an event without precedent in our annals, and the part played by such a unique unit is assured of a niche in history owing to the fact that it fought in Palestine, not only for the British cause, but also for the Restoration of the Jewish people to the Promised Land. - Summary by J. H. Patterson

By: Walter George Bell (1867-1942)

Book cover Tower of London

A short book, whose chapters were originally published in The Daily Mail, which explores the history and facts of each of the structures that make up the Tower. - Summary by Janet 99

By: Jack R. Williams

Book cover Indians Of Carlsbad Caverns National Park

A short review of the history and presence of Native Americans in the area of the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, USA. - Summary by david wales

By: Walter George Bell (1867-1942)

Book cover More About Unknown London

If you enjoyed Unknown London by this author, then you should love this one! Bell's light and novel exploration of specific topics in London's history make this easy to listen to and factual. Seventeen new topics are examined in this book, including Anne Boleyn's letter, tombstone stories, and St. Martin-Le-Grand. - Summary by Janet

By: William Ruschenberger (1807-1895)

Book cover Elements of Geology

Elements of Geology is one in a Series of First Books of Natural History Prepared for the Use of Schools and Colleges. This succinct little textbook from 1846 presents an introduction to geology. The information, albeit not current, is still interesting and of use as a general overview of the subject as well as interesting look into the period. Please note that some of the information has changed considerably since this time. The author was a surgeon in the U.S. Navy and president of the Academy of Natural Sciences. - Summary by Amy Gramour

By: Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Book cover Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews

This collection of the 258 known, publicly-printed interviews of Mark Twain was compiled by Gary Scharnhorst and published by the University of Alabama Press. The interviews are in the Public Domain, and our thanks go to Gary Scharnhorst and the University of Alabama for making them available for this Public Domain audio recording. They were compiled in the University of Alabama Press book entitled "Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews" and are arranged, chronologically, from Twain's first authenticated interview in 1871, to his last interview in 1910...

By: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)

Book cover Logic of Hegel

This is the William Wallace translation of the first part of Hegel's Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences on logic. This is an outline of Hegel's logical system that he would use and elaborate on during his lectures, it is a shorter version of his earlier publication The Science of Logic. The William Wallace translation is very influential and famous for its clarity, although he took some liberties and does not always stick closely to Hegel's original text. - Summary by Ryan Smallwood

By: Unknown

Book cover Saga of Erik the Red (Reeves Translation)

The Saga of Erik the Red is one of the two important thirteenth-century accounts of the Norse explorations of Greenland and North America, along with The Saga of the Greenlanders. Containing fantastic anecdotes about ghostly visitations, wise women-seers, and one-legged native Unipeds, the saga is just as fascinating for what is clearly authentic history. It vividly relates the conflict between Christianity and the old Norse religion; the significant place of extraordinary women in Icelandic and...

Book cover Saga of the Greenlanders (Reeves Translation)

The Saga of the Greenlanders is one of the two important thirteenth-century accounts of the Norse explorations of Greenland and North America, along with the Saga of Erik the Red. The two accounts describe many of the same events leading to Norse contact with the North American coastline almost five hundred years before Columbus, but contradict each other in a number of mysterious and fascinating ways. Containing less fantastic material than the Saga of Erik the Red , the Saga of the Greenlanders...

By: Charles Morris (1833-1922)

Book cover Historical Tales, Volume VII: Spanish

Volume VII of a series containing anecdotes and stories, some well-known, others less so, of particular countries. This seventh volume covers the history of Spain from before the Moorish conquest to the loss of overseas territories at the end of the 19th century, describing history for children and young adults in an exciting and novel manner. - Summary by Kalynda

By: Amice MacDonell

Book cover Story of the Armada

It's the summer of 1588, and all is not well in England. Citizens are plotting to betray their queen for Spanish gold, and the dreaded Armada is coming closer and closer. It's up to Lord Burleigh and brave Sir Francis Drake to stop them, but will they succeed in convincing Queen Elizabeth that such action is necessary? And when the Spanish ships finally arrive, what will happen to the queen and the citizens of London? Cast List:William Cecil, Lord Burleigh: Tomas Peter Sir Walter Raleigh: Todd Sir Francis Drake: K...

By: H. A. Guerber (1859-1929)

Book cover Story of Old France

The aim of this volume is to give a complete graphic account of the main features of the history of France to 1715 A.D., with as much additional illuminating detail as limited space permits. Besides outlines of the principal events, this narrative includes many biographical sketches, together with the anecdotes and sayings to which allusions are often made in literature, politics, and arts. It also gives such data in regard to places, public buildings, and works of art as the well informed like to have at their fingers' ends.

