Books Should Be Free
Loyal Books
Free Public Domain Audiobooks & eBook Downloads
Search by: Title, Author or Keyword

Books of Memoirs

Results per page: 30 | 60 | 100
    Page 1 of 3 
  • >
Book type:
Sort by:
View by:

By: Anonymous

Book cover Young Girl's Diary

The diary of an upper middle class Austrian girl, this book describes her life between the ages of eleven and fourteen. It's a coming of age story full of angst, boys, and questions.

By: Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

Book cover Swann's Way (Version 2)

Swann's Way is the first book in the seven-volume work In Search of Lost Time, or Remembrance of Things Past, by Marcel Proust. It is a novel written in the form of an autobiography. Proust's most prominent work, it is popularly known for its length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine."

Book cover Within a Budding Grove

"In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower" is the second volume of Proust's heptalogy, "In Search of Lost Time" . Shadow insightfully deals with adolescent longing, and continues Proust's profound meditation on the nature of memory. The original French version was awarded the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1919. NOTE: This book contains language that would have been considered appropriate at the time and which may not be appropriate today.

By: Mary Anne Barker (1831-1911)

Book cover Station Life in New Zealand

Station Life in New Zealand is a collection of cheerful and interesting letters written by Lady Mary Anne Barker (nee Mary Anne Stewart) that is a New Zealand "classic". These letters are described in the Preface as "the exact account of a lady's experience of the brighter and less practical side of colonisation". The letters were written between 1865 and 1868 and cover the time of her travel with her husband (Frederick Broomie) to New Zealand and life on a colonial sheep-station at their homestead "Broomielaw", located in the Province of Canterbury, South Island of New Zealand...

By: Abraham Tomlinson

The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775 by Abraham Tomlinson The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775

“Perceiving that much of the intrinsic value of these Journals would consist in a proper understanding of the historical facts to which allusions are made in them, I prevailed upon Mr. Lossing, the well-known author of the “Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution” to illustrate and elucidate these diaries by explanatory notes. His name is a sufficient guaranty for their accuracy and general usefulness”

By: Adam G. De Gurowski (1805-1866)

Book cover Diary from March 4, 1861, to November 12, 1862
Book cover Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863

By: Alan Gray (1857-1934)

Book cover Gentle Persuasion

Twelve stories from the author's life in Scotland, by Robert Cuthbert Johnstone, writing as Alan Gray. For more information on the author see his biography by the Manitoba Historical Society.

By: Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

Book cover Memoirs of Journeys to Venice and the Low Countries

By: Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)

Marguerite de Valois by Alexandre Dumas Marguerite de Valois

A historical fiction novel set in Paris (1572) during Charles IX's reign and the French Wars of Religion. Marguerite de Valois, daughter of deceased Henry II, is the novel's protagonist set against the infamous schemes of the Catholic power player, Catherine de Medici.

Book cover Chicot the Jester

This sequel to Dumas' “Marguerite de Valois” begins four years after the sudden death of King Charles IX and succession of his brother Henry III. The reign of King Henry III was plagued with rebellion and political intrigue due to the War of the Three Henries, where his regency was challenged by King Henry of Navarre (leader of the Huguenots) and Henry I, Duke of Guise (leader of the Catholic League). Dumas weaves two main storylines through this turbulent backdrop: one of the love ignited between le Comte de Bussy and la Dame de Monsoreau, and another of the friendship between King Henry III and his truly unique jester, Chicot (Jean-Antoine d'Anglerais).

By: Alexandre Exquemelin (c. 1645-1707)

The Pirates of Panama by Alexandre Exquemelin The Pirates of Panama

This volume was originally written in Dutch by John Esquemeling, and first published in Amsterdam in 1678 under the title of De Americaeneche Zee Roovers. It immediately became very popular and this first hand history of the Buccaneers of America was soon translated into the principal European languages. The first English edition was printed in 1684. Esquemeling served the Buccaneers in the capacity of barber-surgeon, and was present at all their exploits. Little did he suspect that his first hand observations would some day be cherished as the only authentic and true history of the Buccaneers and Marooners of the Spanish Main...

By: Anna Green Winslow (1759-1779)

Book cover Diary of Anna Green Winslow A Boston School Girl of 1771

By: Anna Harriette Leonowens

The English Governess at the Siamese Court by Anna Harriette Leonowens The English Governess at the Siamese Court

1862 Anna Leonowens accepted an offer made by the Siamese consul in Singapore, Tan Kim Ching, to teach the wives and children of Mongkut, king of Siam. The king wished to give his 39 wives and concubines and 82 children a modern Western education on scientific secular lines, which earlier missionaries’ wives had not provided. Leonowens sent her daughter Avis to school in England, and took her son Louis with her to Bangkok. She succeeded Dan Beach Bradley, an American missionary, as teacher to the Siamese court...

