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Beau Nash (1674–1762), born Richard Nash, was a celebrated dandy and leader of fashion in 18th-century Britain. He is best remembered as the Master of Ceremonies at the spa town of Bath. (Wikipedia) This, the best of Goldsmith's Biographies, was published the year after Nash's death. It was at once popular, and went through two editions in the same year in which it was published. To the second edition (it never reached a third), Goldsmith made many important additions. Yet strange to say none of these have been attended to by the editors of his Works. The text of this reprint is that of the second edition, compared with the first. The text of previous editions has been that of a mutilated first impression. (Peter Cunningham, Editor)...
Biography
Judith is the 18th book of the Bible and one of the historical books in the Old Testament. The overall theme is the power of prayer. The Israelites are beseiged by the forces of Holofernes and pray to God to overcome the forces. Judith seduces Holofernes and beheads him in his sleep, when the forces find their leader dead, they flee in battle. The Israelites benefit from their spoils and Judith sings praises to God. (Summary by Sean McKinley)...
Religion
The Psalms are the Israelites' songs of joy and sadness, contentment and complaint, happiness and suffering---but most of all, praise. King David is the most prolific contributor, but there are also psalms from his son Solomon, the sons of Korah, the worship leader Asaph, and even one from Moses! (Introduction by Mark Penfold)...
The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for being unwilling to engage their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal if reluctant maid Abra to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, to whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him both sexual favors and information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust (though not having delivered on either promise), she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved. Though she is courted by many, she remains unmarried for the rest of her life....
EVERY age, every race, has its leaders and heroes. There were over sixty distinct tribes of Indians on this continent, each of which boasted its notable men. The names and deeds of some of these men will live in American history, yet in the true sense they are unknown, because misunderstood. I should like to present some of the greatest chiefs of modern times in the light of the native character and ideals, believing that the American people will gladly do them tardy justice. (Summary from the text)...
Biography, History
The Book of Haggai is a book of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and of the Old Testament, written by the prophet Haggai. It was written in 520 BC some 18 years after Cyrus had conquered Babylon and issued a decree in 538 BC allowing the captive Jews to return to Judea. He saw the restoration of the temple as necessary for the restoration of the religious practices and a sense of peoplehood after a long exile. It consists of two brief, comprehensive chapters. The object of the prophet is generally urging the people to proceed with the rebuilding of the second Jerusalem temple in 521 BC after the return of the deportees. Haggai attributes a recent drought to the peoples' refusal to rebuild the temple, which he sees as key to Jerusalem’s glory. The book ends with the prediction of the downfall of kingdoms, with one Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, as the Lord’s chosen leader. The language here is not as finely wrought as in some other books of the minor prophets, yet the intent seems straightforward....
Ten Days that Shook the World (1919) is a book by American journalist and socialist John Reed about the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 which Reed experienced firsthand. Reed followed many of the prominent Bolshevik leaders, especially Grigory Zinoviev and Karl Radek, closely during his time in Russia. John Reed died in 1920, shortly after the book was finished, and he is one of the few Americans buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow, a site normally reserved only for the most prominent Soviet leaders. Max Eastman recalls a meeting with John Reed in the middle of Sheridan Square during the period of time when Reed isolated himself writing the book: ...he wrote Ten Days that Shook the World - wrote it in another ten days and ten nights or little more. He was gaunt, unshaven, greasy-skinned, a stark sleepless half-crazy look on his slightly potato-like face - had come down after a night's work for a cup of coffee. 'Max, don't tell anybody where I am. I'm writing the Russian revolution in a book. I've got all the placards and papers up there in a little room and a Russian dictionary, and I'm working all day and all night...
History
The Book of James : Supposed to have been written by James the Brother of Jesus and First Leader of the Christian movement in Jerusalem after the death of Jesus Christ. The theme of this book is the importance of Works as the vehicle of Faith . ( Written by Robert Scott )...
This chapter of Macaulay’s, History of England is concerned, for a large part, with insurrection against James II and his manoeuverings to suppress these. Argyle has been sheltering in Holland and returns to raise an army against James. Although brave and quick witted, he was no leader of men and the army became a confused rabble and were dispersed. Argyle was captured and died bravely. Monmouth had also been sheltering in Holland and he landed at Lyme and declared himself king on 20th June 1685. He was defeated at the battle of Sedgemoor and eventually caught and executed. Monmouth is a fine romantic and of course ultimately tragic figure. The chapter comes to an end with the Bloody Assizes and the very bloody Judge Jeffries. Summary by Jim Mowatt...