By: Fleming Mant Sandwith (1853-1918)

Book cover Sleeping Sickness

In the twenty-first century sleeping sickness is still a life-threatening disease of adults and children and a hazard to tourists in East African game parks.The protozoan parasite is transmitted by the tsetse fly, a buzzing insect with reddish eyes and a large biting proboscis. In 1912, when this short monograph was written, physicians of the British Empire understood that trans-continental expeditions manned by infected African porters, had set off an epidemic of sleeping sickness that had claimed half a million lives...

By: W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911)

Book cover Mikado, Or The Town of Titipu (version 2)

In the town of Titipu, flirting is punishable by death on the command of the Mikado himself! But what happens when the Lord High Executioner is himself condemned to die? And what secret does the wandering minstrel Nanki-Poo hide, that the Mikado and his entire entourage come to witness his execution? "The Mikado" premiered in 1885, when it broke all records for the longest-running musical. It remains arguably the most popular of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Occasionally described as "English ladies with knitting needles in their hair", Gilbert disguised his criticism of British politics by the Japanese setting...

By: Mandell Creighton (1843-1901)

Book cover Queen Elizabeth

"The Princess Elizabeth of England was born at Greenwich, between three and four of the afternoon of September 7, 1533. Her birth was a matter of small rejoicing to her parents, who were sorely disappointed that their first-born was not a boy." So begins this short, but stirring biography by the British historian, Mandell Creighton, of the magnificent last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. We see Elizabeth in constant peril during the turbulent and ineffectual reigns of Edward VI and Mary. At her accession, her country is little better than an appendage of the Spanish state...

By: May Sinclair (1863-1946)

Book cover New Idealism

The genius of May Sinclair lies in her brilliant bridging of the Victorian and the modern eras, in her determination never to become ossified in an outdated way of thought or of Art. Though a generation older than the famous literati of the postwar era, she clearly perceived what was worth saving of the old and what was worth embracing of the new. This is clear, of course, in her remarkable fiction, particularly in the astonishing “Life and Death of Harriet Frean,” “Mary Olivier,” and “Tree of Heaven,” in which she broke new ground in psychological and stream-of-consciousness fiction...

By: Henry Charles Lea (1825-1909)

Book cover History of the Inquisition of Spain, Vol. 4

The fourth and final volume of Lea's monumental work on the Spanish Inquisition. This volume discusses how the Inquisition dealt with mysticism, solicitation of illicit relationships, bigamy, theological propositions, witchcraft and sorcery, political activity, and almost every other facet of daily life. It concludes with an overarching history of the Inquisition and retrospective.

By: Justin McCarthy (1830-1912)

Book cover Reign of Queen Anne, Volume I

Anne Stuart , Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, succeeded William III to the throne in 1702. She was the daughter of the deposed Catholic king, James II, but was of the Anglican faith. Liberal, Irish member of Parliament, Justin McCarthy, writing in 1902, creates in sparkling, uncluttered prose a panoramic canvas of Anne and her times. In the first of the two volumes, the brilliant commander, the Duke of Marlborough, defeats the French and Bavarians at the Battle of Blenheim, while the flagship of the admiral of the fleet, Sir Cloudesley Shovell, strikes the rocks near the Isles of Scilly and is lost with all eight hundred hands...

By: John Brown (1830-1922)

Book cover History of the English Bible

The celebration of the Tercentenary of the Authorized Version of the English Bible of 1611 has called into existence the little book here presented to the reader's notice. It is the brief repetition of a story beginning in 670 A.D. and reaching on for twelve hundred years to 1879. It takes us back to the Monastery of Whitby where Caedmon the monk paraphrased Scripture story in Saxon song, and brings us through the centuries to the Abbey of Westminster where a distinguished body of English scholars met in 1870 and commenced that Revision of the Scriptures which first saw the light in 1881.

By: Various

Book cover Letters from Victorian Pioneers

A series of letters on the early occupation of the colony, the Aborigines, etc addressed by Victorian pioneers to his Excellency Charles Joseph La Trobe Esq. , Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Victoria in response to a circular letter sent by him to a number of early settlers dated 29th July 1853. - It cannot be claimed for these papers that they are infallible records of our early history at every point. , The last section ends with lists of Aboriginal words and phrases as were collected by a lady...

By: Songling Pu (1640-1715)

Book cover Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Volume 2

"Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" or "Strange Tales of Liaozhai" is a collection of nearly five hundred mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling during the early Qing Dynasty. It was written in Classical Chinese rather than Vernacular Chinese. Pu is believed to have completed the majority of the tales sometime in 1679, though he could have added entries as late as 1707. He borrows from a folk tradition of oral storytelling to put to paper a series of captivating, colorful stories, where the boundary between reality and the odd or fantastic is blurred...