By: Anna Maria Porter (1780-1832)

Book cover Don Sebastian; or, The House of the Braganza: An Historical Romance, Volume 1

Romantic history of the fictional Don Sebastian, which was suggested to the author by a plaque commemorating a mysterious "Portuguese stranger". There is a historical backdrop, but the story itself and the characters are figments of her imagination. - Summary by Lynne T

By: Anne MacLanahan Grenfell (1885-1938)

Le Petit Nord by Anne MacLanahan Grenfell Le Petit Nord

A collection of letters from Anne (MacLanahan) Grenfell, future wife of Sir Wilfred Grenfell, regarding her year of missionary service at the orphanage in St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

By: Anne Wales Abbott ed. (1808-1908)

Autumn Leaves, Original Pieces in Prose and Verse by Anne Wales Abbott ed. Autumn Leaves, Original Pieces in Prose and Verse

The pieces gathered into this volume were, with two exceptions, written for the entertainment of a private circle, without any view to publication. The editor would express her thanks to the writers, who, at her solicitation, have allowed them to be printed. They are published with the hope of aiding a work of charity,—the establishment of an Agency for the benefit of the poor in Cambridge,—to which the proceeds of the sale will be devoted.

By: Annie L. Burton (c. 1858-)

Book cover Memories of Childhood's Slavery Days

This is a short and simple, yet poignant autobiography of Annie Burton, who recounts her early carefree childhood as a slave on a southern plantation while the Civil War raged around her, and after the Emancipation Proclamation, how her life changed as she struggled to maintain herself and family, manage her finances, and develop as a free person of color. The last half of the narrative relies heavily upon speeches, poems, and hymns written by others that stirred Annie's religious passions and increased her pride in her heritage, including a very powerful speech by Dr...

By: Anonymous

Book cover Life Unveiled, by a Child of the Drumlins

A memoir of a young woman, who lived in the late 19th century in the United States. Starting with her pastoral youth and progressing through to her studies to become a doctor at Boston University, this is a frank and refreshing portrait of a young American girl’s upbringing; the impressions made upon her at a young age, the navigation through adolescence, and the determination of an emerging adult woman. Told with a sense of humor, wonder and delight. - Summary by Phyllis Vincelli

Book cover Unaddressed Letters

“I had a friend who loved me;” but he has gone, and the “great gulf” is between us. After his death, I received a packet of manuscript with these few words:—“What I have written may appeal to you because of our friendship, and because, when you come to read them, you will seek to grasp, in these apparent confidences, an inner meaning that to the end will elude you. If you think others, not the many but the few, might find here any answer to their unuttered questionings, any fellowship of sympathy in those experiences which are the milestones of our lives, then use the letters as you will, but without my name...

By: Archibald Gracie (1858-1912)

Book cover Truth about the Titanic

Colonel Archibald Gracie was the first survivor of the sinking of the Titanic to die, and this first-hand account was published posthumously. He attempts to dispel some of the rumors surrounding the tragic event and gives his personal observations and an account of his survival clinging to the hull of an overturned collapsible lifeboat after helping many others to escape safely. A large portion of the book is given to personal accounts of other survivors from both the American and British boards of inquiry, boat by boat. - Summary by Larry Wilson

By: Arthur Empey

Over the Top by Arthur Empey Over the Top

Arthur Guy Empey was an American who responded to the sinking of the Lusitania by enlisting with the British Army to fight in France. His experiences in the trenches, including his ultimate wounding and convalescence, became this book. When published in 1917, it was a major hit and helped the recruiting effort when America entered the Great War. If you’ve heard of the horror of trench warfare in WWI and want to see it from below dirt level, Empey offers it all here. Also included is Empey’s popular “Tommy’s Dictionary of the Trenches” which humorously demistifies the slang used by the British soldier.

By: Arthur Ransome (1884-1967)

Book cover Russia in 1919

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: On August 27, 1914, in London, I made this note in a memorandum book: "Met Arthur Ransome at_____'s; discussed a book on the Russian's relation to the war in the light of psychological background--folklore." The book was not written but the idea that instinctively came to him pervades his every utterance on things Russian. The versatile man who commands more than respect as the biographer of Poe and Wilde; as the (translator of and commentator on Remy de Gourmont; as a folklorist, has shown himself to be consecrated to the truth...

By: Austen Layard (1817-1894)

Book cover Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon

Austen Henry Layard is best known as the excavator of Nimrud and of Nineveh, where he uncovered a large proportion of the Assyrian palace reliefs known, and in 1851 the library of Ashurbanipal. The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of thousands of clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BC. Among its holdings was the famous Epic of Gilgamesh.In this work, he describes his experiences upon his return to the region for a second expedition. - Summary by Soupy Proof-listened by Elijah Fisher and TriciaG.

By: Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914)

Book cover Lay Down Your Arms: The Autobiography of Martha von Tilling

Die Waffen Nieder, in English: Lay Down Your Arms is a fictional biography, which describes four wars from the perspective of a soldier's wife. The response to the book was worldwide; it became popular, and it can be described as the beginning of the peace movements of our times. Von Suttner received the Nobel Peace Prize - she was a candidate since the first award-ceremony . She foresaw and watched the rise of the First World War, was warning and campaigning against it; but died before the beginning of WW1...

By: Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington Up From Slavery

Up From Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama—to help black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up by the bootstraps. He reflects on the generosity of both teachers and philanthropists who helped in educating blacks and native Americans...

