This is the sixth collection of our "coffee break" series, involving public domain works that are between 3 and 15 minutes in length. These are great for work/study breaks, commutes, workouts, or any time you'd like to hear a whole story and only...

A collection of short nonfiction works in the public domain. The selections included in this collection were independently chosen by the readers, and the topics encompass history, slavery, science, education, humor, philosophy, nature and baseball....

The Blessed Angela of Foligno, T.O.S.F., (c. 1248 – 4 January 1309) was a Christian author, Franciscan tertiary and mystic. She was noted not only for her spiritual writings, but also for founding a religious community which refused to accept...

In this chapter of Thomas Babington Macaulay’s History of England we see conflict between James II and his subjects. James is Catholic but rules a Protestant country. There are some serious stand-offs with colleges at Oxford and Cambridge plus...

It is the noon hour at a museum in New York City. The date: May 23, 1913. The weekday, attendance is light; the attendees are scattered between two floors. Suddenly a cry rings out from the second floor. Scrambling to Section II, the museum director...

Originally entitled A frutefull pleasaunt, and wittie worke of the beste state of publique weale, & of the newe yle, called Utopia: written in Latine, by ... Syr Thomas More knyght, and translated into Englishe by Raphe Robynson ... The first...

"The use of pearls as jewels and their recognition as objects of value date back into the far beyond when the histories of ancient peoples were transcribed upon papyrus. It is very likely that pearls were amongst the earliest gems known to man, and...

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...

"The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence." (from its Mission Statement). As scientists have explored the world around them, observed and tried to...

Alan Green is a space traveler stranded on a barbaric planet who has been taken slave and made a consort to an insipid and smelly queen. His slave-wife, though beautiful and smart, nags him constantly. He’s given up hope of ever returning to Earth...

Published in 1847, five years after her epic poem, 'Dionysus the Areopagite', 'Poems For My Children' was Ann Hawkshaw's second collection of poetry. The poems are dedicated to her six children and many are written in an intimate conversational...

Before the beginning of World War II, during the time of the Modernist movement in philosophy, George Santayana wrote these five descriptive essays. He examined John Locke’s sensationalism, British Idealism, the “Theory of Relativity”, Freud’s...

In every country there have been certain men and women whose busy lives have made the world better or wiser. The names of such are heard so often that every child should know a few facts about them. It is hoped the very short stories told here may...

Noh (Nō), or Nogaku—derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent"—is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major...

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...

In the last of the six Palliser novels, the sudden death of his wife, Lady Glencora, leaves Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke of Omnium, finding himself in charge of his three children. The eldest, Lord Silverbridge, has recently been expelled from...

Carleton’s first eight years as governor of Canada were almost entirely occupied with civil administration. The next four were equally occupied with war.This is the account of how Carleton and his multiracial army fought off the American invasion of...

In January 1909 a friend of the Scientific American paid the sum of 500$ which was to be awarded as a prize for the best popular explanation of the Fourth Dimension. The object being to set forth in an essay not longer than 2500 words the meaning of...

"Now who ever heard of a fish's setting up and telling his own story...I am not a bit proud but just a good natured chap that has decided to spin a sea yard for the amusement, and I hope the instruction, it may be of young Folks, being perfectly...

This book is a fictional autobiography of the title character — a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers before being rescued. You know the story; but do you know the...