Isabella Matilda Davis Brittingham was a significant early American Bahá'í and was posthumously designated by Shoghi Effendi as one of the 19 Disciples of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Heralds of the Covenant. She was born in 1852, the daughter of Benjamin Davis, who was a grandson of John Morton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Her sister-in-law heard about the Bahá'í Faith in 1897 and in 1898 Isabella herself became a part of the nascent American Bahá'í community. In September 1901, Isabella went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where she met 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the leader of the Bahá'í Faith and son of the Founder, Bahá'u'lláh. She used the knowledge she gained there to write The Revelation of Baha-ullah in a Sequence of Four Lessons, which was published by the Bahai Publishing Society of Chicago in 1902. There were nine editions of this work, the last being in 1920. It was one of the earliest accurate accounts of the Bahá'í Faith published in the West. The main purpose of the book is to demonstrate the truth of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation through Biblical prophecy....
Literature
Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran, American political leader and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for his defense of atheism. This book is the first of two volumes collecting Ingersoll's speeches....
Essay/Short nonfiction
Zechariah’s ministry took place during the reign of Darius the Great (Zechariah 1:1), and was contemporary with Haggai in a post-exilic world after the fall of Jerusalem in 586/7 BC. Ezekiel and Jeremiah wrote prior to the fall of Jerusalem, while continuing to prophesy in the earlier exile period. Scholars believe Ezekiel, with his blending of ceremony and vision, heavily influenced the visionary works of Zechariah 1-8.Zechariah is specific about dating his writing (520-518 BC). During the Exile many Jews were taken to Babylon, where the prophets told them to make their homes (Jeremiah 29), suggesting they would spend a long period of time there. Eventually freedom did come to many Israelites, when Cyrus the Great overtook the Babylonians in 539 BC. In 538 BC, the famous Edict of Cyrus was released, and the first return took place under Shebazzar. After the death of Cyrus in 530 BC, Darius consolidated power and took office in 522 BC. His system divided the different colonies of the empire into easily manageable districts overseen by governors. Zerubbabel comes into the story, appointed by Darius as governor over the district of Ye...
Tecumseh was a leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy that opposed the United States during the War of 1812. He became a folk hero remembered by many Canadians for his defense of their country. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia)...
The Epistle of Paul to Philemon, usually referred to simply as Philemon, is a prison letter to Philemon from Paul of Tarsus. Philemon was a leader in the Colossian church. This letter, which is one of the books of the New Testament, deals with forgiveness....
Ancient Texts, Religion
“This book is the history of a proscribed and persecuted sect written by one of themselves,” writes Professor Edward Granville Browne, the Cambridge Orientalist who translated this narrative. “After suffering in silence for nigh upon half a century, they at length find voice to tell their tale and offer their apology. Of this voice I am the interpreter.” This work is the story of the life of the Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad-i-Shírází (1819-1850), known as the “Báb”, which is Arabic for “Gate”. He claimed to be none other than the Promised One of Islám and a new Manifestation of God. He also proclaimed that He was the Gate, Herald and Forerunner of an even greater Manifestation of God who would come soon after Him, the Promised One of all religions and Return of Christ in the Glory of the Father, Mírzá Husayn-‘Alí-yi-Núrí (1817-1892), known as Bahá’u’lláh (Arabic for “The Glory of God”). The followers of the Báb were known as Bábís. When Bahá’u’lláh declared His mission in 1863, most Bábís accepted Him as the Manifestation foretold by the Báb. Bahá’u’lláh’s followers then became known as Bahá’ís. This book also describes Bahá’u’lláh’s exile ...
Religion, History
It is quite generally recognized that psychology has remained in the semi-mythological, semi-scholastic period longer than most attempts at scientific formulization. For a long time it has been the spook science per se, and the imagination, now analyzed by M. Ribot in such a masterly manner, has been one of the most persistent, apparently real, though very indefinite, of psychological spooks. Whereas people have been accustomed to speak of the imagination as an entity sui generis , as a lofty something found only in long-haired, wild-eyed geniuses, constituting indeed the center of a cult, our author, Prometheus-like, has brought it down from the heavens, and has clearly shown that imagination is a function of mind common to all men in some degree, and that it is shown in as highly developed form in commercial leaders and practical inventors as in the most bizarre of romantic idealists. The only difference is that the manifestation is not the same. - Albert H. N. Baron, in translator's preface to Essai sur l'imagination créatrice...