By: Henry Mayhew (1812-1887)

Book cover London Labour and the London Poor Volume I

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: Various

Book cover Poems of American History, Volume 4, The Civil War

This volume is a fascinating reflection on the Civil War years from a perspective in 1908, when many Civil War veterans were still alive, when the wounds to North and South were still fresh, and when no event more cataclysmic had struck the Republic than a Civil War that began less than 100 years after the Revolution for Independence. Poets in this volume include: John Greenleaf Whittier, William Cullen Bryant, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bret Harte, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Walt Whitman, and Julia Ward Howe. - Summary by Ed Humpal

By: United States Government

Book cover United States Constitution and Amendments

The Constitution is the charter of government and the supreme law of the United States of America. It was signed by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 17, 1787. The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified together in 1791. Amendments 11 through 27 were ratified separately from 1795 through 1992.

By: Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657-1757)

Book cover Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds

This book is a popular science book written in the late 1600s. It is written as a series of conversations between a gallant philosopher and a countess, while walking in her garden and gazing at the stars. The philosopher explains the heliocentric model of the solar system and also muses on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. While it explains the heliocentric model, unlike other astronomy works of the time, it did not attract the attention of the Church.

By: Henry James (1843-1916)

Book cover Outcry

The story concerns the contemplated sale of a famous painting by a proud but relatively cash-strapped British aristocrat to a wealthy American art collector who is bent on buying up treasured masterpieces from the Old World, and the patriotic outcry after the public gets wind of his intent. The matter is further complicated by the strong resistance put up by his younger daughter and her blunt-spoken, art critic friend against the sale. - Summary by shih-ping

By: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Book cover Anthropology

Immanuel Kant gave a series of lectures on anthropology 1772-1773, 1795-1796 at the University of Königsberg, which was founded in 1544. His lectures dealt with recognizing the internal and external in man, cognition, sensuousness, the five senses, as well as the soul and the mind. They were gathered together and published in 1798 and then published in English in The Journal of Speculative Philosophy in 1867, volumes 9-16. Therefore, several texts will be used for this book. I was able to find sections 1-37 and then section 43, and sections 47-57...

By: Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930)

Book cover Norway and the Union with Sweden

A History of the politics surrounding The Union of Norway with Sweden, from 1814-1905, from the Norwegian perspective - Summary by Ærik Bjørnsson

By: Knut Gjerset (1865-1936)

Book cover History of the Norwegian People, Volume 1

A detailed and exhaustive history of the Norwegian People, written in two volumes. The author, Knut Gjerset, was born in Western Norway in 1865 and immigrated to Chippewa County, Minnesota, in the US with his parents in 1871 and his brother Oluf later got elected to public office there. He received a B.A. in Literature from the University of Minnesota, and also studied at John's Hopkins University from 1895-1896, and the University of Heidelberg, where he was awarded a PhD, from 1896-1898. This first...

By: Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850)

Book cover Catherine De' Medici

The Philosophical Studies from The Human Comedy are a series of works that are intended as a reflection on history in part through the use of fiction. 'Catherine de Medici' is one such 'study', and features, alongside detailed history sections, elements of the 'story' are fictionalised. In particular, this happens through dialogue that describes the feelings of the characters and what they are doing, these parts in the manner of a novel. In particular, Catherine de Medici , was depicted by historians as a bad ruler...

By: Justin McCarthy (1830-1912)

Book cover Reign of Queen Anne, Volume II

Anne Stuart , Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, succeeded William III to the throne in 1702. She was the daughter of the deposed Catholic king, James II, but was of the Anglican faith. Liberal, Irish member of Parliament, Justin McCarthy, writing in 1902, creates in sparkling, uncluttered prose a panoramic canvas of Anne and her times. In the second of the two volumes, McCarthy describes the Battle of Malplaquet, where Marlborough meets the French in "a contest of hand-to-hand fighting on a gigantic scale...

By: John Arthur Ransome Marriott (1859-1945)

Book cover England Since Waterloo

"England Since Waterloo" by Sir John Arthur Ransome Marriott was first published in 1913 and went through many editions. The author taught history at Worcester College, Oxford for thirty-six years and served as a Conservative member of Parliament for fifteen. "England Since Waterloo" begins with the defeat of Napoleon who, Marriott writes, was impotent "to assail English power at sea, foiled in his attempt to ruin her commerce...overwhelmed under Russian snows, and finally conquered by the genius of Wellington...

By: Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné (1794-1872)

Book cover History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume 1

The History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, by Jean-Henri Merle d’Aubigné, is a classic work on the great events that re-opened the Christian gospel to a needy world. It tells of how the twenty-year-old Martin Luther, browsing through books in the library at the University of Erfurt, takes down from the shelf a particular volume that has caught his interest. He has never seen anything like it. It is a Bible! He is astonished to find in this volume so much more than the fragments of gospels and epistles that were selected for public reading in churches...

