In Nostromo, Joseph Conrad has transformed an apocryphal anecdote about a sailor who got away with stealing a boat loaded with silver into a grandly panoramic, yet deeply unsettling, narrative that sees every conceivable type of political person —...

Victorian-era writer Marie Corelli’s epic work Ardath, The Story of a Dead Self, is filled with supernatural and gothic themes. We meet Theos Alwyn, an atheist poet who is lost and disconsolate with life. He begins his journey by seeking out a...

In this Little Blue Book Number 512, Will Durant describes François-Marie Arouet, the writer, historian, and philosopher known as Voltaire (1694-1778) as "unprepossessing, ugly, vain, flippant, unscrupulous, even at times dishonest" and "tirelessly...

A collection of 12 fantasy stories for children. Clever little tales that mothers can smile over and children enjoy. The illustrations for this book were originally Colgate ads, and who but a master such as Mr. Milne could have taken those charming...

This is a classic (gothic) horror story, and one of the earliest examples of science fiction. The main characters are Dr. Frankenstein and his creation, the daemon. Shelley called the scientist a "pale student of unhallowed arts" and his creation a...

These wonderful, whimsical poems from the incomparable Walter de la Mare describe the bliss of childhood, explore the marvel of a child's imagination and portray the intriguing landscapes of existences both lived and imagined by a young mind in a...

In the "Beacon Second Reader" the author has chosen for his stories only those of recognized literary merit; and while it has been necessary to rearrange and sometimes rewrite them for the purpose of simplification, yet he has endeavored to retain...

The Black Cat (1895-1922) was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. The...

This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. They are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been...

Librivox's Children's Short Works Collection 044: a collection of 15 short works for children in the public domain read by a variety of Librivox members....

This is the 33rd Coffee Break Collection, in which Librivox readers select and read Public Domain stories or poems, fiction or non-fiction pieces of fifteen minutes' duration or less, suitable for short commutes and coffee breaks. The subject for...

An account of the expedition [of the U.S. Army] in pursuit of the hostile Chiricahua Apaches in the spring of 1883. (Book subtitle) Bourke was a Medal of Honor awardee in the American Civil War whose subsequent Army career included several campaigns...

Netta Syrett was the niece of Grant Allen and a "new woman" in her own right. Educated at the University of Cambridge, she tried to make a career in teaching before becoming a novelist and playwright. This novel, The Day's Journey, tells the story...

Charles Dickens records his impressions of America during his 1842 journey. - Summary by Brad "Hamlet" Filippone...

LibriVox volunteers bring you 25 recordings of Outward Bound by Sir Henry John Newbolt. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 2, 2021. ------ Sir Henry John Newbolt, was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a...

This is the first of a four-volume history of the First World War, covering the period from its outbreak in the summer of 1914 to the campaign in Neuve Chapelle of March 1915. The author, John Buchan, was most widely known as the writer of the...

"This book is intended as a sequel to Self-Help and Character. It might, indeed, have appeared as an introduction to these volumes; for Thrift is the basis of Self-Help, and the foundation of much that is excellent in Character. The object of this...

"The Rover: A weekly magazine of tales, poetry and engravings, original and selected" was a magazine started in 1843 by Seba Smith and Lawrence Labree. The editors aimed at a high quality standard in their selection of short stories and poetry....

This is a story of magnificent failures. The men who equipped the expeditions of which I shall tell you the story died in the poorhouse. The men who took part in these voyages sacrificed their lives as cheerfully as they lighted a new pipe or opened...

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires...