"Policy and Passion, a Novel of Australian Life" tells the story about a father and daughter, torn between the policy of the country in which they live and the passions both have. The father, Thomas, is a rising politician until his love for a married woman changes the game while the daughter, Honora, falls in love with an English nobleman. But this is not only a love story. This novel tells about the early days of Australia, and tells the story of a whole community. It receives scholarly attention as a work about colonialism. - Summary by Stav Nisser

Polly Pepper loves to tell stories, but there just isn't enough room in the other books to include her stories! So, since "the author has received from mothers and other persons interested in the Pepper Family, so many requests for the Stories told by Polly Pepper ... this initial volume of Polly’s earlier stories has been prepared in obedience to these requests" . So curl up at Polly's feet, in front of the warm fire, and enjoy the Stories Polly Pepper Told to the Five Little Peppers in the Little Brown House! - Summary by Rachel

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...

The purpose of this book is to give to its readers a living knowledge of some of the wonders of the country and continent in which they live. Upon a personally conducted tour they are taken by the author through the most characteristic parts of the North American continent. They travel through the United States, British America, Mexico, and Central America, studying the most interesting features of life and work among the people of each country, learning how they are governed, and what they do in order to live. Much information is also given concerning the natural resources and the physical features of the countries visited.

In November 1889, the New York World announced that it was sending its reporter Nellie Bly around the world, in a bid to beat Phileas Fogg's fictitious 80-day journey in Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Catching wind of this publicity stunt, John Brisben Walker, who had just purchased the three-year-old and still-fledging Cosmopolitan, decided to dispatch Bisland on her own journey.] Six hours after being recruited, Bisland departed westward from New York. Meanwhile, Bly left on a steamer headed to Europe, both on the same day—November 14, 1889...

In 1912, $25,000 was stolen during a bank transfer in New York City in broad daylight. In what may appear astonishing in today's world, the transfer occurred in a New York City taxicab. This factual account brings true crime of the early twentieth century to life. The various methods used by the detectives and police in their attempts to solve the mystery behind the robbery, and hopefully bring the thieves to justice, makes for great reading, particularly when one considers the fact that the accounts occurred over a century ago, and are quite authentic...

A selection of eight short works, chapters, or poems about Christmas. - Summary by david wales

This book doesn't advise against marriage but just offers advice on the errors some people can make who make the wrong choice when entering into so long a contract. - Summary by Michele Eaton

Eighteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include philosophy and thought -- Plato, Aristotle, Leonhard Euler, Henri Amiel, and the French Rights of Man; adventure and mystery -- the ascent of Aconcagua and the mystery ship Mary Celeste; science -- a new comet and lichen dyes; portraits of the seasons by Lucy Maud Montgomery: biographies of Charles Dickens and Clara and Robert Schuman; a history of the Transcendental utopia Fruitlands by Louisa May Alcott, and an essay on reading by Isaac Disraeli. summary by Sue Anderson

Mary Edwards Walker was a physician and surgeon who served in the Civil War. An abolitionist, prohibitionist, and cross-dressing leader of the women's dress reform movement, she published this lively sex manual in 1878. It is a curious blend of useful information and Victorian sexual mythology, at once puritanical and explicit.

This collection of three publications details Edward Jenner's investigations into the connection between smallpox and coxpox, and the creation of the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. - Summary by Jordan

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...

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

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...

Orphaned Mabel struggles to raise her sisters by working as a sewing girl for long hours and low wages. She meets her challenges with a calm steady faith while her younger sister chafes against the injustice of their lot in life. She is determined to uncover the mystery she thinks is lurking behind their misfortune. This book will appeal to those who love intimate family dramas, light mysteries, scathing social commentaries, or sewing machines!

After the Civil War, Harriet and her husband Charles bought an Orange Plantation in Mandarin, on the upper east coast of Florida, where they lived during the winter months. Over the years they expanded their cottage to accommodate many guests . They opened schools to educate and churches to care for the recently freed negros pouring into Florida seeking refuge and opportunity. These charming essays, each describing a largely undeveloped rural land, became one of the first travel guides written about Florida and stimulated the first boom of tourism and residential development to that area...

One soft summer evening, when Woodville was crowned with the glory and beauty of the joyous season, three strangers presented themselves before the Grant family, and asked for counsel and assistance. The party consisted of two boys and a girl, and they belonged to that people which the traditions of the past have made the "despised race;" but the girl was whiter and fairer than many a proud belle who would have scorned her in any other capacity than that of a servant; and one of the boys was very nearly white, while the other was as black as ebony undefiled...

Written by a fictitious first-person narrator, this book puts a humorous spin on encounters with several famous people of the time. "I set forth from my office in London upon my pilgrimage to the shrines of the world's illustrious. Readers everywhere are interested in the home life of men who have made themselves factors in art, science, letters, and history, and to these people I was commissioned to go." -- Summary by TriciaG and from the book.

