Results: 73778 books
Sort By:
NewTrending

Isten igájában I.

József Nyirő

"Isten igájában I." by József Nyirő is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story follows a young Transylvanian seminarian, Hargithay József, who struggles between an austere priestly calling, family poverty, and a first, tender love. It is an intimate, psychological portrait of faith and identity forged inside a strict Catholic seminary. The opening of the novel plunges the narrator into a centuries‑old seminary whose oppressive grandeur, rigid rules, and ritual silence unsettle him. Feeling like an interloper among zealous peers, he battles his conscience in chapel and, in turmoil, tears up Margitka’s photograph. After receiving the blue cassock and a stern rebuke from the ascetic Adorján Ferenc, he undergoes meditations on vocation, then confesses to the spiritual director that poverty and duty to his family drove him to the priesthood. Studies and mysticism both exalt and exhaust him; sensual temptations flare, shift into a rarefied “spiritual” longing, and he resolves to leave. That night Adorján dies dramatically while attempting to say Mass, and the funeral Requiem deepens the sense of mortality. A bishop‑ordered retreat led by the severe P. Bús intensifies the pressure until the narrator’s crisis breaks in an ecstatic, cathartic violin performance, after which he wakes calmer and recommits himself to contemplation and the path of sanctity. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Lord Lister No. 0040: De valsche spoorwegdief

Kurt Matull

"Lord Lister No. 0040: De valsche spoorwegdief" by Matull and Blankensee is a pulp crime novella written in the early 20th century. It centers on the gentleman-thief Lord Lister (John Raffles) and his loyal aide Charly Brand as they target a ruthless moneylender while staying a step ahead of Scotland Yard. Expect audacious break-ins, moral redress for the poor, and a cat‑and‑mouse duel with both police and a corrupt financier. The opening of the story shows Raffles calmly finishing a piano piece before boldly entering banker Felix Meijer-Wolf’s Oxford Street office, cracking the safe, and discovering not cash but a hidden desk compartment holding predatory contracts, a diamond necklace, and a letter revealing the rightful heir, Hetty Brown. After eluding a tailing detective with a deft blow, he rescues a young woman from London’s slums—who later proves to be Hetty—and restores her inheritance, vowing to sell the diamonds to free her from the banker’s claims. Meanwhile Inspector Baxter finds Raffles’s calling card at the scene as newspapers trumpet a supposed half-million haul; Raffles replies in print that the safe was empty. Learning the banker plans an Italian deal, Raffles adopts disguises, manipulates calls, and shadows him to Trient, where Meijer-Wolf withdraws a vast sum. The section culminates in a tense first‑class carriage: a cool, needling stranger (implied to be Raffles) unnerves the banker with pointed hints about recent railway robberies, pushing him into a panicked, blustering confession of being armed. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Spanish colonial literature in South America

Bernard Moses

"Spanish colonial literature in South America" by Bernard Moses is a historical-literary study written in the early 20th century. It surveys the written record of Spanish South America across the colonial era, broadly including chronicles, relaciones, poetry, geography and natural history, ecclesiastical writings, legal treatises, and administrative texts. Through these works, and within the contexts of imperial governance, censorship, printing, education, and social hierarchy, it profiles key authors and texts to reveal how colonial society saw itself. The opening of the book argues that to grasp colonial life one must read what contemporaries wrote, since official documents and later histories miss the texture of thought and feeling. The introduction sketches Spain’s administrative framework (Council of the Indies, viceroyalties, audiencias), the Inquisition’s chilling effect on free expression, the late and limited rise of printing in the Andes and Jesuit missions, and the resulting dominance of history, geography, and church writings—alongside a vogue for epic verse sparked by Ercilla. It contrasts Lima’s courtly literary circles with pervasive social stratification, economic restrictions, and a conservative cultural inheritance, and explains why the colonies nonetheless produced abundant texts. The first case studies set up opposing lenses: Las Casas’s fierce advocacy for Indians and sweeping critique of colonial practice versus Oviedo’s official chronicling and cooler treatment of abuses (illustrated by divergent accounts of pearl fishing), with Andagoya’s narrative linking Isthmian exploration to Pizarro’s enterprise. The next chapter turns to eyewitness reports of Peru’s conquest—Xerés’s and Sancho’s vivid accounts of Atahualpa’s seizure and the treasure—alongside moral appraisals (Tomás de San Martín) and defenses (Peñalosa), with further testimony from Pedro Pizarro and Cristóbal de Molina. It closes by introducing Cieza de León’s early life and enlistment, foreshadowing his major chronicling of the Andean world. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