By: Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Book cover Mark Twain's Speeches, Part 2

This collection of the 195 known, publicly-printed speeches of Mark Twain was compiled by Paul Fatout and published by the University of Iowa Press. The speeches are in the Public Domain, and our thanks go to the University of Iowa for making them available for this Public Domain audio recording. They were compiled in the University of Iowa Press book entitled "Mark Twain Speaking" and are arranged, chronologically, from Twain's first authenticated public speech in 1864, to his last speech, exactly 7 months before he died. Extensive analysis , notes, appendix and index are included in the printed work. - Summary by John Greenman

By: George Cooreman (1852-1926)

Book cover Martyrdom Of Belgium; Official Report Of Massacres Of Peaceable Citizens, Women And Children By The German Army; Testimony Of Eye-Witnesses

The title says it all. World War I narratives of German activities in Belgium after the German invasion of this neutral country. - Summary by david wales

By: Various

Book cover Why do we need a public library?

Internet Archive, which hosts our audio books, is in the midst of their annual fund-raising. They have also begun a drive to provide a mirror site in Canada to ensure IA's availability to all users. The IA is a vast library with millions of public domain books, audio, film, radio, and other media. They also maintain an open library of copyrighted books one can 'check out' by becoming a member with a virtual library card. This collection is devoted to the concept of why we need a public library, the title taken from an essay by Chalmers Hadley, which will be the first entry in this audio book...

By: Zorro A. Bradley

Book cover Canyon de Chelly; The Story of its Ruins and People

A 1973 U.S. government publication describing the history and physical characteristics of this Arizona national monument within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. - Summary by david wales

By: Amice MacDonell

Book cover Enterprise of the ''Mayflower''

"Welcome to all! We show the story of how, nearly three hundred years ago, when this country was not so happy as it is now, some people driven by persecution out of England went on a long and dangerous voyage in a ship called the Mayflower, and made for themselves a home across the Atlantic Ocean." Cast List: Stage Directions read by MaryAnnMaster William Brewster: SpiderScientistMaster William Bradford: ToddHWMaster John Carver: aravagarwalMaster John Alden: JamesMcAndrewMaster John Robinson: Alex...

By: Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805-1894)

Book cover History of the Suez Canal

A lively picture of the origin and completion of the Suez Canal and his architect, Vicomte de Lesseps. This is the translation of a lecture given before the Societe de Gens Lettres in Paris, in April 1870 by de Lesseps himself.

By: John Neihardt (1881-1973)

Book cover Splendid Wayfaring

Quote: "In the following pages I have told the story of that body of adventurers who, from 1822 to 1829, opened the way for the expansion of our nation beyond the Missouri. I have made Jedediah Smith the central figure of my story, for of all explorers of the Great West he was in many ways the most remarkable, though, heretofore, our school children have not even heard his name. In order to give the student a sense of the continuity of history, I have begun my narrative with a brief account of the...

By: Albert Keim (1876-1947)

Book cover Louis Pasteur

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

By: Various

Book cover Bomb: The 1945 Test of the First Atomic Bomb

These two publications put out by the U.S. government are about the Trinity site in New Mexico where in 1945 the first atomic bomb was tested. Each publication complements the other, though there is some duplication. These are descriptions of the test itself and of the planning and organization leading up to the test. They also tell what was done with the site after the test and how it became a national historic landmark. - Summary by david wales

By: Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931)

Book cover Golden Book of Springfield

The Golden Book of Springfield is American poet Vachel Lindsay's strange and mystical odyssey through the Springfield, Illinois of 2018, where the residents of that city strive to turn their home into a democratic utopia. It is a "Springfield a hundred years hence," a dreamlike space of spiritual and social awakenings. But when the threat of international war begins to loom over the horizon, the citizens of Springfield must find new ways to protect their city and keep it a "practical City of God...

By: Étienne de La Boétie (1530-1563)

Book cover Anti-Dictator: The Discours sur la servitude voluntaire

Étienne de La Boétie was the closest friend of Michel de Montaigne and the subject of the latter's famous essay "On Friendship." Here, however, he tackles a different, more impersonal relationship: that of ruler and ruled. The argument in this work is encapsulated in this quote: "A people enslaves itself, cuts its own throat, when, having a choice between being vassals and being free men, it deserts its liberties and takes on the yoke, gives consent to its own misery, or, rather, apparently welcomes it...