By: BS Murthy

Glaring Shadow - A stream of consciousness novel  by BS Murthy Glaring Shadow - A stream of consciousness novel

Glaring Shadow in a stream of consciousness mode is the self-account of the life and times of a man, who liquidates his immense wealth only to consign it to the flames. The agony and ecstasy of his life as he makes it big in our materialistic world and the way he loses his soul in the bargain, only to regain it when tragedy strikes him makes one ponder over the meaning of success in life - He had the soul of our times, and is the namesake of many. He tamed success by the scruff of its neck, only to fuel envy in our neighborhood...

By: Captain Rees Howell Gronow (1794-1865)

Reminiscences of Captain Gronow by Captain Rees Howell Gronow Reminiscences of Captain Gronow

A collection of memoirs about the Peninsular War, the Battle of Waterloo, and society and personalities of Regency London and 19th century Paris, by a sometime Grenadier Guards officer, unsuccessful parliamentarian, and dandy. Gronow displays social attitudes of the day which would now be regarded as unacceptable, but is a clever raconteur who brings to life both the horrors of war and the gaiety of high society.

By: Carlton McCarthy (1847-1936)

Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865 by Carlton McCarthy Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865

The author, who fought as a private in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, describes the Confederate soldier’s daily struggles with hunger, illness, fear, and the perils of combat; as well as his pride of service, love of comrades, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds

By: Catharine Parr Traill (1802-1899)

The Backwoods of Canada by Catharine Parr Traill The Backwoods of Canada

The writer is as earnest in recommending ladies who belong to the higher class of settlers to cultivate all the mental resources of a superior education, as she is to induce them to discard all irrational and artificial wants and mere useless pursuits. She would willingly direct their attention to the natural history and botany of this new country, in which they will find a never-failing source of amusement and instruction, at once enlightening and elevating the mind, and serving to fill up the void left by the absence of those lighter feminine accomplishments, the practice of which are necessarily superseded by imperative domestic duties...

By: Chalkley J. Hambleton

A Gold Hunter's Experience by Chalkley J. Hambleton A Gold Hunter's Experience

“Early in the summer of 1860, I had an attack of gold fever. In Chicago, the conditions for such a malady were all favorable. Since the panic of 1857 there had been three years of general depression, money was scarce, there was little activity in business, the outlook was discouraging, and I, like hundreds of others, felt blue.” Thus Chalkley J. Hambleton begins his pithy and engrossing tale of participation in the Pike’s Peak gold rush. Four men in partnership hauled 24 tons of mining equipment by ox cart across the Great Plains from St...

By: Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

American Notes for General Circulation by Charles Dickens American Notes for General Circulation

American Notes for General Circulation is a travelogue by Charles Dickens detailing his trip to North America from January to June, 1842. While there he acted as a critical observer of these societies almost as if returning a status report on their progress. This can be compared to the style of his Pictures from Italy written four years later, where he wrote far more like a tourist. His American journey was also an inspiration for his novel Martin Chuzzlewit.

The Uncommercial Traveller by Charles Dickens The Uncommercial Traveller

The Uncommercial Traveller is a collection of literary sketches and reminiscences written by Charles Dickens. In 1859 Dickens founded a new journal called All the Year Round and the Uncommercial Traveller articles would be among his main contributions. He seems to have chosen the title and persona of the Uncommercial Traveller as a result of a speech he gave on the 22 December 1859 to the Commercial Travellers' School London in his role as honorary chairman and treasurer. The persona sits well with a writer who liked to travel, not only as a tourist, but also to research and report what he found; visiting Europe, America and giving book readings throughout Britain...

By: Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900)

Being a Boy by Charles Dudley Warner Being a Boy

Warner's thoughtful and often humorous memoir of his life as a young farm-boy in Charlemont, Massachusetts. (Introduction by Mark Penfold)

By: Charles Granville Bruce (1966-1939)

Book cover Assault on Mount Everest, 1922

Personal narratives of climbing Mount Everest in 1922-1923. The expeditions did not reach the summit. The northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory and Guy Bullock on the initial 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition. It was an exploratory expedition not equipped for a serious attempt to climb the mountain. With Mallory leading they climbed the North Col to an altitude of 7,005 metres . From there, Mallory espied a route to the top, but the party was unprepared for the great task of climbing any further and descended...

By: Charles Morris (1833-1922)

The San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire by Charles Morris The San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire

The first half of this book describes the devastating earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906, and the subsequent destruction caused by fire. Various eyewitnesses and victims give their account on the tragedy. In the second half, a number of different other earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are retold, like the eruption of the Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeij or the explosion of the Krakatoa, together with scientific explanations for the causes of earthquakes and the eruption of volcanos.

By: Charles Sternberg (1850-1943)

Book cover Life of a Fossil Hunter

Charles Sternberg was an American fossil collector and paleontologist. He was active in both fields from 1876 to 1928, and collected fossils for private collectors as well as for international museums. This book is part travelogue, part paleontology, and part historical narrative of life on the open prairie. In it, Sternberg tells of his early interest in fossil hunting as a boy, and scientific expeditions from his first in 1876 to one for the Munich Museum in 1901. - Summary by Ava

By: Charles Todd Quintard (1824-1898)

Book cover Doctor Quintard, Chaplain C.S.A. And Second Bishop Of Tennessee Being His Story Of The War (1861-1865)

Charles Quintard was an Episcopal priest who, in spite of his pro-Union stance, volunteered to be a chaplain in the Confederate army in the American Civil War. A sympathetic, warm, intellectual man loved by soldier and civilian alike, he volunteered because he felt that the soldiers from his local area needed him more than his local parish. Within four months of the end of the war, he was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, an election ratified by the Episcopal Church's General Convention in October...