Written when the United States extended only to the Mississippi River, by one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, this short work explores the physical, social, and mental effects of distilled liquors; the classes of people prone to intoxication by them; suggested drinks to use instead of them; and remedies for intoxication and for their habitual use. He takes a medical view of alcoholism, exploring the physical causes rather than blaming moral failure as the cause. Alcoholic drinks that are not distilled are viewed as wholesome drinks, and opium is suggested for pain as being without bad effects or addictive qualities.

“Oh my!”-Herbert O. Morrison, WLS News, ChicagoThursday, 6 May, 1937: It is early evening at a remote airport in central New Jersey. It’s starting to rain again. Suddenly, much to the surprise of the dozens of spectators gathered below, a gigantic diesel powered balloon blows up as it tries to land after crossing the ocean from Germany. In less time than it takes to read this summary, this proud machine, the quintessence of aerostatic technology, is re-forged forever into a twisted, smoking metaphor...

In this book the children are taken by the author upon a personally conducted tour through the most characteristic parts of the South American continent. The book will, it is believed, aid in putting flesh and blood on the bones of the geographies, and will give a living interest to geographical study.

The Mentor Association was established to increase interest and knowledge among the public in the areas of art, literature, science, nature, history and travel. The association published a magazine twice monthly, each dealing with a different topic and often written by a recognized authority of the day. They were easy to read, visually appealing and affordable. This collection includes selections from issues dating from 1913-1919. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

François Fénelon became a priest in 1675, Archbishop of Paris in 1679, was spiritual advisor to Madame Guyon, and was appointed tutor to Louis, Duke of Burgundy by Louis XIV in 1689. He wrote Dialogues of the Dead, and The Lives of the Ancient Philosophers as well as The Adventures of Telemachus expressly for his instruction. Fenelon wrote against the Jansenists and in favor of the Jesuits. He is also known for his Christian Perfection: Devotional Reflections on the Christian Life and Treatise on the Education of Girls.. - Summary by Wikipedia

Susanna Holcombe, a very sensitive and free spirited young lady, tries to fit in to society. But it is very hard for a Victorian woman to carve her own path, and she is almost forced to marry colonel Dymond. This book tells about her trials and tribulations. Can she find her place at last? Perfect for fans of Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Anthony Trollope, and those who want a Jane Austen novel with a twist. Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie was the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair. - Summary by Stav Nisser.

Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include philosophy and thought--Phtah-Hotep, Petrarch, Diderot, Bertrand Russell, and the Weymouth New Testament; adventure and travel--a survival story by Mark Twain and a woman's sojourn in Saltillo, Mexico; immigration and war--Benjamin Franklin on the assimilation of German speakers, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the League of Nations, and an essay on potatoes and war; geology--on the origins of chalk; a critique of one-act plays, a biography of H...

Before "Peter Pan" came "The Little Minister", J.M. Barrie's first published novel. This is not a children's book, but reflections on life in a remote village in Scotland. The story opens with the minister and his mother moving into the village of Thrums, where the minister must earn the respect of the villagers, threading his way through class differences, politics and suspicion of the travelling gypsies. But what would happen if the newly respectable minister of Thrums fell in love with a gypsy woman? And how will her secret impact upon them all?

This 1915 publication collects letters written by a driver for the American ambulance service. The incidents they relate occurred before the entrance of the United States into World War I as a combatant. “These letters, according to ordinary ethics in such matters, should not, perhaps, be published. They were merely intended as tributes of friendship and remembrance. Casually written — in pencil often — at moments between duties, with no thought of their being destined to any further purpose than that distance and absence might count a little less through the pictures they would give of a day's work far away.” - Summary by Book Preface and David Wales

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...

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...

A darling story of little Charlie and his adventures with cats and kittens and how he became many things. Also how the kitten Topsy, unhappy with being a kitten and having his face washed, tries different life styles with different animals but finally makes the right choice. - Summary by Phil Chenevert

Marcia Copley, an American Heiress, comes to Rome. Typically for the period, she may want to attract an aristocrat. He brings the title, she brings the money to support it. Her adventures in Rome are different than she anticipated. Rich and poor live side by side, and the author does her best to describe both walks of life vividly and truthfully. Jean Webster is the author of Daddy Long Legs and Dear Enemy. This particular novel would also please fans of Henry James and George Gissing. - Summary by Stav Nisser.

Isabel Carnaby returns from India. She starts looking for a place in upper class British society. At the begining, people are sceptical of her because she is an orphan. But she will surprise everybody. - Summary by Stav Nisser.