The natural history of Aleppo, and parts adjacent : Containing a description of the city, and the principal natural productions in its neighbourhood; together with an account of the climate, inhabitants, and diseases; particularly of the plague, with the

Alfred Henschke

The Natural History of Aleppo is a 1756 book by naturalist Alexander Russell on the natural history of Aleppo. In 1794 his half-brother, Patrick Russell, revised and expanded the text in a second edition. The book is significant for its quality, the contemporary interest it attracted, and for being a product of the Scottish Enlightenment. When the book was published it was immediately an important European record and perspective on the state of contemporary science in Syria. The book contains the earliest known description of the Syrian hamster. (This summary is from Wikipedia.)

A bold bad butterfly : & other fables and verses

Oliver Herford

A bold bad butterfly by Oliver Herford is a collection of whimsical fables and light verse written in the early 20th century. Playfully illustrated, it uses talking animals, flowers, and mythical figures to satirize vanity, gossip, pretension, and fashion, offering gentle morals in bright, comic vignettes. The poems follow a parade of charming misadventures: a “bold bad” butterfly’s pose leads to a collector’s pin; a crafty lion turns politics to his advantage; a poet’s song finally makes a princess sleep; a financial “corner in curls” unravels; and a hypnotic serpent fatally mistakes a hat ornament for prey. Elsewhere flowers bicker, stage circuses, and spread scandal; scarecrows pine for crows; mermaids debate umbrellas; rabbits compete by fleeing; dragons invent princesses to lure knights; and foxes outwit a touring lion. Throughout, the book delights in wordplay, reversals, and light morals that gently mock human follies while celebrating imagination. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

The sword decides : A chronicle of a queen in the Dark Ages, founded on the story of Giovanna of Naples

Marjorie Bowen

The sword decides by Marjorie Bowen is a historical novel written in the early 20th century. It dramatizes the rise of Queen Giovanna of Naples and the clash with her Hungarian husband, Andreas, amid factional intrigue, church politics, and street-level passions in medieval Naples. Early figures at the center include Andreas, Giovanna, her sister Maria, the ruthless Conte Raymond de Cabane, and allies and rivals such as Konrad of Gottif, Carlo di Durazzo, and Luigi of Taranto. The opening of the novel follows Andreas of Hungary as he nears Naples to claim power, only to discover through an intercepted letter that Giovanna’s faction already scorns and plans to outmaneuver him. A peasant girl, Hippolyta, warns him in dread and gives him an amulet, while a secret note from Maria d’Anjou urges him not to come. His entry into Naples is hostile and overshadowed by King Roberto’s dying, and in the death chamber the will declares Andreas and Giovanna joint sovereigns—yet, at the King’s last breath, Raymond de Cabane rouses the court and people to hail Giovanna alone. Andreas and Maria, appalled, weigh appeals to the Pope and Hungary; Andreas confronts Giovanna, and they part as declared enemies. Giovanna then binds herself to Raymond’s power, promising Maria to him in return for securing her coronation. In the gardens, court gossip shows Andreas isolated and humiliated, while Raymond openly threatens Maria with a forced marriage. The section ends with Giovanna staging lavish jousts to win popular favor as rival princes parade, while Andreas remains conspicuously absent, hunting and stewing in defeat. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Battles of the nineteenth century, vol. 1 of 7

Archibald Forbes

"Battles of the nineteenth century, vol. 1 of 7" by Forbes, Griffiths, and Henty is a collection of military histories written in the late 19th century. It assembles vivid, illustrated accounts of major battles across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, highlighting key commanders, tactics, and decisive moments. The volume aims to engage general readers with dramatic narrative while acknowledging both the glory and the horror of war. The opening of the volume presents Major Arthur Griffiths’s sweeping introduction, a brisk tour of the century’s warfare: from Napoleon and Wellington through the Peninsular triumphs and Waterloo; the Crimean battles of Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman; the Indian Mutiny’s sieges at Delhi, Cawnpore, and Lucknow; and later British campaigns in Scinde, the Sikh wars, Abyssinia, Ashanti, Afghanistan, Zululand, the Transvaal, and Egypt/Sudan. Griffiths also sketches non‑British conflicts, including Italy’s struggle against Austria, the American Civil War, the Austro‑Prussian war, and the Franco‑Prussian war, stressing evolving weapons, generalship, and national resolve. He closes by promising a roam through great fights, unfettered by strict chronology, to show heroism and its cost. The narrative then begins with Archibald Forbes’s “Saarbrück,” depicting tense frontier outposts at the start of the Franco‑Prussian war: civilians watching opposing videttes, experimental French shelling that shatters the “Bellevue” inn, the first fatality, and Major von Pestel coolly holding a tiny German garrison under the shadow of Frossard’s corps on the Spicheren heights. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Jerry Todd and the rose-colored cat

