Essays & Short Works
- Philosophical Travelogues
- Essays on Society and Culture
- Essays for Personal Growth
- Explorations in Science and Thought
- Explorations in Psychology
- Political Essays and Reflections
- Political Essays and Manifestos
- Philosophical Essays on Existence
Eminent Victorians
On Modern Library's list of 100 Best Non-Fiction books, "Eminent Victorians" marked an epoch in the art of biography; it also help…
The Philosophy of Logical Atomism
'The Philosophy of Logical Atomism' is a series of lectures by Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) that touches on numerous topics, including the n…
The Mountains of California
The Mountains of California invites listeners to explore the breathtaking landscapes and natural wonders of California through the eyes of r…
Essays
In his profound collection of essays, Ralph Waldo Emerson explores the intricate relationship between the individual and the universe. Throu…
Survivors' Tales of Famous Crimes
In this anthology of true crime tales, editor Walter Wood interviews those who were touched by the crimes recounted, sometimes as an acquain…
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World
Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, was at one time Ambassador to the Hague, negotiated the second Treaty of Vienna, was a founding gover…
The Theory of the Leisure Class
Originally published by the Norwegian-American economist Thorstein Veblen while he was a professor at the University of Chicago in 1898, the…
Collected Articles of Frederick Douglass
These two articles were reproduced as an e-book by Project Gutenberg in 2008 to supplement "...several articles by Frederick Douglass,…
The Awful German Language
This long essay is a work of mock philology, one of several appendices to Twain’s travel novel, A Tramp Abroad. In it, Twain explains, compl…
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke wrote four essays on human (or humane) understanding. Here are a few quotes from the book: "I see no reason to believe, that…
The Book of Tea
The Book of Tea was written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century. It was first published in 1906, and has since been republished many…
A Room of One’s Own
This feminist essay argues for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by patriarchy. First…
The Fun of Getting Thin
In this short, amusing book, subtitled "How to Be Thin and Reduce The Waist Line," Samuel G. Blythe explains how he was able to lo…
The Encantadas or Enchanted Isles
The Encantadas or Enchanted Isles invites listeners to explore the haunting beauty and stark realities of the Galápagos Islands throu…
George Bernard Shaw
Chesterton and Shaw were famous friends and enjoyed their arguments and discussions. Although rarely in agreement, they both maintained good…
Radioactive Substances
Marie Curie, born in Warsaw in 1867, was a Polish-French physicist and chemist famous for her work on radioactivity. She was a pioneer in th…
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
The book chronicles and vilifies its targets in three parts: "National Delusions", "Peculiar Follies", and "Philoso…
The Negro Problem
This is a collection of essays, edited by Booker T. Washington, representative of what historians have characterized as "racial uplift …
Noted Speeches of Abraham Lincoln
A few of Lincoln's most famous speeches and the Lincoln-Douglas debate make for historic reading. (summary by David O)
The Treaty with China
"A good candidate for 'the most under-appreciated work by Mark Twain' would be 'The Treaty With China,' which he published in the New Y…