The Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 02
This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. The are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found for the collection, but several versions date the collection’s genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the second of sixteen volumes translated by Burton. (based on Wikipedia article)
The Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 01
This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. The are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found for the collection, but several versions date the collection’s genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the first of sixteen volumes translated by Burton. (Based on Wikipedia article)
An Interpretation of Keats’s Endymion
Endymion is the largest work by John Keats and was composed between April and November 1817. When it was published in April 1818 the critical reception was almost universally hostile. Since that time, many readers have found the poem dense and inaccessible, and have preferred to focus on the occasional gems of poetic commentary for which it has become famous. Feeling that the poem was both undervalued and misunderstood, in 1919 Professor Clement Notcutt published a lengthy essay, which could be considered a ?user?s guide? to Endymion. He sums up his intent in the introduction: A careful study of Endymion made some ten years ago led to the conclusion that there was more of allegorical significance in the poem than had hitherto been recognised, but the effort to trace that significance was only partially successful. Further study since that time has gradually opened up the way to the interpretation that is worked out in the following pages. It is probable that there are details in the story the meaning of which still lies hidden, but it may at least be hoped that enough has been discovered to win for the poem its rightful place among the not very numerous examples in English poetry of well-wrought allegory. In 1921 Notcutt published a further essay entitled: The Story of Glaucus in Keat?s Endymion. – Summary by Algy Pug
A Book About Myself
A book written by Theodore Dreiser detailing a history of his life and how he became a writer. – Summary by Michele Eaton
The Bomb: The 1945 Test of the First Atomic Bomb
These two publications put out by the U.S. government are about the Trinity site in New Mexico where in 1945 the first atomic bomb was tested. Each publication (about 1984 and about 1995) complements the other, though there is some duplication. These are descriptions of the test itself and of the planning and organization leading up to the test. They also tell what was done with the site after the test and how it became a national historic landmark. – Summary by david wales
BOOH
Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children’s poetry and humorous essays.
Bonnie Prince Fetlar: The Story of a Pony and His Friends
Soon after his arrival to the lovely, cool summer escape of Devering Farm, Bonnie Prince Fetlar knows his new home will be a good one. Set in the mountainous Canadian countryside, the farm is a nurturing home for children and a safe-haven for animals both domestic and wild. But Prince Fetlar is a wise Shetland pony, and senses that the place is not without mysterious secrets. From saving the life of the beautiful “White Phantom” to solving the mystery regarding his boy owner’s lost mother, there is never a dull moment for the small horse with a big heart. (Summary by book coordinator) Additional proof-listening by Jessie Wang
Bonnie Prince Charlie: a Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden
This is a tale of the son of a Scottish officer, who gets arrested for helping a Jacobite agent. Set during the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland in 1755, the boy escapes and makes it to France and shares some adventures with Prince Charlie. – Summary by Ann Boulais
Bonne-Marie, a Tale of Normandy and Paris
Bonne-Marie, Henry Gr?ville?s last work, will no doubt create a sensation, such is its freshness, beauty, and delicacy. It is the story of a young girl, the daughter of a smuggler in Normandy, on the coast of France. Having been educated in a Convent, at Cherbourg, she returns from school where her father had placed her, and struggles in spite of her discontent to do her duty in her humble home. She turns a deaf ear to a lover?s pleading, and when her father is killed in a fray with the Coast-Guard, she leaves her home and goes to Paris to seek her fortune. The tale of her struggles with poverty, of her debut as a singer in one of the celebrated Caf?s ? where, after a great success, she loses her heart to an artist, is simply, powerfully and most pathetically told. What happens after we must leave the readers of this charming volume to discover for themselves, all of which is beautifully sketched, and the story from beginning to end is pure, fresh and breezy. Mrs. Sherwood?s English in this translation is beyond all praise ? it flows freely on from beginning to end. – Summary by the Publisher
The Bondage of the Will
On the Bondage of the Will (Latin: ‘De Servo Arbitrio’, literally, “On Un-free Will”, or “Concerning Bound Choice”), by Martin Luther, was published in December 1525. It was his reply to Desiderius Erasmus’s De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio or On Free Will, which had appeared in September 1524 as Erasmus’s first public attack on Luther, after being wary about the methods of the reformer for many years. At issue was whether human beings, after the Fall of Man, are free to choose good or evil. The debate between Luther and Erasmus is one of the earliest of the Reformation over the issue of free will and predestination. (Summary by Wikipedia)
