Showing results by author "Mentor New York" in All Categories

Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) famously said, "The great questions of the day will not be settled by speeches or the decisions of the majority...but by iron and blood." Prince Bismarck unified the German states under Prussian hegemony through a series of carefully orchestrated wars, which excluded Austria from the new Confederation and added Schleswig-Holstein, and Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. But Bismarck avoided useless confrontations and was, above all, a master of balance of power diplomacy. His skills, both at home and abroad, won him the loyal support of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Paternalistic and...

Book Seven of the series focuses on the women of history and includes George Eliot, Joan of Arc and Madame Recamier. - Summary by KHand

A series of essays offering a humorous look at commonplace items and occurrences. (Summary by Nick Bulka)

This essay is one of a great number that endorse the principle of eugenics, a controversial study and practice that aims for society or government to 'self-direct' the course of human evolution. In this essay, one finds discussion of contraception, abortion, population growth and war, as well as questions of 'race.' One finds here a use of the term 'race' meaning something far different than what is used today. This is a provocative essay. - Summary by KevinS

Hailed as one of the funniest writers of the 20th century, P. G. Wodehouse cheerfully radiates humor that is both sophisticated and popular. In Bill the Conqueror, Wodehouse creates an array of entertaining characters who gallop around England and America in quest of love and money. Our far-from-perfect hero Bill is a dissipated American former football player and man of action, who tangles with odious relatives, bumbling gangsters, suave white-collar crooks, and even his exasperating but well-meaning friend Judson, as he seeks to become worthy of the woman of his dreams, whichever one she ...

"Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by Herman Melville. The story first appeared, anonymously, in Putnam's Magazine in two parts. The first part appeared in November 1853, with the conclusion published in December 1853. It was reprinted in Melville's The Piazza Tales in 1856 with minor textual alterations. The work is said to have been inspired, in part, by Melville's reading of Emerson, and some have pointed to specific parallels to Emerson's essay, "The Transcendentalist." The story has been adapted twice: once in 1970, starring Paul Scofield, and again in 2001,...

This book is a collection of short observations by Helen Hunt Jackson, several with children and parenting as the subject matter. (Summary by ashleighjane)

In this famous early work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, he investigates the artistic characteristics of Apollonian (reason) and Dionysian (passion) characteristics in Greek art, specifically in Greek tragedy as it evolved. Then he applies his conclusions about Greek tragedy to the state of modern art, especially modern German art and specifically to the operas of Richard Wagner.

Volume 4 discusses some of the key leaders of the ancient world, including Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius and Constantine, as well as important religious figures such as Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine. Summary by KHand

The young, intelligent Mary discovers that through an act of will she can transform her appearance to make herself incredibly beautiful. But will her newfound identity be all that she hopes? This recording is from the novella’s original publication in The Savoy in August and September 1896. (Newgatenovelist)

An approved Treatise of Hawkes and Hawking. Divided into three Bookes. The first teacheth, How to make a short-winged Hawke good, with good conditions. The second, How to reclaime a Hawke from any ill condition. The third teacheth. Cures for all knowne griefes and diseases. By Edmund Bert, Gentleman. The author, who lived at Collier Row, near Romford, Essex, details his method of training the Goshawk, in which he was very successful. He used to ride out of Essex into Sussex to hawk over the downs, where, he says, " I have killed for the most part of a moneth together with an intermewed ...

The hilarious diary of a young man's recruitment into, and service in a navy, which, though well equipped and disciplined, remains woefully ill prepared for his arrival and dubious contribution. (Introduction by Nigel Boydell)

The Adventures of Paddy Beaver is another in the long list of children’s books by the conservationist, Thornton W. Burgess. In this book, the industrious and clever Paddy Beaver, a newcomer to the Green Forest, has encounters with Sammy Jay, Jerry Muskrat, Ol’ Man Coyote and other inhabitants of the Green Forest. Along the way, we learn how Paddy builds his dam and his house, and how he stores his food. We also learn little lessons about life, such as the importance of planning before doing, caring for Nature, trusting others, the benefits of working together and how wonderful it is to ...

In early 1907 the world of Australian rugby was rocked by the news that a professional New Zealand All Blacks team was set to tour the northern counties of Engliand, where professional rugby had been a reality for more than a decade. The professionalization of Australian rugby was unthinkable, but within a few months the unthinkable had come to pass. The professional All Blacks had played a hastily formed New South Wales team, the great Dally Messenger had joined the New Zealand tour of England, and by 1908 a professional league was formed in Sydney, with several of the teams that play in the ...

This novel was perhaps the most daring and affirmative LGBT literature of the first two decades of the 20th century in America. In this story, Bertram Cope is a young college instructor, about twenty-four years old ("certainly not a day over twenty-five"), who is pursued by men and women, both younger and older than himself. In writing this novel, Fuller had to carefully craft his plot schemes so as not to offend the sensibilities of publishers. As a result, today's reader is left somewhat, but not entirely, confused about the precise feelings that characters develop for one another by the end...

The story of Billy Bunny and his friends and their adventures together. (Summary by mparker)

Conan the Barbarian is employed by one of the civilized countries to help in it's push to claim lands from the primitive Picts. The Picts are not excited about the idea however. Old gods and mythical creatures are called up by the Pict witches to contest the invading army and Conan finds himself battling for his life amid the blood thirsty hordes that include saber-toothed tigers, 40 foot long venomous snakes and a demon from another dimension who is intent on crushing him. The huge dog Slasher makes an appearance here and distinguishes himself so well in a doomed battle to delay their forces ...

Grant Allen was an anthropologist, scientific writer, novelist and poet, though the biographer and writer Frank Harris has said of him that "He could be described with more 'ists' than anyone else I ever saw. He was an atheist and pacifist and socialist, a botanist and zoologist and optimist, a chemist and physicist, a scientist of scientists, a monist, meliorist and hedonist…". As a novelist, he is noted as a pioneer in both the detective and science fiction genres. He was born in Canada but spent the latter part of his life in England. "Biographies of Working Men" is a volume containing ...

This book is a wonderful way to learn about how the prairies were years ago, but you will hardly feel you are learning because you will be caught up with the 'little girl', living with her as she grows up far away from any large city. Very well written, in this book you live, worry, and rejoice, along with the little girl. Whether it is through a prairie fire, raising some interesting and queer pet, having fun at some big prairie-time event, or worming her way out of trouble, the little girl continues to grow, until at the end, you leave, not a little girl, but a young lady stepping into ...

Neither the name of Shakespeare nor that of Stratford appears directly in this short piece by James, and yet both are absolutely central to his plot. The story has to do with Mr. and Mrs. Gedge, tempted away from a dreary northern town library, which he runs, to become the wardens – caretakers and tour guides – of the house where the greatest writer of the English language was born, and in which he grew up. Or did he? There is, after all, a paucity of facts about His life (in James's text, that pronoun is always capitalized, as befits a deity) and only the slenderest of historical evidence...