Leo Edwards

"Jerry Todd and the rose-colored cat" by Leo Edwards is a children's mystery-adventure novel written in the early 20th century. Set in small-town Illinois, it follows Jerry Todd and his pals Scoop, Peg, and Red as they launch a whimsical “feline rest farm” with a kindly, eccentric professor and get swept into a quirky puzzle involving a so-called “rose-colored” cat and local rival troublemakers. The opening of the novel introduces Professor Ellsworth Stoner, a cat-obsessed academic who enlists the boys to help run a cat rest home in an old mill and places a newspaper ad that brings in crates of felines—and no money. When two guards haul the professor back to the county infirmary, the boys choose to carry on alone, scrambling for food (with help from Mrs. Maloney) and order amid town laughter and Stricker-gang pranks. A prized “rose-colored” cat named Lady Victoria arrives—actually a yellow cat with a copper collar—hinting at a deeper mystery. After a nighttime raid by their rivals and a mishap that injures the cat’s tail, the boys attempt a bungled operation; the cat dies, and they bury it, leaving them to face the consequences as they reach out to the sanitarium. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

My tussle with the devil, and other stories

O. (Spirit) Henry

My tussle with the devil, and other stories by O. Henry. It is a collection of short stories, parables, and prose poems written in the early 20th century. Framed in a spiritualist vein, the book meditates on the afterlife, moral choice, love, cruelty, and war, often personifying abstract forces and urging readers toward compassion and inner awakening. The volume opens with claims of messages “from beyond,” then unfolds a series of allegorical vignettes: the title tale stages a sumptuous temptation by a majestic Devil that the narrator decisively rejects; “The Contest” pits a seductive Life against a radiant Death; other pieces recast chain-gang misery, grief, and wartime loss through the transfiguring power of Love. Animals, flowers, and jewels become teachers—condemning cruelty (a vivisected spaniel), honoring loyalty (a ghostly dog who brings a slipper), and urging seekers to value the “diamond” of love above rubies or emeralds. Domestic memories, homely wisdom, and dockside camaraderie (with the dog Dakta choosing “brothers” for a redemptive mission) reinforce the book’s ethic of kindness. Later entries reimagine “munitions” as Kindness, Joy, and Love; depict dying as “going home”; and culminate in a quest in which the key to the Temple of Knowledge is simply love, before a final vision of Peace unfolding its golden wings over a renewed world. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Legends of the conquest of Spain

Washington Irving

"Legends of the conquest of Spain" by Washington Irving is a collection of historical legends written in the early 19th century. Blending history with romantic folklore, it retells the fall of Visigothic Spain to the Saracens. The narrative centers on King Roderick, Count Julian, Florinda, and the Arab commanders Taric and Muza, using vivid episodes and prophetic portents to dramatize the collapse of a kingdom. The opening of the work sets out a preface defending the use of old chronicles and marvels, then launches into the “Legend of Don Roderick.” It sketches Spain’s earlier invasions and the Gothic ascendancy, condemns Witiza’s corrupt reign, and shows Roderick’s rise and his later decadence. Roderick marries the Moorish princess Elyata (baptized Exilona), betrays Count Julian’s trust by violating his daughter Florinda, and defies warnings to unlock the enchanted tower at Toledo, where a vision foretells Arab conquest and ominous signs follow. In Africa, Julian defeats the Arabs at Ceuta, learns of his daughter’s dishonor, and, with Bishop Oppas, plots treason—emptying Spain of arms, courting Muza, and guiding Taric’s probing raid. Muza secures the Caliph’s leave; Taric returns with an army, burns his ships, seizes Calpe (Gibraltar), and beats back Theodomir’s first stand. As Roderick dispatches Prince Ataulpho to the south, Taric steels his men with a visionary promise, and the two armies draw up for battle at Calpe, where the excerpt breaks off. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Obstipation : a practical monograph on the disorders and diseases of the rectal valve