Psychology, Religion, Philosophy
Capt. Robert F. Scott's bid to be the leader of the first expedition to reach the South Pole is one of the most famous journeys of all time. What started as a scientific expedition turned out to be an unwilling race against a team lead by R. Admunsen to reach the Pole. The Norwegian flag already stood at the end of the trail when Scott's party reached their target. All the five men of the Scott expedition who took part in the last march to the Pole perished on their way back to safety. Robert F. Scott kept a journal throughout the journey, all the way to the tragic end, documenting all aspects of the expedition. The famous last words of the journal were: 'It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more. For God's sake look after our people.' (Summary by Illiterati)...
Adventure, History, Memoirs, Science, Travel
Great Englishwomen is a collection of biographies of some of the greatest women in England's history. Women who were leaders of their country in troubled times, women who were reformers in prison conditions, and those who sought improvement in the education and living conditions of the poor. Some were great painters, poets, and writers. (Summary by Laura Caldwell)...
Biography, Children, History
“The primary aim of this work is twofold,” writes Thomas K. Cheyne. “It would fain contribute to the cause of universal peace, and promote the better understanding of the various religions which really are but one religion. The union of religions must necessarily precede the union of races, which at present is so lamentably incomplete…. I have endeavoured to study the various races and religions on their best side, and not to fetter myself to any individual teacher or party, for ‘out of His fullness have all we received.’ Max Müller was hardly right in advising the Brahmists to call themselves Christians, and it is a pity that we so habitually speak of Buddhists and Mohammedans. I venture to remark that the favourite name of the Bahais among themselves is ‘Friends.’… Wishing to get nearer to a ‘human-catholic’ religion I have sought the privilege of simultaneous membership of several brotherhoods of Friends of God. It is my wish to show that both these and other homes of spiritual life are, when studied from the inside, essentially one, and that religions necessarily issue in racial and world-wide unity.” Thomas Kelly Cheyne, D.Litt...
This work is the story of a pilgrimage made over a hundred years ago by a group of American pilgrims. They were not headed for Canterbury, Rome or Jerusalem. Rather, they were headed for an historical but remote prison-city in a far corner of the Ottoman Empire. ‘Akká (Akko), now a city in Israel which attracts thousands of Bahá’í pilgrims each year, was but little thought of in that early period. It was originally the final place of exile and imprisonment for Bahá’u’lláh, a Persian nobleman who proclaimed that He was the Promised One of all religions and Messenger of God for this day and age. It was also the home of His eldest son, ‘Abbás Effendí, known as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Servant of Bahá), or Áqá (the Master), who was the leader of the Bahá’í Faith after Bahá’u’lláh’s passing in 1892. The first Western Bahá’í pilgrims arrived in 1898, which was then followed by a nearly continuous stream of pilgrims that has now grown into a river of devoted followers from all parts of the globe. The Bahá’í Faith was a little known religion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but has now become widely recognised as the newest of the great world...
Religion, Philosophy, Travel
This book tells of the leadership of Joshua, aide to the late prophet/leader Moses, and the division of territories amongst the 12 tribes of Israel. The toppling of the Wall of Jericho is one of the most popular stories in this book. (Introduction by Mark Penfold) Young’s Literal Translation is a translation of the Bible into English, published in 1862. The translation was made by Robert Young, compiler of Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible and Concise Critical Comments on the New Testament. Young produced a “Revised Edition” of the translation in 1887. After he died on October 14, 1888, the publisher in 1898 released a new Revised Edition. (Summary from Wikipedia)...
This is not a work of fiction! These are the actual memoirs of a legendary leader of partisans who bedeviled the Union army for years, almost within sight of the capitol. With only a few local men under command, John Singleton Mosby's ability to strike fast and then melt away before an effective pursuit could be organized kept the Yankee forces awake and often snarled in knots. With daring feats like capturing a Yankee general out of his bed within his defended headquarters, Mosby made his name a synonym for guerrilla warfare. Even today you can purchase in Middleburg, Virginia, a map showing Mosby's Confederacy. The mettle of the man may be judged by the enemies he kept. Said General Joseph Hooker, I may here state that while at Fairfax Court House my cavalry was reinforced by that of Major-General Stahel. The latter numbered 6,100 sabres. . . . The force opposed to them was Mosby's guerrillas, numbering about 200, and, if the reports of the newspapers were to be believed, this whole party was killed two or three times during the winter. From the time I took command of the army of the Potomac, there was no evidence that any force o...
