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Landmark United States Supreme Court decisions focusing on civil rights and equal protection between 1950 and 1960. (summary by Kelli Robinson)

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Soporific dullness is in the ear of the listener, and what's tedium incarnate to one person will be another person's passion and delight. However, it is hoped that at least one from the range of topics here presented will lull the busy mind to a state of sweet sleep. Introduction by Cori Samuel....

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Essay/Short nonfiction

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Paul, who is apparently in prison (probably in either Rome or Ephesus), writes to a fellow-Christian Philemon and two of his associates. Paul writes on behalf of Philemon's slave, Onesimus. Beyond that, it is not self-evident as to what has transpired. Onesimus is described as having been 'separated' from Philemon, once having been 'useless' to him (a pun on Onesimus' name, which means 'useful'), and having done him wrong. (Wikipedia)...

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Religion

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It was a cloudy November day in 1863 when thousands gathered to hear renowned orator Edward Everett dedicate a national cemetary at the site of a pivotal battle early in July of that year. Also present to deliver a few appropriate remarks was the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln spoke but 278 words; Everett later wrote to the President, I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes. Though there are surviving transcripts of Everett's lengthly speech, it is Lincoln's words which have come to be known as The Gettysburg Address (Summary by Chip)...

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History

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On 27 February 1860, Abraham Lincoln gave this address at the Cooper Union in New York City. When he gave the speech, Lincoln was considered by many to be just a country lawyer. After he gave the speech, he soon became his party's nominee for president. (Summary by henkelsc)...

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Essay/Short nonfiction

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The Constitution has a total of 27 amendments. The first ten, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified simultaneously. The following seventeen were ratified separately. (Summary from wikipedia.org)...

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History

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Einhard was employed by Charlemagne as a court historian. At the request of Charlemagne's son and successor Louis the Pious, he wrote a biography of Charlemagne, the Vita Karoli Magni or Life of Charlemagne (c. 817–830), which provides much direct information about Charlemagne's life and character. In composing this he made full use of the Frankish Royal annals. Einhard's literary model was the classical work of the Roman historian Suetonius, the Lives of the Caesars. (summary adapted from Wikipedi by K. Merline)...

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History

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Charles W. Eliot, 21st President of Harvard University, edited this volume of prefaces ... authored by a Who's Who of World Literature: Bacon, Calvin, Caxton, Condell, Copernicus, Dryden, Fielding, Goethe, Heminge, Hugo, Johnson, Knox, Newton, Raleigh, Spenser, Taine, Whitman and Wordsworth. Eliot wrote in his preface to these prefaces, No part of a book is so intimate as the Preface. Here, after the long labor of the work is over, the author descends from his platform, and speaks with his reader as man to man, disclosing his hopes and fears, seeking sympathy for his difficulties, offering defence or defiance, according to his temper, against the criticisms which he anticipates. (Summary by DSayers)...

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Literature

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Buffalo Bill was arguably, the most recognized man in the world when he penned this book. The first four stories are of some of his adventures and the remaining 6 are autobiographical. All of them have been proved to be historically accurate in all important aspects. From his service as chief scout for the 3rd Cavalry during the plains wars, to his pony express service and finally the story of how he got his nickname Buffalo Bill, everything is larger than life. Killing 4,280 buffalo in 18 months for the railroad workers was an amazing feat. Follow along as he tells of his Indian campaigns and then his world famous Wild West Show later in life. The foreword gives a brief summary of this man's amazing life. He respected the Indians and urged equal rights for women, something amazing in itself for his time. (Summary by Phil Chenevert)...

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Biography

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The book commences with a feast organized by Ahasuerus, initially for his court and dignitaries and afterwards for all inhabitants of Shushan. Ahasuerus orders his wife Vashti to display her beauty before the guests. She refuses, and the King's advisors warn that, if unpunished, her actions would inspire other wives to disobey their husbands. Ahasuerus removes her as queen. (Jews believe that she was executed, He then orders all young women to be presented to him, so he can choose a new queen to replace Vashti. One of these is Esther, who was orphaned at a young age and is being fostered by her uncle Mordechai. (Summary by Wikipedia)...

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Religion

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This Revised Testament has been prepared under the auspices of the American Bible Union, by the most competent scholars of the day. No expense has been spared to obtain the oldest translations of the Bible, copies of the ancient manuscripts, and other facilities to make the revision as perfect as possible. The paragraph form has been adopted in preference to the division by verse, which is a modern mode of division, never used in the ancient scriptures. But, for convenience of reference, the numbers of the verses are retained. All quotations from the Old Testament are distinctly indicated, and the poetic form is restored to those which appear as poetry in the original. The revisers have been guided in their labors by the following rules prescribed by the Union: RULES FOR THE REVISION OF THE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT. The received Greek text, critically edited, with known errors corrected, must be followed. The common English version must be the basis of revision, and only such alterations must be made as the exact meaning of the text and the existing state of the language may require. The exact meaning of the inspired text, as that text...