Thomas Charles Martin

"Obstipation" by Thomas Charles Martin is a medical monograph written in the late 19th century. It argues that the rectal valve is a real and clinically crucial structure whose pathology underlies many cases of obstructed defecation, distinguishing this from ordinary constipation. The work emphasizes careful anatomical study, direct visualization via proctoscopy, and modified treatment strategies for strictures in both infants and adults. The opening of the monograph defines obstipation versus constipation and explains the need to resolve long-standing disputes about rectal anatomy, especially the existence and role of the rectal valve. Martin reviews the literature chronologically, contrasting authorities who deny valves with those who describe them, and sets out to prove their presence with photographs, microscopic sections, and reproducible inspection methods. He traces the development of atmospheric inflation and proctoscopy (from Sims and Van Buren onward), then details how to examine the rectum noninstrumentally in the knee-chest position and instrumentally with an anoscope and proctoscope, including patient positioning and lighting. A topographic anatomy follows, distinguishing the fixed anal segment from the movable abdominal rectum, describing the sphincters, levator ani, and visible anal landmarks, and warning against common diagnostic errors. He then presents cast and histologic evidence for semilunar rectal valves, outlines their typical number and placement, and links their function to staged fecal transit during defecation. The section closes by introducing obstipation in infants, attributing their straining to immature musculature, excessive bowel mobility, obstructive valves, and a tight anus. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Lyrics selected from the works of A. Mary F. Robinson

A. Mary F. (Agnes Mary Frances) Robinson

Lyrics selected from the works of A. Mary F. Robinson by A. Mary F. Robinson is a collection of lyric poetry from the late 19th century in the Victorian era. The poems dwell on love, nature, art, memory, and spiritual longing, often colored by Italian landscapes and classical allusion. Arranged in three movements—Music, Rosa Rosarum, and Stars—the book moves from dreamlike invocations of song and spring to intimate love lyrics and Tuscan rispetti, and finally to night-sky meditations, antiquity, history, and faith. Notable pieces evoke ascent to Parnassus, enchanted awakenings, Tuscan olives and cypresses, Venetian moonlight, Etruscan funerary art, and reflective scenes at Avignon; others weigh art against life, grief against remembrance, and science against spirit (Darwinism), before rising to hymnal address (Antiphon to the Holy Spirit) and a quiet closing assent (Epilogue). Across sonnets, sestinas, aubades, and songs, the voice fuses myth and landscape with a clear, musical diction, recurring images of spring and twilight, and a steady effort to transmute sorrow into song. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

The Trent affair : including a review of English and American relations at the beginning of the Civil War

Thomas L. (Thomas LeGrand) Harris

The Trent affair by Thomas L. Harris is a historical account written in the late 19th century. It examines the 1861 Trent Affair within the wider matrix of Anglo-American relations and international law at the outset of the U.S. Civil War, focusing on British neutrality, Confederate diplomacy, and the legal questions of blockade, belligerency, and the right of search. The work argues that British policy—especially early belligerent recognition—tilted toward the Confederacy and shaped the diplomatic crisis surrounding the seizure of Confederate envoys Mason and Slidell. The opening of this work frames the Trent Affair as a pivotal test of international law linked to earlier Anglo-American clashes over search and impressment, then surveys a century of U.S.–British frictions that briefly gave way to warmth in 1860 after the Prince of Wales’s visit. It contrasts that goodwill with swift British skepticism during secession, highlighting elite and press sympathy for the South and early parliamentary agitation for recognition. The narrative traces U.S. efforts (via Black and Seward) to forestall foreign recognition, Britain’s issuance of the neutrality proclamation recognizing Confederate belligerency before the new U.S. minister arrived, and the author’s critique of its haste and implications for blockade law and neutrality. It recounts British dealings with Confederate authorities through Consul Bunch to secure parts of the Declaration of Paris, the U.S. revocation of his exequatur, and Seward’s October 1861 circular urging coastal and lake defenses amid British troop movements to Canada. The text then reviews the Confederacy’s initial, unsuccessful mission in Europe (Yancey, Mann, Rost, King) and closes this opening section by introducing the more formal mission of James M. Mason and John Slidell, sketching their backgrounds and aims to win recognition in London and Paris. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Die Zelle und die Gewebe (Vol. 2/2) : Grundzüge der allgemeinen Anatomie und Physiologie