Memoirs, War stories, Biography
Phillips Brooks (1835 - 1893) was one of the finest and most famous clergyman in the nineteenth century; he was acknowledged as a masterful preacher. His teachings were filled with understanding, compassion, and encouragement. He spent most of his life as rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and served briefly as Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts at the end of it (1891 - 1893). His life was a course of gaining an increasing name as preacher and patriot. In addition to his moral stature, he was a man of great physical bearing as well, standing six feet four inches tall. During the American Civil War he upheld the cause of the North and opposed slavery, and his sermon on the death of Abraham Lincoln was an eloquent expression of the character of both men. He was asked to be the full-time chaplain at Harvard University (with whose faculty and students he maintained a close relationship to the end of his life), but he later wrote, {My only ambition} is to be a parish priest ...” He died unmarried in 1893, after an episcopate of only 15 months. His death was a major event in the history of Boston. One observer reported: They buried him like...
Biography, Religion
The historical works of Tacitus are a history of the period from A.D. 14 to 96 in thirty volumes. Although many of the works were lost (only books 1-5 of the Histories and 1-6 and 11-16 of the Annals survive), enough remains to provide a good sense of Tacitus’s political and moral philosophy. He recognized the necessity for strong rulers but argued that more should be done to manage the succession of power and allow for the ascension of talent. Tacitus asserted that it was the dynastic ambitions of Rome’s many emperors that caused the decline of moral and political life and precluded the possibility of recruiting leaders of real ability. Moreover, the dynastic temptation caused political instability because military force was now required for political change. His works point to the necessity of systematic institutional restraints on power for the preservation of liberty. Gordon’s translation and his lengthy Discourses on Tacitus bring Tacitus’ ideas up to date and apply them to the British state of the early 18th century. (Description from Online Library of Liberty)...
Among the national leaders whose names will always hold an honorable place in American history is Ulysses S. Grant, the simple-hearted man and capable soldier, to whose patriotism, courage, persistence, and skill was so largely due the successful termination of the war between the States, the contest which assured the foundations of the Republic. We are interested not only in learning what this man did, but in coming to know, as far as may be practicable, what manner of man he was. It is all-important in a study of development of character to have placed within reach the utterances of the man himself. There is no utterance that can give as faithful a picture of a man's method of thought and principle of action as the personal letter written, with no thought of later publication, to those who are near to him. This collection of letters will constitute a suitable companion volume to Grant's Personal Memoirs and to the accepted biographies of the Great Commander whose memory is honored by his fellow-citizens not only for the patience, persistence, and skill of the leader of armies, as evidenced in the brilliant campaigns that culminate...
Memoirs
Some years ago, the editor of an English magazine sent a communication to the hundred greatest men in Great Britain asking them this question: If for any reason you were to spend a year absolutely alone, in a prison for instance, and could select from your library three volumes to be taken with you as companions in your period of retirement please to inform us what those three books would be. The inquiry was sent to peers of the realm, prominent leaders in politics, judges, authors, manufacturers, merchants, gentlemen of leisure—men who would represent every aspect of successful life. In the answers it was found that ninety-eight of the hundred men named The Bible first on the list of the three books to be chosen. (From Book introduction)...
Religion, Children
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 – 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa or total nonviolence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi and in India also as Bapu. He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday....
History, Politics
Children, Religion
Christopher Carson, or as he was familiarly called, Kit Carson, was a man whose real worth was understood only by those with whom he was associated or who closely studied his character. He was more than hunter, trapper, guide, Indian agent and Colonel in the United States Army....His lot was cast on the extreme western frontier, where, when but a youth, he earned the respect of the tough and frequently lawless men with whom he came in contact. Integrity, bravery, loyalty to friends, marvelous quickness in making right decisions, in crisis of danger, consummate knowledge of woodcraft, a leadership as skilful as it was daring; all these were distinguishing traits in the composition of Carson and were the foundations of the broader fame which he acquired as the friend and invaluable counselor of Fremont, the Pathfinder, in his expeditions across the Rocky Mountains. (Summary from the Introduction)...