By: George A. Miller (1868-1961)

Book cover Prowling About Panama

In 1903, Panama became a brand new state in Central America by seceding from Colombia in order to facilitate the construction of the Panama Canal, which was finished in 1914. This fledgling nation was home to the oldest inhabited European settlement on the American continent, a rich indigenous culture, and a splendid natural beauty from coast to jungle. Such was the scene as found by George A. Miller as he was "Prowling about Panama" in 1919, an activity that is more a "getting lost in the right way" than systematic exploration. Follow the author on his prowls through an amazing country that at the time of writing was an exciting mixture of tradition and modernity. .

By: Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

Book cover General View of Positivism

Auguste Comte was from France and published this book in French in 1844. He made a very great impact on the sciences and claims to have “discovered the principal laws of Sociology." Comte says Reason has become habituated to revolt but that doesn’t mean it will always retain its revolutionary character. He discusses Science, the trade-unions, Proletariat workers, Communists, Capitalists, Republicans, the role of woman in society, the elevation of Social Feeling over Self-love, and the Catholic Church in this book...

By: Charles Morris (1833-1922)

Book cover Historical Tales, Volume VIII: Russian

These Russian tales span the time of Russia's founding in the 800s-900s all the way to the early twentieth century and are factually based, although particularly the older tales have become legendary.

By: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Book cover Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

Kant's Prolegomena, although a small book, is indubitably the most important of his writings. It furnishes us with a key to his main work, The Critique of Pure Reason; in fact, it is an extract containing all the salient ideas of Kant's system. It approaches the subject in the simplest and most direct way, and is therefore best adapted as an introduction into his philosophy. - Summary by Open Court Publishing Company

By: Unknown

Book cover Tales Of The Royal Irish Constabulary

The Royal Irish Constabulary was the armed police force of the United Kingdom in Ireland from the early nineteenth century until 1922. About seventy-five percent of the RIC were Roman Catholic and about twenty-five percent were of various Protestant denominations, the Catholics mainly constables and the Protestants officers. In consequence of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the RIC was disbanded in 1922 and was replaced by the Garda Síochána in the Irish Free State and the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland...

By: Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Book cover On Propositions: What They Are and How They Mean

In this piece, Bertrand Russell offers an account of propositions. This essay has been widely regarded as a turning point in Russell's thought: fresh from his prison sentence, during which he read numerous works of psychology, he now rejects the existence of the unitary, lasting metaphysical subject and the act-object analysis of sensation. He here embraces the view advocated by American philosophers like William James, namely, neutral monism. This far-ranging essay includes a lengthy discussion of behaviorism and of the structure of facts, complete with an endorsement of negative facts and criticisms of attempts to avoid them. - Summary by Landon D. C. Elkind

By: Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904)

Book cover Gleanings in Buddha Fields

Lafcadio Hearn was one of the first Westerners to live in Japan during the early Meiji era, and a prolific writer. Although chiefly known for his collections of Japanese ghost stories , he also wrote many non-fiction essays about his life in Japan. This book contains 11 essays covering a variety of topics. For example, Hearn writes about his visits to Kyoto and Osaka, Japanese art, as well as Buddhism and Nirvana. Prooflisteners for this book were Isana and Margot.

By: Rodris Roth (1931-2000)

Book cover Tea Drinking In 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette And Equipage

The title of this 1961 Smithsonian Institution bulletin says it all. “In 18th-century America, the pleasant practice of taking tea at home was an established social custom with a recognized code of manners and distinctive furnishings. Pride was taken in a correct and fashionable tea table whose equipage included much more than teapot, cups, and saucers. It was usually the duty of the mistress to make and pour the tea; and it was the duty of the guests to be adept at handling a teacup and saucer and to provide social ‘chitchat...

By: Henriette Lucie Dillon, marquise de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet (1770-1853)

Book cover Recollections of the Revolution and the Empire

An aristocratic Frenchwoman's personal record of the dazzling extravagance of the Ancien Régime, of the court of Marie Antoinette, of the Revolution, of her life in exile and of the court of Napoleon Bonaparte. This famous historically valuable memoir, written for her son, ends with Napoleon's return from Elba in 1815.

By: E. Charles Vivian (1882-1947)

Book cover British Army From Within

This 1914 book gives a picture of the British Army structure and life in the early hours of World War I. Summary by david wales

By: Various

Book cover History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 1, September 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: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)

Book cover Phenomenology of Mind, Volume 1

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: Frank Mundell (1870-1932)

Book cover Stories of the Lifeboat

There's fury in the tempest, And there's madness in the waves; The lightning snake coils round the foam, The headlong thunder raves; Yet a boat is on the waters, Filled with Britain's daring sons, Who pull like lions out to sea, And count the minute guns. Rescue attempts to save the lives of stranded and imperilled sailors and seafarers have undoubtedly been occurring ever since the very first time that man sailed on a floating object away from the safety of the shore and out onto the wild and unpredictable seas of the world...