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Religion

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The Book of Nehemiah, sometimes called the Second Book of Ezra, is a book of the Hebrew Bible. It is historically regarded as a continuation of the Book of Ezra, and the two are frequently taken together as Ezra-Nehemiah. Traditionally, the author of this book is believed to be Nehemiah himself. The date at which the book was written was probably about 431 - 430 BC, when Nehemiah had returned the second time to Jerusalem after his visit to Persia. The book consists of four parts: (1) An account of the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and of the register Nehemiah had found of those who had returned from Babylon. Details describe how Nehemiah became governor of Judah; various forms of opposition generated by Sanballat and others; describes earlier return under Zerubbabel (ch. 1-7). (2) An account of the state of religion among the Jews during this time (8-10). (3) Increase of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the census of the adult male population, and names of the chiefs, together with lists of priests and Levites (11-12:1-26). 4) Dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the arrangement of the temple officers, and the reforms carried ou...

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Religion

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Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamicy years in European hstory. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napolean and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed....

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Travel

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The Book of Daniel (דניאל), originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, is a book in both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament. The book is set during the Babylonian Captivity, a period when Jews were deported and exiled to Babylon following the Siege of Jerusalem of 597 BC. The book revolves around the figure of Daniel, an Israelite who becomes an adviser to Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of Babylon from 605 BC - 562 BC. The book has two distinct parts: a series of six narratives (chapters one to six) and four apocalyptic visions (chapters seven to twelve). The narratives take the form of court stories which focus on tests of religious fidelity involving Daniel and his friends (chapters one, three and six), and Daniel's interpretation of royal dreams and visions (chapters two, four and five). In the second part of the book, Daniel recounts his reception of dreams, visions and angelic interpretations in the first person. (Summary by Wikipedia)...

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Religion

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The Second Epistle to Timothy is one of the three Pastoral Epistles, written by Paul, and is part of the canonical New Testament. It may have been written sometime in 67 A.D. during Paul's second Roman imprisonment. In his letter, the writer urges Timothy to not have a spirit of timidity and to not be ashamed to testify about our Lord (1:7-8). The writer also entreats Timothy to come to him before winter, and to bring Mark with him (cf. Philippians 2:22). He was anticipating that the time of his departure was at hand (4:6), and he exhorts his son Timothy to all diligence and steadfastness in the face of false teachings, with advice about combatting them with reference to the teachings of the past, and to patience under persecution (1:6–15), and to a faithful discharge of all the duties of his office (4:1–5), with all the solemnity of one who was about to appear before the Judge of the quick and the dead. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Religion

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Pleasant non-fiction journey into the backwoods of the New England coastal countryside by the first president of the Connecticut Audubon Society, circa 1900. (Summary by BellonaTimes)...

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Nature

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William Dean Howells (1837-1920) became fast friends with Mark Twain from the moment in 1869 when Twain strode into the office of The Atlantic Monthly in Boston to thank Howell, then its assistant editor, for his favorable review of Innocents Abroad. When Howells became editor a few years later, The Atlantic Monthly began serializing many of Twain's works, among them his non-fiction masterpiece, Life on the Mississippi. In My Mark Twain, Howells pens a literary memoir that includes such fascinating scenes as their meetings with former president Ulysses Grant who was then writing the classic autobiography that Twain would underwrite in the largest publishing deal until that time. But it is also notable for its affectionate descriptions of his friend's family life during Howell's many visits to the Twain residences in Hartford and Stormfield. (Summary by Dennis Sayers)....

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Biography

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In Defense of Women is H. L. Mencken's 1918 book on women and the relationship between the sexes. Some laud the book as progressive while others brand it as reactionary. While Mencken didn't champion women's rights, he described women as wiser in many novel and observable ways, while demeaning average men. According to Mencken's biographer, Fred Hobson: Depending on the position of the reader, he was either a great defender of women's rights or, as a critic labelled him in 1916, 'the greatest misogynist since Schopenhauer','the country's high-priest of woman-haters.' (Summary from wikipedia)...

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Philosophy

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Landmark United States Supreme Court decisions focusing on civil rights and equal protection between 1856 and 1948.

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Politics

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A biography of Abraham Lincoln by his long-time law partner, William Herndon and Herndon's collaborator, Jesse Weik. The book is notable for its extensive use of first hand interviews (unusual for its time) and for Herndon's overriding determination to convey an affectionate but frank picture of his law partner's life story as remembered by Lincoln's family, friends, associates and neighbors. (Summary by RalphK)...

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Biography