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874 – 1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historical writer, and an artist. (Summary from Wikipedia)...
The Book of Ezra was originally attached as one volume with the Book of Nehemiah. It was first separated from Nehemiah in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. The Book tells the story of the Hebrew exiles who returned to Israel from Babylon. It recounts the story of faith and leadership in rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. (Summary by Simon)...
William Walker Atkinson (December 5, 1862 – November 22, 1932) was an attorney, merchant, publisher, and author, as well as an occultist and an American pioneer of the New Thought movement. Atkinson was a prolific writer, and his many books achieved wide circulation among New Thought devotees and occult practitioners. He published under several pen names, including Magus Incognito, Theodore Sheldon, Theron Q. Dumont, Swami Panchadasi, Yogi Ramacharaka, Swami Bhakta Vishita, and probably other names not identified at present. The works published under the name of William Walker Atkinson generally treat themes related to the mental world, occultism, divination, psychic reality, and mankind's nature. They constitute a basis for what Atkinson called New Psychology or New Thought. These titles include Thought-Force in Business & Everyday Life (1900), Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World (1906) and Practical Mental Influence (1908). Due in part to Atkinson's intense personal secrecy and extensive use of pseudonyms, he is now largely forgotten, despite having obtained mention in past editions of Who's Who in Amer...
Advice, Psychology
In this volume are presented examples of men who shed lustre upon ordinary pursuits, either by the superior manner in which they exercised them or by the noble use they made of the leisure which success in them usually gives. Such men are the nobility of republics. Most of these chapters were published originally in The Ledger of New York, and a few of them in The Youths' Companion of Boston, the largest two circulations in the country. I have occasionally had reason to think that they were of some service to young readers, and I may add that they represent more labor and research than would be naturally supposed from their brevity. Perhaps in this new form they may reach and influence the minds of future leaders in the great and growing realm of business. I should pity any young man who could read the briefest account of what has been done in manufacturing towns by such men as John Smedley and Robert Owen without forming a secret resolve to do something similar if ever he should win the opportunity. (Summary by Preface)...
Children, History, Biography
Religion, Children, Instruction
The Germania (Latin: De Origine et situ Germanorum, literally The Origin and Situation of the Germans[1]), written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire. Germania fits squarely within the tradition established by authors from Herodotus to Julius Caesar. Tacitus himself had already written a similar essay on the lands and tribes of Britannia in his Agricola. The Germania begins with a description of the lands, laws, and customs of the Germanic people; it then segues into descriptions of individual tribes, beginning with those dwelling closest to Roman lands and ending on the uttermost shores of the Baltic, among the amber-gathering Aesti, the primitive and savage Fenni, and the unknown tribes beyond them.Tacitus' descriptions of the Germanic character are at times favorable in contrast to the opinions of the Romans of his day. He holds the strict monogamy and chastity of Germanic marriage customs worthy of the highest praise, in contrast to what he saw as the vice and immorality rampant in Roman society of his day, and he admires their open hospitality, their sim...
History, Travel, Ancient Texts
The book chronicles the extraordinary life and leadership of Rome’s Emperor Julius Caesar, from his early years to his assassination. (Summary by Cathy Barratt)...
History, Biography
Roosevelt's popular book Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon. The book describes all of the scientific discovery, scenic tropical vistas and exotic flora, fauna and wild life experienced on the expedition. One goal of the expedition was to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida, the River of Doubt, and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. It was later renamed Rio Roosevel. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his 24-year-old son Kermit, Colonel Cândido Rondon, a naturalist sent by the American Museum of Natural History named George K. Cherrie, Brazilian Lieutenant Joao Lyra, team physician Dr. José Antonio Cajazeira, and sixteen highly skilled paddlers (called camaradas in Portuguese). The initial expedition started on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914. During the trip down the river, Roosevelt contracted malaria and a serious infection resulting from a minor le...
Adventure, History, Memoirs, Nature, Science
Jane Addams was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a long, complex career, she was a pioneer settlement worker and founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher (the first American woman in that role), author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace. She was the most prominent woman of the Progressive Era and helped turn the nation to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, public health and world peace. She emphasized that women have a special responsibility to clean up their communities and make them better places to live, arguing they needed the vote to be effective. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities....
Memoirs, Politics, Economics/Political Economy