By: Christopher Morley (1890-1957)

Book cover Religio Journalistici

The great Canadian journalist and humorist ruminates and reflects upon his life and calling in this 1924 little gem. - Summary by david wales

By: Christy Mathewson (1880-1925)

Pitching in a Pinch by Christy Mathewson Pitching in a Pinch

In this book Mathewson is telling the reader of the game as it is played in the Big Leagues.... It’s as good as his pitching and some exciting things have happened in the Big Leagues, stories that never found their way into the newspapers. Matty has told them. This is a true tale of Big Leaguers, their habits and their methods of playing the game, written by one of them.

By: Cole Younger (1844-1916)

Book cover Story of Cole Younger, by Himself

Autobiography of Cole Younger, American Civil War veteran and member of the Jesse James gang. Cole Younger was a member of Quantrill's Raiders during the Civil War and along with his brother, Jim Younger and the James brothers, robbed banks and trains during the 1870's.

By: Con Price (1869-1958)

Book cover Memories of Old Montana

Con Price recalls the 1870s through the 1940s, growing up in Iowa and South Dakota before heading out on a cattle drive into Montana. Never dull, his life was full of experiences from cattle drives to Indian encounters to cattle wars to frontier romance. - Summary by Gary Clayton

By: Cornelia Stratton Parker (1885-?)

Book cover American Idyll: The Life of Carlton H. Parker

In a memoir marked by joy, love, and an unbending sense of adventure, Cornelia Stratton Parker reveals the heart of a unique man and their life together. As a member of California's turn-of-the-20th-century Immigration and Housing Commission, Carlton H. Parker came to understand the problems surrounding migrant camps and the labor movement in general. In this volume she recounts his undertakings in that regard and their family life.

By: Dame Shirley (d.1906)

The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52 by Dame Shirley The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52

Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe moved to California from Massachusetts during the Gold Rush of the mid-1800’s. During her travels, Louise was offered the opportunity to write for The Herald about her travel adventures. It was at this point that Louise chose the name “Shirley” as her pen name. Dame Shirley wrote a series of 23 letters to her sister Mary Jane (also known as Molly) in Massachusetts in 1851 and 1852. The “Shirley Letters”, as the collected whole later became known, gave true accounts of life in two gold mining camps on the Feather River in the 1850s...

By: Dillon Wallace (1863-1939)

The Lure of the Labrador Wild by Dillon Wallace The Lure of the Labrador Wild

The Lure Of The Labrador Wild is a account of a expedition by Leonidas Hubbard, an adventurer and journalist to canoe the system Naskaupi River - Lake Michikamau in Labrador and George River in Quebec. His companions on this journey were his friend, New York lawyer Dillon Wallace and an Indian guide from Missannabie, George Elson. From the start, the expedition was beset with mistakes and problems. Instead of ascending the Naskaupi River, by mistake they followed the shallow Susan Brook. After hard long portaging and almost reaching Lake Michikamau, with food supplies running out, on September 15 at Windbound lake, they decided to turn back...

By: Doris Stevens (1892-1963)

Jailed for Freedom by Doris Stevens Jailed for Freedom

A first-hand account of the 1913-1919 campaign of American suffragists, detailing their treatment at the hands of the courts, and the true conditions of their incarceration.

By: Dorothy Osborne (1627-1695)

Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne by Dorothy Osborne Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne

A lively, interesting and important collection of 17th century love-letters written by an English lady, against the background of the Civil War and the Restoration

By: Edith Wharton (1862-1937)

Fighting France, from Dunkerque to Belfort by Edith Wharton Fighting France, from Dunkerque to Belfort

American novelist Edith Wharton was living in Paris when World War I broke out in 1914. She obtained permission to visit sites behind the lines, including hospitals, ravaged villages, and trenches. Fighting France records her travels along the front in 1914 and 1915, and celebrates the indomitable spirit of the French people.

By: Edmund Gosse (1849-1928)

Father and Son by Edmund Gosse Father and Son

Father and Son (1907) is a memoir by poet and critic Edmund Gosse, which he subtitled “a study of two temperaments.” The book describes Edmund’s early years in an exceptionally devout Plymouth Brethren home. His mother, who dies early and painfully of breast cancer, is a writer of Christian tracts. His father, Philip Henry Gosse, is an influential, though largely self-taught, invertebrate zoologist and student of marine biology who, after his wife’s death, takes Edmund to live in Devon...

By: Edward Streeter (1891-1976)

Dere Mable by Edward Streeter Dere Mable

Bill is in training camp, preparing to go off to World War I. This book is a collection of love letters written to his sweetheart, Mable. The letters are humorous, mis-spelled, and have many stories of life in an army camp – all from Bill’s unique perspective.

By: Egerton Castle (1858-1920)

Book cover Pride of Jennico

"The death of a patriarch, unexpected inheritance of a second son, dark and stormy castle, faithful retainers, scary governess who never speaks, star-crossed lovers -- I could go on, but that would involve spoilers! All you'd want and expect from a Gothic romance. One more thing -- real men do cry!"