The book tries to give its young readers a living knowledge of Europe. The author conducts tours through various parts of Europe giving a glimpse of the people and their lives and livelihoods. He includes as well information on the natural resources and physical geography of those many countries. Summary by BettyB and preface.

Armand Durand, published in 1868, was written by Rosanna Leprohon, an English-speaker with an insider’s knowledge of French Canada, thanks to her Montreal education and marriage to a man from an old Québécois family. Paul Durand, a prosperous Québécois farmer, marries in quick succession two very different wives, and fathers two very different sons. The first son, Armand, delicate and bookish, is destined for a legal career in the city; the second, Paul Junior, tougher and down-to-earth, continues life on the farm...

This precursor to The New Yorker magazine features several Algonquin Roundtable regulars, including Broun, Woolcott, and Morley. Editor is John C. Farrar, an American editor, writer and publisher. Farrar founded two publishing companies — Farrar & Rinehart and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Sixteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include science and natural history--carnivorous plants, tadpoles, tent caterpillars, flights of birds, horse training, dogs, children's sign language, trees in winter, and night noises in the woods; philosophy--Roger Bacon and Nicholas of Cusa; satire and literary criticism--the movies as "stupies," bustles, and facetious plots for short stories by Dorothy Parker; also an appraisal of Conrad Aiken's poetry, and an intimate look at Abraham Lincoln's early life in Illinois.

The idea that in the library of nearly every prac­ti­tion­er in the pro­fes­sions of both Physic and Law there has been for some time a small gap among the books, which could be filled by a little work like this now submitted, has induced the author to prepare and publish the following pages. While it is hoped that this little work will prove of use to the members of the Legal and Medical Professions, it is intended to be suggestive rather than exhaustive—a primer not an encyclopædia; and...

Seventeen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include science and natural history--the donkey, forestry, grape vines, astronomy, historian Agnes Mary Clerke, and Greek botanist Theophrastus ; philosophy-- Nicholas of Cusa and Emmanuel Kant; Sommerset Maugham's reminiscences of Spain; Joseph Conrad's sea stories; an encounter with a long-ago companion who has contracted leprosy ; working in the dead-letter office; a dinner the painter Benjamin Hayden hosted for Wordsworth, Keats, and Charles Lamb; a portrait of Margaret Fuller by R...

This book vividly brings to life the unimaginable risks of fire-fighting and the bravery and personal interactions of Captain Meaghan and the crew of Hook & Ladder Company No. 0 in New York City. A 1905 review in the New York Times notes: “’The Smoke-Eaters’…is one of those rare good treats that fall to the reviewer’s lot…. There is enough humor and pathos of a grim and rugged sort, enough tense life and excitement and thrilling heroism to make a dozen...of the ordinary run of books, and it is all told with a straightforward simplicity that well accords with the single-hearted devotion to duty of the men who...

This is a United States National Parks guidebook written by a popular young people's nature writer, Jean Craighead George. It covers the Everglades in detail, from its mangrove swamps to its sawgrass prairies.

A tribute to fatherhood by a little known author, - Summary by David Lawrence

The Feland family go on a holiday in Switzerland. While there, their impulsive younger daughter gets into a scrape that teaches the whole family a lesson in love and faith. Summary by Devorah Allen.

Seventeen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include philosophy--Bertrand Russell, Spinoza, and Epictetus; science and invention--the Wright brothers, Leibniz, arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, spider webs, and cylindrical silos; plays and cinema--Lillian Gish and Friedrich Schiller; satire--selections from Ambrose Bierce, Robert Benchley, and Seneca; biographies--Aaron Burr, and Sophia Packard of Spellman College; the murder of Archbishop Charles Seghers in Alaska in 1886; and a history of Torre Abbey in England. Summary by Sue Anderson Against the Epicurean and Academics was translated by T. W. Rolleston.

This little book is an expansion of two addresses delivered in January, 1889. One deals with sanitary issues in London. The other deals with medical issues, mainly through the lives and careers of physicians. Though ancients are included, the main emphasis is upon the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. - Summary by Book Preface and David Wales

This work details personal memories of Mary Emily Donelson Wilcox, adopted granddaughter of Rachel Donelson Jackson, wife of President Andrew Jackson, and assumed to be the first baby born in the White House. The book focuses on three Christmas memories--the first of a Christmas in the White House during the 1830's and Jackson's Presidency; the second, a Christmas in Prussia at the home of the Crown Prince, to which she was invited because her father was US minister to Berlin; the last story, a Christmas in Texas in the 1830s...

In these pages, by means of simple language and suitable pictures, the author has told the story of the Ships of the Air. He has explained the laws of their flight; sketched their development to the present day; shown how to build the flying machine and the balloon, and how to operate them; recounted what man has done, and what he hopes to do with their aid. In a word, all the essential facts that enter into the Conquest of the Air have been gathered into orderly form, and are here presented to the public...