Bonaventure, A Prose Pastoral of Acadian Louisiana
This is a gentle, delightful story of life and love on the bayoux of Acadian Louisiana during the latter half of the 19th century. Bonaventure is a Creole raised among the Acadians. He loves learning, and through his calling as a teacher, and his own unique force of character, comes to have a lasting effect on the people around him. A word of warning: This story has occasional references to Jews and African Americans that the modern mind finds offensive. They are retained here in the interest of preserving the original text. (Summary by Christine Dufour)
Bonaparte in Egypt and the Egyptians of To-day
Knowing the Egyptian as I know him, I cannot but think that he is greatly misunderstood, even by those who are sincerely anxious to befriend him. His faults and his failings are to be found at large in almost any of the scores of books that have of late years been written about him and his country; but, though not a few have given him credit for some of his more salient good points, yet none that I have seen have shown any just appreciation of him as he really is. (From the Preface)
Anna Karenina, Book 3
Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage to follow her heart and must endure the hypocrisies of society. (Summary by Mary Anderson)
Anna Karenina, Book 2
In Part 2, Kitty?s health deteriorates from regret and heartbreak, while Levin retreats to his country estate. Anna and Vronsky continue to pursue each other and become the talk of polite society, to the chagrin of Karenin. (Summary by Mary Ann )
Anna Karenina, Book 1
Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage to follow her heart and must endure the hypocrisies of society. (Summary by Mary Anderson)
Anna Karenina (Dole translation)
Two love stories are set against the backdrop of high society in Tsarist Russia. Anna awakes from a loveless marriage to find herself drawn irresistibly to the dashing cavalry officer, Count Vronsky. Levin struggles with self-esteem, and even flees to the country, before gaining courage to return and offer himself to the beautiful and pure Kitty. Through troubled courtships, reconciliations, marriage and the birth of each one?s first child, Anna and Levin experience joy and despair as they each struggle to find their place in the world and meaning for their lives. (Introduction by MaryAnn)
Anna Christie
Eugene O’Neill’s drama Anna Christie was first produced on Broadway in 1921 and received the Pulitzer Prize in 1922. It focuses on three main characters: Chris Christopherson, a Swedish captain of a coal barge and longtime seaman, his daughter Anna, who has grown up separated from her father on a Minnesota farm, and Mat Burke, an Irish stoker who works on steamships. At the beginning of the play Chris and Anna are reunited after fifteen years apart. Anna comes to live on her father’s coal barge, but hides the secret of her past from him. When she meets Mat after an accident in the fog, they almost immediately fall in love – but Anna finds that forging a new future will not be easy. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett) Cast “Johnny-the-priest”: Nullifidian First Longshoreman/Voice: jwg Second Longshoreman/Johnson: Marty Kris Postman: Max Korlinge Larry: Matthew Reece Chris Christopherson: Lars Rolander Marthy Owen: Pat Redstone Anna Christopherson: Elizabeth Klett Mat Burke: Tadhg Hynes Narrator: David Goldfarb Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett
Ann Veronica
Ann Veronica was a controversial book detailing the development of a naive school girl into a “New Woman”. When it was published, the Spectator described it as a “poisonous book … capable of poisoning the minds of those who read it.” Although it is unlikely to offend modern listeners in this way, this novel addresses many feminist issues that are still relevant today. (Summary by Joy Chan)
Ann
Edward Hargraves, a young author, is encouraged by his mother and friend, Billy, to marry a woman in order to understand the fairer sex better and thereby characterize them better in his next book. While he attempts to follow their advice and marry Evangeline, a pleasant but rather uninteresting woman, a daring American reporter has set her eyes on him. She will stop at nothing to interview him and attract his attention. – Summary by Elsie Selwyn Cast List: Rev. Samuel Hargraves: ToddHW Edward Hargraves: Campbell Schelp William ?Billy? Lloyd: RHelfmann Mrs. Hargraves: Anita Sloma-Martinez Evangeline Lipscomb: thestorygirl Ann Anning: EmmaHatton Stage Directions: Elsie Selwyn Edited by: linny
Animals of the Past
Prior to the emergence of paleontology and comparative anatomy as scientific disciplines at the end of the 18th century, it was generally known that there were species of animals that had disappeared completely. The term “extinction” originally applied to the extinguishing of fires or erasing of one’s debt. It was not until 1784 that the term extinction was used to denote the complete eradication of a species of living being. In 1901, Frederic A. Lucas penned an overview of vertebrate animals whose only evidence of being remained in fossil records. The book focuses primarily on vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals. – Summary by Jeffery Smith
Short Nonfiction Collection Vol. 015