By: Eliza P. Donner Houghton (1843-1922)

The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate by Eliza P. Donner Houghton The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate

The Donner Party was a group of California-bound American settlers caught up in the “westering fever” of the 1840s. After becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–1847, some of the emigrants resorted to cannibalism. Although this aspect of the tragedy has become synonymous with the Donner Party in the popular imagination, it actually was a minor part of the episode. The author was about 4 at the time. The first part of the book accounts the tragic journey and rescue attempts; the last half are reminiscences of the child orphan, passed from family to family while growing up.

By: Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett (1846-1930)

Book cover Adventures of an Ugly Girl

“Come, Dora! I shall never be ready, if you don’t make haste. They will be here in ten minutes, and my hair is not half so nice as it ought to be, thanks to your carelessness.” “You are very good to ignore my own claims to attention so utterly. I have been helping you this half-hour and have barely time enough left to change my frock. To make my own hair presentable is impossible now.” “Why, what does it matter how your hair is dressed, or what sort of a gown you put on? You may just as well spare your pains, for unfortunately nothing that you can do seems to mitigate your ugliness...

By: Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)

Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the premier movers in the original women’s rights movement, along with Susan B. Anthony, her best friend for over 50 years. While Elizabeth initially stayed home with her husband and many babies and wrote the speeches, Susan went on the road to bring the message of the women’s rights movement to an often hostile public. When black men were given the vote in 1870, Susan and Elizabeth led the women’s rights establishment of the time to withhold support for a bill that would extend to black men the rights still denied for women of all colors...

By: Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865)

Book cover My Lady Ludlow

This novella by the acclaimed Elizabeth Gaskell follows the reminiscences and life of aristocratic Lady Ludlow, told through the eyes of one of her charges, the young Margaret Dawson. Lady Ludlow epitomizes the unwillingness of the old English gentry to accept the progression of social reform and technology, such as education for the poor and religious leniency. She reminisces about her friends in the French revolution and tries to protect and guide the numerous young ladies she has taken under her care.

By: Elizabeth Keckley (1818-1907)

Book cover Behind the Scenes

This is the autobiography of Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave who bought her freedom with the money she earned as a seamstress. She eventually worked for Mary Lincoln. It is a fascinating book, filled with many recollections of her own life and her interactions with the Lincolns and other members of the government elite.

By: Ernest Oldmeadow (1867-1949)

Book cover Susan

Susan is a perfect gem of a maid until suddenly she begins to mess things ups and is so distracted that her mistress Gertrude is determined to find out what is bothering her. After much prodding Susan confesses that she has had a marriage proposal by letter from a Lord Ruddington whom she has never met. Should she accept?? Things get a little complicated as we follow this delightful story which unfolds in diary form written by Miss Gertrude. It will make you smile and sometimes laugh out loud. Enjoy! - Summary by Celine Major

By: Evans, A. J. (1889-1960)

The Escaping Club by Evans, A. J. The Escaping Club

Described by some as one of the greatest escape books published. The Escaping Club recounts Evans' escape to Switzerland from a supposedly "escape-proof" German prison camp during World War I. After repatriation and rejoining the war, Evans again finds himself captured, this time first by Arabs and then by Turks. He again manages to escape. A detailed look at the trials faced by Allied POWs during World War I.

By: Ezra Meeker (1830-1928)

Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail by Ezra Meeker Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail

Ezra Meeker…was an early pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox cart as a young man. Beginning in his 70s, he worked tirelessly to memorialize the trail, repeatedly retracing the trip of his youth. This book is a memoir of those days.

By: Fa'iz El-Ghusein (1883-1968)

Martyred Armenia by Fa'iz El-Ghusein Martyred Armenia

This is a first hand account of the Armenian Genocide written by a Syrian who had been a Turkish official for three and a half years. His accounts tell of the worst of humanity, and also of the noblest. The noble include families who courageously support each other in the face of death, and Turks who refuse to follow orders to kill, knowing that they shall be executed themselves for their defiance.

By: Fanny Burney (1752-1840)

Book cover The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay — Volume 1

By: Fanny Loviot

Book cover Lady's Captivity among Chinese Pirates in the Chinese Seas

This thrilling narrative recounts the true story of Fanny Loviot, a wealthy, young French girl who was kidnapped at sea. After setting sail for California in 1855, Fanny's boat was overtaken by Chinese pirates who held her hostage and demanded a ransom. This personal account follows her trying time in captivity, as well as her dramatic rescue by British authorities.

By: Ferdinand Ossendowski (1876-1945)

Beasts, Men and Gods by Ferdinand Ossendowski Beasts, Men and Gods

“Beasts, Men and Gods” is an account of an epic journey, filled with perils and narrow escapes, in the mold of “The Lord of the Rings.”The difference is: it’s all true.Ferdinand Ossendowski was a Pole who found himself in Siberia and on the losing side during the Bolshevik Revolution. To escape being rounded up and shot, he set out with a friend to reach the Pacific, there to take ship back to Europe. During his journey he fell in with dozens of other military men who shared the same objective… but nearly every one of them perished on the way...

