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As wealthy financier, Hugh Mainwaring dictates his last will and testament to his private secretary, it would be impossible for him to imagine the shocking chain of events that he is about to set into motion. This best-selling mystery novel was first published in 1901 and remains an entertaining mix of detective work, courtroom drama and family intrigue.

Categories: Arts

Tags: Anna Maynard Barbour, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, That Mainwaring Affair

Regarded as the pride and joy of American literature, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a picturesque novel depicting Huck’s epic journey from boyhood to manhood and the struggles he must face living in a corrupt society. The novel serves as a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, another famous work by Mark Twain. The plot unfolds in several locations sometime before the Civil War. The book opens with a description of Huck’s new life as he undergoes a process of “civilization” while living with the Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson. Although he dislikes the strict regime of education, manners, church and rigid clothing, which are a necessity to fit into society, Huck prefers anything to his previous life with his drunkard father Pap. However, just as things begin to stabilize, Pap returns to the picture and demands Huck give him the money that he had previously attained during an adventure with his best friend Tom Sawyer. Huck’s refusal to do so only infuriates Pap. Just when things are improving for Huck, he is kidnapped and mistreated by his no-good father. After faking his own death and on the run, he meets Jim who is a runaway slave with a bounty to his name. Huck must decide whether to trust his gut feeling and help an innocent flee slavery, or view the poor man simply as property. Caught up between ethics and legality, Huck must make a decision. The two set out together on a raft, both in search of freedom and experience many challenges on the way whilst at the same time an emotional bond is developed. Twain’s vibrant description of the places and people along the Mississippi River is one of the jewels of the novel, as well as the use of vernacular language and the presence of dialects. Moral and ethics, racism and slavery, and hypocritical society are just some of the targeted issues presented in the novel. Celebrated throughout generations, the slanted tale of adventure does not seize to spark appreciation although simultaneously stirring controversy.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

H. P. Lovecraft’s name is synonymous with horror fiction. His major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien. This collection contains 24 Lovecraft works that are in the public domain. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Collected Public Domain Works of H. P. Lovecraft, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, H. P. Lovecraft, Horror/Ghost stories, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories

Arguably, one of the most influential and insightful pieces of work concerned with American political life, Democracy in America directs itself towards American politics and society, and is considered to be one the best books written on the subject. Published in 2 volumes, in 1835 and 1840, Tocqueville records his findings after studying the thriving nation in his nine month exploratory journey. The young French aristocrat first came to America on an official assignment to study the American penal system, but instead used this as a pretext to study American society. Consequently, he used his time in America to analyze the improved living standards and individual social conditions which were induced by a stable democratic approach. Additionally, he set out to compare the structure of the democratic system with the aristocratic regime present in France. Tocqueville begins his expedition with a description of the shifting social circumstances, as the social and economical standing of men have become more equal unlike its aristocratic predecessor which is slowly disappearing. The first part of the book revolves around the structure of the government and analyzes American institutions which assist in upholding freedom and equality, while the second volume examines individuals and the effects of democracy in society, with economics, family life, and religion among the topics analyzed. Nevertheless, the young French aristocrat was also conscious of the dangers and threats that could appear as result of exceeding liberation and equality. Interestingly, Tocqueville also noted some areas in society where change has been evident and made predictions about where such democratic trends could lead. Some of his judicious ideas are on the subject of slavery, status of women in society, and oligarchy. Regarded as an early work of political science and sociology, Democracy in America is an essential read to better understand the democratic system, its history, and underlying dangers. A timeless piece, highly valuable for its content on early American democracy, the observations made in the book are still relevant today, serving as a reminder of the past, and an incentive for a better future. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: Alexis de Tocqueville, audio books, audiobook, Democracy in America, ebooks, free audio books, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Politics

The title of the book comes from Luke 17:21. It is a non-fiction work of the famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy. He wrote it after many years of reflexion on Christianity and Jesus. Many subjects are present such as wars, non-violence, misunderstanding by believers of the faith, etc.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Leo Tolstoy, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Politics, religion, The Kingdom of God is within you

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, philosopher, visual artist, playwright, composer, and novelist whose work reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He became Asia’s first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. Sadhana is a collection of essays, most of which he gave before the Harvard University, describing Indian beliefs, philosophy and culture from different viewpoints, often making comparison with Western thought and culture. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Rabindranath Tagore, religion, The Sadhana: Realisation of Life

Le Morte d’Arthur (spelled Le Morte Darthur in the first printing and also in some modern editions, Middle French for la mort d’Arthur, “the death of Arthur”) is Sir Thomas Malory’s compilation of some French and English Arthurian romances. The book contains some of Malory’s own original material (the Gareth story) and retells the older stories in light of Malory’s own views and interpretations. First published in 1485 by William Caxton, Le Morte d’Arthur is perhaps the best-known work of English-language Arthurian literature today. Many modern Arthurian writers have used Malory as their source, including T. H. White for his popular The Once and Future King.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Le Morte d'Arthur, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Myths/Legends, romance, Sir Thomas Malory