By: Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)

Book cover Critique of Dogmatic Theology

More systematic, but no less sincere than A Confession , The Critique of Dogmatic Theology is an early attempt on the part of Tolstoy to impart the results of his meticulous study and fearless inquiry into the beliefs and traditions of Orthodox Christianity following his renewed interest in spirituality. - Summary by Paul Rizik

By: George Hooper (1824-1890)

Book cover Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, , was born in Dublin, the younger son of an Irish Protestant aristocrat. He served with his brother in India and rose to prominence during the Napoleonic Wars in the Peninsular Campaign. As a youth, his mother saw little promise in him, but Wellesley was an early riser and a hard worker, inured to the harsh life of the army camp, and conscientious in his knowledge of terrain and of defensive tactics. He famously commanded the allied forces at the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, but the two men never actually met...

By: E. A. Wallis Budge (1857-1934)

Book cover Book of the Dead

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, or the Book of Coming Forth by Day, is an Ancient Egyptian funerary text consisting of spells to protect the soul on its journey to Duat, or Afterlife.

By: Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Book cover Problems of Philosophy (version 2)

This 1912 book remains among the most widely-used and well-written introductions to philosophy in English. It was aimed to be an accessible introduction to philosophy for the average shopkeeper in England in 1912. Despite its accessibility It has engaged scholarly philosophical commentators on a range of issues raised in the work. Above all it conveys in easy and witty manner the philosophical frame of mind to those that have never encountered it before. It was almost immediately, and remains today, a classic. This recording is dedicated to Jill Evans, Esq.

By: Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924)

Book cover Democracy of the Constitution, and other Addresses and Essays

Henry Cabot Lodge was a popular American Senator from Massachusetts. He did not only make a name for himself as a politician, but also as an essayist, combining his personal experience as Senator with a study of the philosophical and historical background of this profession. The essays in this volume concern the American model of democracy in particular. Published in 1915, the essays contained herein also reflect the rapid changes brought about by World War I, which will interest a wide readership. - Summary by Carolin

By: Hannah Glasse (1708-1770)

Book cover Art Of Cookery Made Plain And Easy

Although this recording has been made using the 1784 version, the original book of The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy was first published by subscription in 1747 by Hannah Glasse and was a compilation of the recipes typical for British meals produced in the kitchens of the more affluent classes in the 1700s. It will become obvious to the reader of this book that Hannah Glasse was a very experienced and consummate cook totally focussed on preparing and presenting a wholesome and varied range of fare for the family and guests of the household in the most economic and efficient manner possible...

By: Florence Morse Kingsley (1859-1937)

Book cover Tor, A Street Boy of Jerusalem

Tor is a young beggar living in the city of Jerusalem during the tumultuous time of the Roman occupation. Shouts of hope are the last thing this street boy expects when he witnesses Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Tor comes face to face with the man Jesus and from that moment his life is forever changed. With thievery, injustice, and brutality as the backdrop of this novel, Tor learns to trade his hatred for love, and what it means to be a follower of Christ. This novel is for ages eight and up.

By: George Henry Wakeling (1859-1936)

Book cover King and Parliament (A.D. 1603-1714)

This slim volume by the Oxford University lecturer, George Henry Wakeling, deals with the period in British history from the reign of King James I through the death of Queen Anne. The story begins with England, transformed by the Protestant Reformation and keen to confront Catholic Spain, but burdened by a monarch unequal to national ambitions. Wakeling portrays the subsequent battles for dominance between the contending Protestant sects and chronicles the struggle for sovereignty between the British Crown and the emerging power of Parliament. - Summary by Pamela Nagami

By: Albert A. Young

Book cover Stories from the Adirondacks

A collection of five stories all of which take place in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, and most which contain elements of some mystery hidden deep within the forests. - Summary by Roger Melin

By: Eleanor Constance Lodge (1869-1936)

Book cover End of the Middle Age: 1273-1453

Eleanor Constance Lodge, , was the first woman to receive a Doctorate of Letters from the University of Oxford. In this short survey, the 180 years between 1273 and 1453 are characterized as a period of "transition--a time in which medieval characteristics were decaying and modern characteristics were growing up." This is the age of Joan of Arc, of the recovery of Spain from the Moors, of the failed Crusades of the Teutonic Knights, and of the union of Poland and Lithuania under the strong house of Jagello...