By: Florence A. Merriam (1863-1948)

A-Birding on a Bronco by Florence A. Merriam A-Birding on a Bronco

Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey (August 8, 1863 - September 22, 1948) was an American ornithologist and nature writer. She started observing bird behavior at a time when most bird study was based on collections and skins. By 1885, she began to write articles focusing on protecting birds. Her introduction of a birdwatching field guide, aimed at living birds, is considered the first in the tradition of modern bird guides. She wrote the first of these at the age of 26, initially as a series of notes in the Audubon Magazine and later as books. In "A-Birding on a Bronco," she writes an engaging memoir about her several trips to study birds on a ranch in California in the late 1800's.

By: Frances E. Willard (1839-1898)

Book cover Wheel Within A Wheel

Frances Willard was an influential campaigner and educator for social reforms, temperance and women's education, suffrage and empowerment, as shown in her motto "Do everything". She was a long-serving national president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and famous in many countries for her writings and speaking tours. This little book is a wryly humorous account of "How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle", something she achieved at the age of 53 and of which she was very proud! In it, she...

By: Frances M. A. Roe

Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871-1888 by Frances M. A. Roe Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871-1888

"There appeared from the bushes in front of me, and right in the path, two immense gray wolves . . . Rollo saw them and stopped instantly, giving deep sighs, preparing to snort, I knew . . . To give myself courage, I talked to the horse, slowly turning him around . . . when out of the bushes in front of us, there came a third wolf! The situation was not pleasant and without stopping to think, I said ‘Rollo, we must run him down - now do your best’ and taking a firm hold of the bridle, and bracing myself in the saddle, I struck the horse with my whip and gave an awful scream...

By: Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904)

Book cover Life of Frances Power Cobbe as Told by Herself

Frances Power Cobbe was an important Irish-Anglo writer, suffragist, anti-vivisectionist, philosopher, and reformer of the mid to late 1800s. She is best known for her campaigns for women's rights , and against wife abuse and vivisection. She was the lifelong partner of Welsh sculptor Mary Lloyd. This autobiography was written very late in her life, and published shortly after her death. - Summary by Ciufi Galeazzi

By: Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879)

Book cover Kept for the Master's Use

The memoirs of Frances Ridley Havergal, a great missionary and hymn writer.

By: François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848)

Book cover Memoirs of Chateaubriand Volume V

The memoirs of Chateaubriand continue in Volume 5, with the author, now a grand hommes des lettres, still in the thick of political events, telling his story with his trademark acerbity and melancholy, interspersed with extracts from his voluminous correspondence with the literary, intellectual and political stars of his age.

Book cover Memoirs of Chateaubriand Volume IV

After the extinction of Napoleon's comet on St Helena, Chateaubriand covers the Bourbon Restoration in this volume, meeting a dazzling array of literary and political figures, as his diplomatic career advances. - Summary by Nicole Lee

Book cover Memoirs of Chateaubriand Volume III

The third volume of Teixeira de Mattos' translation of Chateaubriand's Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb covers the spectacular fall, exile, and death of Napoleon, and is replete with the author's trenchant views on the some of the most significant figures of his era, tinged with his signature melancholy. - Summary by Nicole Lee

Book cover Memoirs of Chateaubriand Volume II

Volume II of Chateaubriand's Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb, translated by Teixeira de Mattos. This volume covers the period from his return to France to fight, reluctantly, for the King, his early literary successes with many portraits of the great and the good, including Napoleon, through to his travels in the Near East in the first decade of the 19th century, all through with his characteristic blend of mordant wit and melancholy. - Summary by Nicole Lee

By: Frank Thomas Bullen (1857-1915)

Book cover Confessions of a Tradesman

Frank T. Bullen is best known for his books based on his adventures at sea. However, he had a life on shore as well. He first went to sea as a boy as a cabin boy. He there had many adventures as a hand on a whaling ship. He then came ashore and tried his hand at being a "Tradesman". This is that story and also tells how he became the well-known author he is now. It is a very interesting, enjoyable and entertaining depiction of the trials and tribulations he had in his life in 19th century London as a tradesman. - Summary by Wayne Cooke

By: Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Book cover Life of Chopin

Chopin was a romantic era Polish composer. This work is a memoir by Liszt who knew Chopin both as man and artist. This memoir gives a unique understanding to the psychological character of the compositions of Chopin. It also offers Liszt's insight into some of Chopin's polonaises, especially the grand polonaise in F sharp minor. Liszt explains the strange emotion "ZAL" which is inclosed in his compositions. Then, presents a brief sketch on the lives of other great people in Chopin's circle. After that, Liszt discusses Chopin's fame and early life. Finally, Liszt gives a detailed account on Chopin's sufferings due to ill health and the unfortunate departure of the great composer.

By: Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery on a Maryland plantation. He faced hardship as a child, but later encountered owners who were relatively liberal and allowed him to learn to read, write and be in contact with freed slaves. At the age of 20, he escaped from the plantation and made his way to New York. Though he remained a fugitive, he married and changed his name to avoid being caught. He continued his education and became involved in the Abolitionist Movement. He began touring the country, speaking passionately about the unjust, cruel and inhuman practice of slavery...