Since this series of books is intended for all young people from one to one hundred, it opens with about eighty of the old MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES. Nothing better was ever invented to tell to little folks who are young enough for lullabies. Their rhythm, their humor, and their pith will always cause us to prize them as the Babies’ Classics. Editors: Hamilton Wright Mabie, Edward Everett Hale, William Byron Forbush.(Gutenberg Text)

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Childhood's Favorites and Fairy Stories, ebooks, Fairy tales, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, various

The shortest novel by far of Charles Dickens’, Hard Times is also one of his most idea based works. In it, he launches a scathing attack on the prevailing fashion of believing in Utilitarianism, a philosophy that proposed the goal of society should be “the greatest good for the greatest number of people.” Dickens felt that such a philosophy saw people as mere statistics and not as individuals. The novel was published in serial form in his magazine Household Words. It is also the only novel where London is not featured. Set mainly in the fictional industrial town of Coketown, the book is divided into three sections “Sowing,” “Reaping” and “Garnering.” It tells the story of a wealthy, retired industrialist, Thomas Gradgrind. His two children are brought up according to strict Utilitarian principles and their teaching is completely devoid of imagination and compassion. When the elder Gradgrind takes in an orphan called Sissy, events are set to take a turn. The Gradgrind children are completely under their father’s control. As they grow, the son becomes a dissolute wastrel, while the daughter is compelled to marry a man thirty years her senior. How the Gradgrinds resolve these issues and how they begin to understand the true value of human life makes up the rest of the story. Filled with memorable characters, as are all Dickens’ novels, Hard Times is also the writer’s attempt to reveal the dark side of the Industrial Revolution. Dickens was also trying to show that morality and wealth do not necessarily coexist. The overwhelming obsession with scientific temper, the worship of facts, the practical and materialistic ethos that was pervading the country in the Victorian era at the cost of all that was imaginative, humane and spiritual are other things that the writer was deeply concerned with. Hard Times besides being Dickens’ shortest work, is devoid of a preface and illustrations unlike all his other books. As a social protest novel, Hard Times also reflects the rapidly changing nature of society in Victorian England. The rise of a newly rich class, arrogant in their power to purchase anything and everything, completely devoid of social graces and the right pedigree was a phenomenon that bewildered many of the older generation. The world was also undergoing great periods of political unrest. Europe was changing and so was America which was then in the grip of the Civl War. Set against this background, Hard Times is a vivid portrayal of the era. Tinged with dark humour and satire, this is indeed a great read for young and old readers!

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Charles Dickens, ebooks, free audio books, Hard Times, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com

Born in slavery, but being fortunate enough to be owned by a benevolent mistress, her life takes a tragic turn when her parents and her benefactor die. The new heir to the property (and slaves) is a cruel and lewd man who begins to make inappropriate advances to the lovely young slave-girl. In a bid to escape, she becomes entangled in a relationship with a neighboring landowner who promises a better life, and she even has two children. However, things become worse for her when her cruel owner decides to punish her by sending her and her children to a distant cotton plantation to be “broken in.” She plans a devious method of escape and ends up spending seven terrible years locked up in a tiny cramped garret. Relentlessly pursued by her wicked owner, she lives in fear and desperation. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself is one of the many slave narratives that emerged out of the terrible and inhuman atrocities committed in the nineteenth century by white Americans. Modern-day readers would find it difficult to believe that such practices existed in the “Land of the Free.” Assisted by abominable laws like the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 endorsed by Congress, slave-owners were allowed to pursue their “property” across the length and breadth of the country. Though there have been doubts about the authenticity of Incidents in the Life… by scholars who feel the style and content do not seem to synchronize with the attributes that a woman-slave of the period could have, there is no denying the fact that this is a powerful and thought-provoking story. There are many similarities to the more famous Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the book that is supposed to have launched the American Civil War. A very stirring and poignant read for all those who value their freedom today.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Memoirs, Non-fiction, Written by Herself

Cattle Brands is a collection of 14 entertaining short stories depicting not only the life of cowboys in the wild, wild West, but also the harrowing skirmishes with banditos, thrilling shoot-outs, attempt at and the recapture of stolen chattel from fierce desperados, and much, much more exciting accounts that make one think it all actually happened.

Categories: Arts

Tags: Adventure, Andy Adams, audio books, audiobook, Cattle Brands, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, westerns

The Burgess Bird Book for Children is a zoology book written in the form of a story featuring Peter Rabbit. Peter learns from his friend Jenny Wren all about the birds of North America, and we meet many of them in the Old Orchard, the Green Meadow, and the Green Forest.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: animals, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, nature, Non-fiction, science, The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Thornton W. Burgess

Arsène Lupin returns in a wonderful story of disguises, love, and of course treasure. Once again, Lupin crosses paths with the famous Holmlock Shears. But this time Arsène matches wits with Isidore Beautrelet, Sixth-form Schoolboy. Every step that Lupin takes has Beautrelet right on his heels. Has Lupin finally met his match? Will Beautrelet discover the secret of the Hollow Needle? And has the gentleman burglar met another match as well, one who will lead him away from his life of crime forever?