Written over a century ago, this comprehensive book offers insight into the methods used to research and compile a family history. As stated in the preface of the book, "Strong emphasis is laid upon the importance of employing the historical method..." which is sorely lacking in today's computerized compilations. - Summary by Roger Melin

Seventeen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include Nature and Science--fall scenery, rose oil, large type books for low vision, the pulmotor, and the method of scientific investigation; Philosophy and Thought--Joseph Priestly, Kierkegaard, Rousseau, and A.C. Bradley on poetry; History and Travel--John Johnston founder of Sault St. Marie, eating in Berlin, and Sir John Mandeville's travels; a Japanese folk tale; a defense of Lady Bryon by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and a Virginia slave narrative by Minnie Fulkes. "Preparation for a Christian Life" was translated by Lee M. Hollander.

For those who like courtroom drama, here are Ingersoll’s Opening and Closing arguments on the most famous trials of his career--the Star Route Trials which stretched over 2 years, revealing high government corruption in the U.S. Post Office system's westward expansion. Ingersoll was lead counsel for the defense. Compiled from countless reports and endless conflicting details , it was said that his prodigious memory of the minutest details without referring to the record, knowledge of the law,...

This pussycat is out to have some adventurous fun in this enjoyable fairy tale for boys, girls and parents. Summary by Lynda Marie Neilson

This is a sequel to "Concerning Isabel Carnaby". Isabel and Paul Seaton are now happily married. This book tells about their trials and tribulations, their little son, and, of course, their love for each other. - Summary by Stav Nisser.

Twenty short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include History--Jocelyn de Brakelond's 13th century chronicle of the Bury St. Edmund monastery, Lorenzo de Medici's Florence, the voyage of the Mayflower, and Mark Twain's essay Stirring Times in Austria; Philosophy--Kierkegaard and Leibniz; Speeches, Sermons, and Diary Entries from Abraham Lincoln, Robert Ingersoll, and Queen Victoria; Literature--a tribute to George Meredith and a critique of Mencken's The American Language; and Nature and the Natural World--George Mallory outlining the route to the summit of Mt...

A series of lectures given in the USA by Freud in German, later translated into English - Summary by Peter Tucker

The final story featuring the inhabitants of the growing township of Innisfield: Mrs Philura Pettibone’s story reaches its long-awaited conclusion and Miss Malvina’s life is changed forever by the arrival of various ”fur’ners”. Published in 1917, with America’s entry into the war in Europe imminent, the story dwells on friendships, the melting- pot of nationalities that make up the USA, and the personal struggle between pacifism and patriotism in wartime. While the writing keeps its gently ironic style for most of the time, it also features more serious and sometimes rather melodramatic themes...

Most of us take for granted the sense of smell. It gives pleasure, warning, anticipation and a sense of nostalgia. People have used perfumes since the days of Ancient Persia and Egypt in order to improve their personal smell. In this work, Askinson traces the history of perfumery and gives us an overview of the sources of perfumes and how they are manipulated to enhance our lives. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

Sixteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include Science and Exploration--a tribute to Egyptologist Amelia Edwards, and discourses on gravitation and relativity by Georges-Louis Le Sage and Ralph Sampson; Sociology and Society--Julio Guerrero on the Mexican character, reflections on life from Kierkegaard's Diapsalmata, Immanuel Kant on religious education, the fate of romance in the King of Siam's harem, nickelodeons, and the tragic results...

Snow Geese which left James Bay, Canada, arrived at the Louisiana Gulf coast "60 hours later after a continuous flight of over 1,700 miles at an average speed of 28 miles per hour." This is just one of the many intriguing facts about bird migration contained in this 1998 circular from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Informative and up-to-date chapters discuss flight speed and rate of migration, migration routes, and techniques for studying migration. A final chapter, Future Directions, concludes...

The Bryant family - widowed Mrs. Bryant and her children Benjamin, Caroline , and little Daisy - is on the thin edge of poverty due to debt incurred when Mr. Bryant was alive. We follow the family, especially Ben and Daisy, as they help shoulder some of the burden. Prominent in the story are children's dolls, which are the means to some of the family's income. - Summary by TriciaG

The Elements of Anatomy and Physiology is one in a Series of First Books of Natural History Prepared for the Use of Schools and Colleges. This succinct little textbook from 1852 presents an introduction to the workings of the human body. 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 may have 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 A. Gramour

"[This book] is written primarily for the use of those students of the law who are desirous of laying a scientific foundation for their legal education ; yet I hope that it will not be found destitute of interest by those lawyers whose academic studies lie behind them, but who have not wholly ceased to concern themselves with the theoretical and scientific aspects of the law. Further, a great part of what I have written is sufficiently free from the technicalities and details of the concrete legal system to serve the purposes of laymen"