By: Frederick Hoffman

Book cover A Sailor of King George

By: Frederick Marryat (1792-1848)

Book cover Jacob Faithful

Rebelling against the career chosen for him by his wealthy family, Frederic Marryat joined the Royal Navy in 1806 at the age of 14. He first served as a midshipman in the 38-gun frigate "HMS Imperieuse" commanded by Lord Cochran, 10th Earl of Dundonald whose real life exploits were used by Marryat in his fiction and which formed the basis for other famous fictional characters like Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey. Having survived more than 50 sea battles and attained the rank of Post Captain, he resigned from the Navy and devoted the rest of his life to writing, drawing a good deal on his distinguished career in the Navy and is now considered the Father of Modern Nautical Fiction...

By: Geoffrey H. Malins (1887-1943)

Book cover How I Filmed the War

An account of World War I and the experience of filming it by an early cinematographer (and, after the war, successful director) who was there.

By: George B. Grinnell

Blackfeet Indian Stories by George B. Grinnell Blackfeet Indian Stories

The Blackfeet were hunters, travelling from place to place on foot. They used implements of stone, wood, or bone, wore clothing made of skins, and lived in tents covered by hides. Dogs, their only tame animals, were used as beasts of burden to carry small packs and drag light loads. The stories here told come down to us from very ancient times. Grandfathers have told them to their grandchildren, and these again to their grandchildren, and so from mouth to mouth, through many generations, they have reached our time. (Sibella Denton)

By: George Bethune English (1787-1828)

Book cover A Narrative of the Expedition to Dongola and Sennaar

As a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps during the War of 1812 assigned to Marine Corps headquarters, English sailed to the Mediterranean, and was among the first citizens of the United States known to have visited Egypt. Shortly after arriving in Egypt he resigned his commission, converted to Islam and joined Isma'il Pasha in an expedition up the Nile River against Sennar in 1820, winning distinction as an officer of artillery. He published his Narrative of the Expedition to Dongola and Sennaar (London 1822) regarding his exploits. (Introduction adapted by obform from Wikipedia)

By: George Dunderdale (1822-1903)

The Book of the Bush by George Dunderdale The Book of the Bush

While the world was young, nations could be founded peaceably. There was plenty of unoccupied country, and when two neighbouring patriarchs found their flocks were becoming too numerous for the pasture, one said to the other: "Let there be no quarrel, I pray, between thee and me; the whole earth is between us, and the land is watered as the garden of Paradise. If thou wilt go to the east, I will go to the west; or if thou wilt go to the west, I will go to the east." So they parted in peace.(excerpt from book)

By: George Eggleston (1839-1911)

Book cover Rebel's Recollections

George Cary Eggleston's Civil War memoir begins with a separate essay on the living conditions and political opinions of Virginia’s citizenry before secession. The body of the work contains vivid descriptions and accounts of the men and women of the South during the time of the Confederacy. Eggleston praises its war heroes, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jeb Stuart, but is highly critical of Jefferson Davis and of his government’s inefficiencies, red-tape, and favoritism. The book concludes with the war's end and a tribute to the character of the newly freed slaves...

By: George Gissing (1857-1903)

Book cover Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft

This novel consists of selections from the diary of an author, starting soon after his retirement and continuing until just before his death. There is very little in the way of plot, but a great deal of quiet musing about art, nature, society, and the things that make life worth living. Although this is a work of fiction, there are clear parallels between the narrator's life and Gissing's own life. This leads many commenters to view it as semi-autobiographical.

By: George Payne Rainsford James (1799-1860)

Book cover Agnes Sorel

The Hundred Years' War: a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the House of Valois, rulers of the Kingdom of France, over the succession to the French throne. It was a time of intrigue, plot, murder and romance. Agnes Sorel, aged 20, became the favorite mistress of the King of France, wielding much influence over him and earning many enemies. Her untimely death at the age of 28, just days after bearing him a fourth child, was blamed on dysentery...

Book cover Arabella Stuart

Lady Arabella Stuart was an English noblewoman at the beginning of the seventeenth century. At one time considered to be a possible successor to Elizabeth I, the crown eventually went to her cousin, the tyrannical James I. Our story begins in 1603, shortly after his ascension to the throne. Apparently she was happy at the change in fortune, although relations with her kinsman deteriorated after her clandestine marriage, which was incorrectly seen as a power struggle. Even her closest friends could not protect her. In James's usual fashion, this is a colorful fictional account of her life.

By: George Washburn Smalley (1833-1916)

Book cover Anglo-American Memories

“These Memories [1911] were written in the first instance for Americans and have appeared week by week each Sunday in the New York Tribune…. they are mainly concerned with men of exceptional mark and position in America and Europe whom I have met, and with events of which I had some personal knowledge. There is no attempt at a consecutive story.” Smalley was an American journalist born in Massachusetts in 1833; he wrote from and about many places in America and Europe. - Summary by Book Preface and David Wales

By: George-Günther Freiherr von Forstner (1882-1940)

The Journal of Submarine Commander Von Forstner by George-Günther Freiherr von Forstner The Journal of Submarine Commander Von Forstner

The Journal of Submarine Commander Von Forstner is a graphic account of WWI submarine warfare. Forstner was the commander of German U-boat U-28. His journal, first published 1916, gives a gritty picture of daily life inside a submarine and details several torpedo attacks on Allied shipping. The 1917 translation of Forstner’s journal into English was unquestionably intended to bolster the Allied war effort. In the foreword, the translator states: “Nothing at the present day has aroused such fear as this invisible enemy, nor has anything outraged the civilized world like the tragedies caused by the German submarines...