Oscar Hertwig

"Die Zelle und die Gewebe (Vol. 2/2)" by Oscar Hertwig is a scientific treatise written in the late 19th century. It advances a cell-centered account of tissue anatomy and physiology and proposes a “theory of Biogenesis” that contrasts with epigenesis, germ-plasm, and mosaic-development doctrines. The work emphasizes causality in biology, division of labor and integration among cells, the roles of external and internal factors in development, and problems of heredity, all focused on how cells organize into tissues and organs. The opening of this work explains the delay since the first volume, situates the book amid contemporary debates (notably against Weismann’s Neo-Darwinism and Roux’s developmental mechanics), and states the aim: to treat the physiological side of development and ground a theory centered on the cell. A broad table of contents signals topics from levels of individuality and cell communication to causality, external and internal developmental factors, growth, form, and heredity. The first chapter sets the task of moving from the autonomous cell to cells in association, dividing the book into a general theory of multicellular organization and a special histology of tissues (structure, development, function). The second chapter defines physiological versus morphological individuals, rejects extending “individual” to organs or genealogical series, and develops three “orders” of individuality: species-cells as elemental units; second-order aggregates ranging from loose colonies to syncytia and, at the highest level, true cellular associations enabling greater differentiation; and third-order stocks (from loose hydroid colonies to tightly integrated siphonophores with division of labor). At the start of the third chapter, the author introduces vegetative affinity—conspecific cells’ tendency to unite—demonstrated by plant grafting and by animal transplantation and blood transfusion, underscoring that tissues bear both visible functional traits and hidden, species-specific constitutional properties that govern compatibility. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Die Zelle und die Gewebe (Vol. 1/2) : Grundzüge der allgemeinen Anatomie und Physiologie

Oscar Hertwig

"Die Zelle und die Gewebe (Vol. 1/2)" by Oscar Hertwig is a scientific publication written in the late 19th century. It presents a foundational synthesis of the general anatomy and physiology of cells and tissues, uniting histology with physiology and developmental biology. Volume one concentrates on the cell’s structure, properties, division, fertilization, and heredity, while the planned second volume addresses tissue structure, origin, and function. The work also situates current knowledge within the history of cell theory and protoplasm, clarifying ongoing scientific debates. The opening of the treatise sets out a clear purpose: to overcome the traditional split between anatomy and physiology at the cellular level and to give cell physiology equal weight alongside structure. In a programmatic preface, Hertwig criticizes standard histology texts for neglecting the living properties of cells, links this book to his university lectures, and frames it as a complement to his embryology text by distinguishing morphological from histological differentiation. He outlines the book’s scope via a detailed table of contents and emphasizes a balanced, historically aware method that presents competing theories without claiming final certainty. The first chapter then surveys the rise of cell theory from plant studies (Malpighi, Grew) through Schleiden’s focus on the nucleus and Schwann’s generalization to animals, noting early errors (membrane-centrism, cytoblastem) and the later shift to a protoplasm-centered view (Mohl, Purkinje, Max Schultze, Brücke), culminating in the modern idea of the cell as protoplasm containing a nucleus. The second chapter begins by treating the cell as an organism and divides analysis into protoplasm and nucleus, defending the term “protoplasm” and describing its appearance (hyaline surface layer versus granular interior), an illustrative experiment on the cortical layer of frog eggs, and its imperfectly known chemistry (proteins such as plastin, high water content, salts, alkaline reaction, and metabolites). It closes with a critical overview of rival models for fine cytoplasmic structure—network, foam/waben, filar, and granule/bioblast views—highlighting both the evidence and the limits of each. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Dentologia : A poem on the diseases of the teeth, and their proper remedies

Solyman Brown

“Dentologia” by Solyman Brown is a didactic medical poem written in the early 19th century. It versifies the causes, prevention, and treatment of dental diseases while arguing for the social, aesthetic, and health importance of sound teeth, blending moral exhortation with practical care. The opening of Dentologia frames the poem’s purpose through a preface praising its utility and warning against incompetent practitioners, followed by a dedicatory letter that situates the work within professional dentistry. Canto I invokes living beauty, links character to countenance, proposes dentistry as its theme, and explains the natural shedding of children’s teeth and the need for skilled oversight. Canto II treats first and second dentition, endorses timely lancing and extractions to prevent pain and deformity, and lauds the teeth’s perfected design. Canto III condemns luxury, intemperance, and uncleanliness, urges daily oral hygiene, and illustrates neglect through Urilla’s ruined smile, introducing caries and toothache and their relief. Canto IV outlines remedies—filing, gold fillings, extractions, and artificial teeth—celebrating the art’s humane benefits; Canto V ties dental health to digestion, nerves, speech, eloquence, and song, with brief scenes of orator, pastor, and a singer whose voice is saved by dental skill. The appended notes begin supplying historical and practical authorities to support these claims. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