By: William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

Book cover Place Of Burial In The South Of Scotland

This poem is part of the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," writen by Wordsworth between 1821 - 22. - Summary by David Lawrence

By: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)

Book cover World’s Famous Orations, Vol. III: Great Britain - I

In 1906, William Jennings Bryan, himself a famous American orator, and Francis Whiting Halsey published a series of the most famous orations of all time. They are ordered by both geographic area and time period, ranging from Ancient Greece to their contemporary United States. The third, fourth, and fifth volumes of this collection concern British speakers. The speeches contained in this third volume are ordered chronologically. We begin in the year 710 AD with a speech on the Saints, and end this volume in 1777 with the realisation of the impossibility of regaining control over the American colonies. - Summary by Carolin

By: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Book cover Human, All Too Human: A Book For Free Spirits, Part I

"Human, all-too-Human, is the monument of a crisis. It is entitled: 'A book for free spirits,' and almost every line in it represents a victory—in its pages I freed myself from everything foreign to my real nature. Idealism is foreign to me: the title says, 'Where you see ideal things, I see things which are only—human alas! all-too-human!' I know man better—the term 'free spirit' must here be understood in no other sense than this: a freed man, who has once more taken possession of himself."

By: Anthony Trollope (1815-1882)

Book cover Clergymen Of The Church Of England

This 1866 book was published in a time of great change in the Church of England. Trollope began as a High Church adherent and then worked his way to a Broad Church stance, a theological liberalism . This book deals with a crisis of faith and a crisis of structural form in the Victorian Church of England. It possesses all the interesting attributes of the novelist’s style. Note on the final chapter: John William Colenso was a British mathematician, theologian, Biblical scholar and social activist, who was the first Church of England Bishop of Natal. His progressive views on biblical criticism and treatment of African natives were controversial. - Summary by David Wales

By: Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné (1794-1872)

Book cover History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume 2

The History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, by Jean-Henri Merle d’Aubigné, is a classic work on the great events that re-opened the Christian gospel to a needy world. The author was a Swiss Protestant pastor. He was also a historian with a great understanding of the Bible, along with a broad and deep knowledge of the Reformation.D’Aubigné tells the story of outstanding people who had a love for God and his word, and who dared to present biblical truths which had been obscured for centuries...

By: William Holden Hutton (1860-1930)

Book cover King and Baronage (A.D. 1135-1327)

William Holden Hutton was a British historian and Dean of Winchester Cathedral. In this slim volume, Hutton writes of the long period of feudal anarchy following the death of King Henry I in 1135, during which Henry's implacable daughter, Mathilda, battled the ineffectual King Stephen. Hutton then describes the turbulent reign of the great King Henry II, the reigns of Kings Richard, John, Henry III, and of the first two Edwards, rulers who whether weak or strong, rigid or resourceful, were grimly opposed by their powerful barons. - Summary by Pamela Nagami

By: United States of America

Book cover Citizen's Almanac - Fundamental Documents, Symbols, and Anthems of the United States

New citizens of the United States were given this pamphlet when they became citizens. The Citizen's Almanac contains information on the history, people, and events that have brought us where we are today as a beacon of hope and freedom to the world. The Almanac has information on citizens' rights and responsibilities, the history of our anthems, court decisions, as well as other historical documents. - Summary by Craig Campbell

By: Arthur Poyser

Book cover Tower Of London

Description. History. “… those who read this book and have no opportunity of visiting the Tower expect that the characters in the moving drama of its history shall have some semblance of life as they walk across the stage…. My wish has been to persuade those who come to visit the Tower that there is a great deal to be seen in its immediate vicinity… A noble and historic building like the Tower resembles a venerable tree whose roots have spread into the soil in all directions, during the uncounted years of its existence, far beyond the position of its stem.” - Summary by Book Preface and David Wales

By: Horace Porter (1837-1921)

Book cover Campaigning With Grant

In the last year of the American Civil War, Horace Porter served as aide-de-camp to General Ulysses S. Grant, then commander of all the armies of the North. This lively 1897 memoir was written from the extensive notes he took during that time. It is highly regarded by later historians. Porter continued in that position with Grant to 1869. From 1869 to 1872 he served Grant as personal secretary in the White House. He was U.S. ambassador to France from 1897-1905.

By: Henry Lawson (1867-1922)

Book cover Scots Of The Riverina

This poem tells the story of a boy in Australia who leaves the farm at harvest time. "and to run from home was a crime." The story is set in the Riverina, New South Wales in the town of Gundagai.

By: John Howard Bertram Masterman (1867-1933)

Book cover Dawn of Mediaeval Europe: 476-918

This volume by the British historian J.H.B. Masterman is a short survey of the first four centuries after the fall of Rome. The author writes of Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, who sought to impose order on a shattered Italy, of the rise of the Franks under Clovis, and of the resurgence of the Eastern Empire under Justinian and his general, Belisarius. At the close of the book, Charlemagne's descendants are wrangling for power among themselves, while, writes Masterman, from "the north came the Norsemen, ravaging and plundering along every river valley which their long ships could sail; from the south came the Saracens, the pirates of the Mediterranean, and ...

By: Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

Book cover Raven and The Philosophy Of Composition

Poe’s famous narrative poem and the author’s reflections on its composition.

By: Geoffrey Chaucer

Book cover Chaucer Storybook

Geoffrey Chaucer's classic "Canterbury Tales" has here been rendered into clear and contemporary English prose. These classic stories are now available to those who would like to read them without struggling through Middle English poetry. The character and humour of The Wife of Bath and other larger-than-life people created by Chaucer are now accessible to a wider audience, including children. Please note that the original Canterbury Tales includes 24 stories, of which 11 are reproduced here. - Summary by Beth Thomas

By: Mary Hazel Snuff

Book cover Study Of Army Camp Life During American Revolution

Housing, Food, Clothing, Health, Sanitation, Recreation, Religion, Duties, Discipline. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in history in the Graduate School of the University of Illinois 1918. - Summary by David Wales

By: Eva March Tappan (1854-1930)

Book cover World’s Story Volume I: China, Japan and the Islands of the Pacific

This is the first 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 I include China, Korea, Japan and the Islands of the Pacific. - Summary by Sonia Cast list for The Sorrows of...

By: William M. Clemens (1860-1931)

Book cover Mark Twain; his life and work. A biographical sketch

As far as anyone has been able to establish, Will Clemens was NOT related to Sam Clemens , though they did become acquaintances. The 200-page biography Will Clemens wrote and published himself may have been the earliest full-length study of MT. It was published July 1,1892 as "No. 1" in a paperback series called "The Pacific Library," price 25¢, and did well enough to be republished in 1894 by a publisher in Chicago. Throughout the book Clemens relies mainly on other writers' previously published work.

By: Beatrice A. Lees (1858-1940)

Book cover Central Period of the Middle Age 918-1273

Beatrice Lees writes that the history of the period of the Middle Ages from 918 to 1273 is that of "a heroic period, the age of feudalism and monasticism, of chivalry and the Crusades." The era opened "with gloomy prospects for Western Christendom. On every side danger threatened" from the Vikings, the Saracens, and the Magyars. But better things lie in store in this little volume as the Capetian dynasty is founded in France, the Holy Roman Empire becomes the political center of Europe under Frederick Barbarossa, the Papacy attains its greatest influence under Innocent III, and Frederick II, called "stupor mundi," the wonder of the world, rules the cosmopolitan Kingdom of the Two Sicilies...

By: Various

Book cover History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 2, October 1909

The History Teacher's Magazine was a monthly publication devoted to the interests of teachers specializing in history, civics, and geography. It provides scholarly articles as well as advice on organizing course content, tips for engaging students, book reviews, and inspiration. - Summary by Sarah Jennings

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

Book cover Mark the Match Boy or Richard Hunter's Ward

In this third installment from the “Ragged Dick” series by Horatio Algers, Jr., the reader is reacquainted with some old friends and meets young Mark Manton. Mark is a match boy plagued by bad luck and an even worse guardian. But, with new friends, hard work, and smart choices, Mark may just find his luck taking a turn for the better. summary by tfaulder

By: Ellsworth Huntington (1876-1947)

Book cover Chronicles of America Volume 01 - The Red Man's Continent

Characteristics of the peoples and environment of the earliest stages of America. - Summary by Jim Locke Group: Chronicles of America Series

By: Charles Knowles Bolton (1867-1950)

Book cover Private Soldier Under Washington

Much was been written about the American Revolution, but our knowledge of the private solders of the patriot army is confined chiefly to Washington’s description of their sufferings at Valley Forge. This 1902 book by a Harvard University librarian helps to fill in the picture of the common soldier throughout the war by collating references from a great many primary and secondary sources. - Summary by Book Preface and David Wales

By: Irving Berdine Richman (1861-1938)

Book cover Chronicles of America Volume 02 - The Spanish Conquerors

A discussion of the adventures of the Spanish explorers from Columbus to Pizarro. - Summary by Jim Locke Group: Chronicles of America Series

By: George Davis

Book cover Frostiana: or a history of the River Thames in a frozen state

The frost fair of 1814 began on 1 February, and lasted four days. A printer named George Davis published a 124-page book, "Frostiana; or a History of the River Thames in a Frozen State". The entire book was type-set and printed in Davis's printing stall, which had been set up on the frozen Thames. The book is a written history of London's frost fairs, interspersed with humorous, cold-related sections including "How to Make Ice Cream" and "The Art of Ice Skating". - Summary by Wikipedia, Lewis Fletcher


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