By: Gertrude Atherton (1857-1948)

Book cover Rezanov

This novel by the prolific Californian author Gertrude Horn Atherton is based on the real life story of Nikolai Rezanov, a man who, in 1806, pushed for the Russian colonization of Alaska and California. "Not twenty pages have you turned before you know this Rezanov, privy councilor, grand chamberlain, plenipotentiary of the Russo-American company, imperial inspector of the extreme eastern and northwestern dominions of his imperial majesty Alexander the First, emperor of Russia—all this and more, a man...

By: Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798)

The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova by Giacomo Casanova The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova

This is the first of five volumes. – Giacomo Casanova (1725 in Venice – 1798 in Dux, Bohemia, now Duchcov, Czech Republic) was a famous Venetian adventurer, writer, and womanizer. He used charm, guile, threats, intimidation, and aggression, when necessary, to conquer women, sometimes leaving behind children or debt. In his autobiography Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century, he mentions 122 women with whom he had sex...

By: Harriet E. Wilson (1825-1900)

Our Nig,  or,  Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, In A Two-Story White House by Harriet E. Wilson Our Nig, or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, In A Two-Story White House

Frado is a colored girl, living in the USA a few years before the Civil War. She is abandoned by her own white mother in the house of the Bellmont's- where she is treated badly. This is a sad book, but Frado's cheerfulness and dignity will make you love her until the end. (Introduction by Stav Nisser)

By: Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897)

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself

Born in slavery, but being fortunate enough to be owned by a benevolent mistress, her life takes a tragic turn when her parents and her benefactor die. The new heir to the property (and slaves) is a cruel and lewd man who begins to make inappropriate advances to the lovely young slave-girl. In a bid to escape, she becomes entangled in a relationship with a neighboring landowner who promises a better life, and she even has two children. However, things become worse for her when her cruel owner decides to punish her by sending her and her children to a distant cotton plantation to be “broken in...

By: Helen Gansevoort Edwards Mackay (1876-1961)

Book cover Journal Of Small Things

Brief journal sketches from France during WW1. The author was was American, but went on to spend much of her life in France. - Summary by kathrinee

By: Helen Keller (1888-1968)

Book cover The Story of My Life

An autobiography of Helen Keller published when the author was still in her early 20's. The narrative reveals how her mind developed and matured until she began her studies at Radcliffe College

By: Henry Bibb (1815-1854)

Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave by Henry Bibb Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave

Henry Walton Bibb was born a slave. His father was white although his identity was not positively known. Bibb was separated from his mother at a very young age and hired out to other slave owners for most of his childhood. Always yearning for his freedom, he made his first escape from slavery in 1842. He was recaptured and escaped, recaptured and escaped over and over; but he never gave up on his desire to be a man in control of his own destiny.

By: Henry C. Barkley (1837-1903)

Book cover Studies in the Art of Rat-Catching

This book is often described as an instruction manual on the subject of rat-catching. It does indeed contain a good deal about rats, ferrets and dogs, but it is much more than that. Barkley fills the book with humour, sharp observation, and his sheer joy of living in the countryside. The framework of the book is indeed a course by fictional rat-catcher Bob Joy, who suggests that rat-catching might be a suitable alternative career for boys at Eton, Harrow and the other major English public schools...

By: Henry Dawson

Book cover Trips in the Life of a Locomotive Engineer

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

By: Henry Ford

My Life and Work by Henry Ford My Life and Work

Henry Ford profiles the events that shaped his personal philosophy, and the challenges he overcame on the road to founding the Ford Motor Company. Throughout his memoir, he stresses the importance of tangible service and physical production over relative value as judged by profits and money. He measures the worth of a business or government by the service it provides to all, not the profits in dollars it accumulates. He also makes the point that only service can provide for human needs, as opposed to laws or rules which can only prohibit specific actions and do not provide for the necessaries of life...

By: Henry James (1843-1916)

A Small Boy and Others by Henry James A Small Boy and Others

A Small Boy and Others is a book of autobiography by Henry James published in 1913. The book covers James’s earliest years and discusses his intellectually active family, his intermittent schooling, and his first trips to Europe.

By: Henry Ossian Flipper (1856-1940)

The Colored Cadet at West Point by Henry Ossian Flipper The Colored Cadet at West Point

Henry Ossian Flipper--born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia on March 21, 1856--did not learn to read and write until just before the end of the Civil War. Once the war had ended, Flipper attended several schools showing a great aptitude for knowledge. During his freshman year at Atlanta University he applied for admittance to the United States National Military Academy at West Point. He was appointed to the academy in 1873 along with a fellow African American, John W. Williams. Cadet Williams was later dismissed for academic deficiencies.

By: Henry Vizetelly

California by Henry Vizetelly California

Vizetelly, writing under the pseudonym J. Tyrwhitt Brooks, recalls an expedition to California he took between 1847-1848 . Originally, he planned to enlist as a surgeon for the US Army during the Mexican war, but conflicts had ended by the time he applied. In a quick change of plans, he joined a group of prospectors on their way to the newly found gold fields of California. While he might not find service in the military, his training as a physician made him a valuable addition to the ragtag team of explorers...


Page 1 of 3   
Popular Genres
More Genres
Languages
Paid Books