The big town : How I and the Mrs. go to New York to see life and get Katie a husband

Ring Lardner

The Big Town by Ring Lardner is a comic novel written in the early 20th century. It follows a fast-talking Midwestern husband, his socially eager wife Ella, and her sister Katie as they move to New York to “see life” and find Katie a husband, skewering Prohibition nightlife, easy money dreams, and status-chasing along the way. With slangy humor and sharp satire, it turns their hopes for quick success into a string of misadventures in hotels, apartments, and nightspots. At the start of the novel, the narrator inherits money through his wife, tires of dull small-town life, and heads to New York with Ella and Katie in search of excitement and a match for Katie. On the train they meet Francis Griffin, a brash Wall Street type whose attentions drift toward Ella, prompting a boozy night out and, soon after, a furious confrontation that becomes the source of a newspaper “Hoosier cleans up in Wall Street” gag. The trio then splurge on a costly Riverside Drive apartment, hire an expensive cook, and fall in with Trumbull, a vain, deep-pocketed neighbor whose pushy courtship of Katie backfires; when she co-opts his chauffeur and learns the man has a family, they flee back to a hotel. Seeking relief from summer heat, they decamp to a Long Island resort where the narrator lampoons the staid, status-obsessed scene and the women’s struggle to meet anyone. Eager to make social headway, Ella sets her sights on the aloof Lady Perkins, and the narrator mischievously engineers an introduction by inventing a dog ailment and delivering a bogus “remedy,” to the astonishment of his wife and sister-in-law. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Atoms and electrons

J. W. N. (John William Navin) Sullivan

"Atoms and electrons" by J. W. N. Sullivan is a popular science treatise written in the early 20th century. It explains how experiments and theory uncover the structure of matter—atoms, electrons, and nuclei—through chemistry, electricity, radioactivity, and spectroscopy, and points toward relativity and the emerging quantum view. The aim is to give intelligent readers a concise, authoritative grasp of how modern physics understands the architecture of matter. The opening of this work sets out the groundwork of measurement—dimensions, the C.G.S. metric system, electrical unit systems, and scientific notation—then introduces Dalton’s atomic theory, the laws of definite and multiple proportions, and Avogadro’s hypothesis for fixing relative atomic weights. It uses thin films, diffusion, the kinetic theory of gases, and Einstein–Perrin’s Brownian motion to give tangible evidence of molecules. The text then presents electrons via cathode rays and ionization measurements, argues that their mass is electromagnetic in character, and interprets radioactivity as atomic disintegration into α, β, and γ emissions. From there it outlines Rutherford’s nuclear atom, the periodic system organized by atomic number, the reality of isotopes (chemically identical atoms of different mass), and how α and β decay move elements through the table; relativity’s mass–energy ideas and nuclear binding (the helium mass defect) are incorporated. The section closes by posing the classical dilemma: orbiting charges should radiate and atoms should collapse, and continuous radiation would contradict sharp spectral lines—thus motivating a quantum explanation for atomic stability. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Confessions of an anarchist

W. C. Hart

Confessions of an anarchist by W. C. Hart is a polemical memoir and exposé written in the early 20th century. It offers a hostile insider account of anarchist circles, portraying the creed as immoral, criminal, and incoherent while detailing groups, publications, spies, bomb-making, and celebrated outrages. Blending personal reminiscence with reportage and case notes, it seeks to discredit the movement and argue for curbs on violent propaganda. The opening of the book sets the author’s credentials as a former group secretary and contributor to key anarchist papers, then declares anarchism a denial of morality and responsibility. It recounts his conversion and disillusion, classifies anarchists as criminals, spies, and inciters, and illustrates hypocrisy with tales of theft, fraud, and “propaganda by deed.” A long section alleges pervasive police infiltration, including agent provocateurs and compromised clubs, and critiques anarchist “literature” while accusing editors of sweating labor. The narrative sketches chaotic, tiny “groups,” bomb-making classes and manuals, the Walsall bomb affair, and a raucous conference urging violence, followed by a brisk catalogue of international assassinations. It closes this opening stretch by describing failed anarchist colonies (and a few accidental, order-keeping exceptions), presented as proof that anarchist practice collapses without external moral or religious glue. (This is an automatically generated summary.)