A collection of short nonfiction works in the public domain. The essays, speeches and reports included in this collection were independently selected by the readers, and the topics encompass history, government, military history, science, philosophy, sports, nature and religion. (summary by J. M. Smallheer)
The Animal Story Book
Edited by Andrew Lang, this book is an anthology of interesting stories about a wide variety of diffferent animals collected from numerous sources. – Summary by Elsie Selwyn
Animal Heroes
A hero is an individual of unusual gifts and achievements. Whether it be man or animal, this definition applies; and it is the histories of such that appeal to the imagination and to the hearts of those who hear them. In this volume every one of the stories, though more or less composite, is founded on the actual life of a veritable animal hero. The most composite is the White Reindeer. This story I wrote by Utrovand in Norway during the summer of 1900, while the Reindeer herds grazed in sight on the near uplands. The Lynx is founded on some of my own early experiences in the backwoods. It is less than ten years since the ‘Jack Warhorse’ won his hero-crown. Thousands of “Kaskadoans” will remember him, and by the name Warhorse his coursing exploits are recorded in several daily papers. The least composite is Arnaux. It is so nearly historical that several who knew the bird have supplied additional items of information. The nest of the destroying Peregrines, with its owners and their young, is now to be seen in the American Museum of Natural History of New York. The Museum authorities inform me that Pigeon badges with the following numbers were found in the nest: 9970-S, 1696, U. 63, 77, J. F. 52, Ex. 705, 6-1894, C 20900. Perhaps some Pigeon-lover may learn from these lines the fate of one or other wonderful flier that has long been recorded “never returned.” – Summary by the Note to the Reader
Animal Ghosts
This is a collection of ghost stories in which the antagonists are various animals. Divided up into chapters of ghost sightings by each group of animals, you will hear of hauntings by dogs, cats, birds, jungle animals, etc. (Summary by Allyson Hester)
Children’s Short Works, Vol. 014
LibriVox?s Children?s Short Works Collection 014: a collection of 15 short works for children in the public domain read by a variety of LibriVox members.
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.? (Preface) Smalley was an American journalist born in Massachusetts in 1833; he wrote from and about many places in America (including the Civil War) and Europe. – Summary by Book Preface and David Wales
An Anglo-American Alliance: A Serio-Comic Romance and Forecast of the Future
Described by io9 as ?the first lesbian science fiction novel,? An Anglo-American Alliance is a quasi-farcical tale of love, transformation, and geopolitics set in the far-flung futuristic year of 1960. In it, the titular Anglo-American Alliance has established itself as the world government, ushering in new age of technological and social revolution. However, even in this halcyon period, the ?love that dare not speak its name? remains an anathema. The novel?s central narrative follows the long-burgeoning but secret romance between two women at a ladies? seminary school in Cornwall: Margaret MacDonald and Aurora Cunningham. Throughout this tale, we follow their trials and tribulations as they grapple with secret longings and learn how to harness the powers of science and technology to make their dreams come true. Note: Despite its fairly progressive views on sexuality and gender identity, this novel is nevertheless a byproduct of the period in which it was written. It contains unfortunate moments of ethnocentrism, antisemitism, and casual racism that might offend certain listeners. – Summary by ChuckW
An Angler’s Hours
One of the classic British books about angling. The author?s love was fly fishing???while there are trout, life is worth living?? but he was no snob. An Angler?s Hours includes several chapters about coarse fishing (grayling, dace, chub, etc.) as well as a surprising account of the Japanese tenkara method as used in England. Sheringham’s style is similar to that of the much-loved B.B. (Denys Watkins-Pitchford) with a dash of P.G. Wodehouse. He doesn?t bore us with technical details but writes of the simple joys of angling?”a man who gazes at the wares in a tackle-shop on a sunny day in April has certainly a fishing expedition in prospect??not forgetting the pleasure of a nice pot of tea at the end of the day. Hugh Tempest Sheringham (1876 – 1930) was angling editor of The Field (London) and considered one of the premier British authors on freshwater angling both for his knowledge of the subject and readable style. – Summary by Adrian Praetzellis
The Angler
LibriVox volunteers bring you 11 recordings of The Angler by Thomas Buchanan Read. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for August 29th, 2010.
The Angels’ Song
All of the earthly trappings of a royal birth were absent from the birth of Jesus, yet the angels filled the heavens with the song “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.” Join the angels around the manger to look in wonder on the birth of the Redeemer and to reflect on the peace that Jesus brings to the world of men. The Rev. Thomas Guthrie was a 19th century Scotch Presbyterian minister who was an early advocate of the “ragged schools” movement. He wrote a number of devotional books reflecting the love for his Savior which motivated his lifelong work to provide education and training for the children of the poor. (Summary by MaryAnn)