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Maurice Leblanc, MYSTERY, The Hollow Needle: Further Adventures of Arsène Lupin

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 psychology, and Julien Benda’s preachment on the relations between God and the world. [Summary written by Gary Gilberd]

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, George Santayana, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Some Turns of Thought in Modern Philosophy

Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases is a practical handbook written by Grenville Kleiser. Grenville is known for his writings on humor, positive thinking and inspirational thought. This serves as a handbook of pertinent expressions, striking similes and terms for embellishing speech and literature. This book can be used to improve vocabulary for reading, writing and speaking alike. Through mastery of words, the most powerful and perfect expression of thought can be delivered orally. Choosing the correct words conveys ideas in a crisp and clear way that will hold and audience’s attention. Language can also act as an instrument to reach the human heart and awaken the soul. The author spent years of his life to provide the correct expressions in speech and in writing to help people convey their message excellently and extraordinarily. He has provided a means to increase the vocabulary of a person by practical methodology. This book forms the basis for speaking in a pleasing manner. Practice makes perfect and so here studying this book would surely make anyone an eloquent speaker. Do read this book if you want to master public speaking and develop the mental traits of clarity, exactness and precision.

Categories: Arts, Education

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases, free audio books, Grenville Kleiser, Languages, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction

The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, is an English Protestant account of the persecutions of Protestants, many of whom had died for their beliefs within the decade immediately preceding its first publication. It was first published by John Day, in 1563. Lavishly illustrated with many woodcuts, it was the largest publishing project undertaken in Britain up to that time. Commonly known as, “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs”, the work’s full title begins with “Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church.” There were many subsequent editions, by Day, and by other editors down through the years. Foxe’s original work was enormous (the second edition filling two heavy folio volumes with a total of 2,300 pages, estimated to be twice as long as Edward Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” This edition is much abridged from Foxe’s original. Proofed by Heart of Texas, coordinated and produced by Karen Merline.

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

Tags: A History of the Lives, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Foxe's Book of Martyrs, free audio books, History, John Foxe, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, religion

Extraterrestrial invasion, the earth taken over by omniscient intelligences from Mars, the whole of humanity under siege and a nameless narrator who seems to be the lone survivor of the complete devastation of human civilization – scenes from a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster? Far from it! The War of the Worlds by HG Wells was written more than a century ago and went on to become an iconic work in the science fiction genre, spawning a whole new genre of literature featuring alien invaders. It was in fact the first book to present the idea of conflict between inhabitants of different planets. The story begins in an observatory in Ottershaw, when scientists note a series of mysterious explosions taking place on Mars. Some days later, the narrator who is on a walk on the Surrey Downs notices a weird cylindrical vehicle that suddenly opens to release a horde of hideous creatures who are later discovered to be Martians. The creatures are unable to breathe Earth’s air and swiftly return to their vehicle. A peace delegation of humans tries to make contact but they’re ruthlessly scorched to death by Martian heat-ray weapons. Thus begins the War of the Worlds. The British military swings into action, but their arms and ammunition are defenseless against sophisticated chemical weapons and heat-rays. Events race towards calamity as the nations of the earth unite to combat these fearful invaders to no avail. Survivors are reduced to scavenging for food with the cities of the world reduced to mere rubble. Can the human race survive? Will the narrator and his family escape destruction? The author, HG Wells was a science teacher in a small village in Somerset, England. However, he was also a gifted writer who wrote in several genres – science fiction, literary novels, short stories, history, politics and social sciences. A keen student of war and combat, he created a set of rules for playing war games with toy soldiers, which provides an interesting glimpse of logistics, strategy and close combat techniques. Wells’ contribution to our ideas of science fiction remains unparalleled and the book has been widely filmed, staged and televised. The War of the Worlds was immortalized as a Halloween prank in a radio show that aired on CBS on October 30, 1938, causing widespread panic and chaos as listeners across the United States tuned in and began fleeing from their homes! The enduring appeal of this book makes it a must read classic for readers of all ages. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: art, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, H. G. Wells, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, science, science-fiction, The War of the Worlds, War stories

“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts,” is one of the quotes from James Allen’s classic self help books, As a Man Thinketh. Published in 1902, it provides many more such insightful concepts on the power of thought and its effect on a human being’s personality and behavior. This volume is more of a literary essay than a complete book and its title is based on a Biblical proverb, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Taking this piece of ancient wisdom further, James Allen explores the far-reaching effects of the inner workings of a person’s mind and motivation. He proposes that projecting one’s own desires, goals and needs in the outer world can provide clues to a person’s character. Thinking and the subconscious mind are assumed to be hidden from the outside world, and hence powerless to change the course of events or circumstances of one’s life. However, in this book, Allen presents ideas that can harness this subterranean force and bend our lives to our will if we so choose. James Allen was a British writer who wrote mostly about everyday philosophy for the lay person and was in a sense, a pioneer of the self help movement. His books and poems were inspirational pieces, meant to help people realize their own powers and take charge of their lives rather than being mere tools in the hands of destiny. Born in a working class family in Leicester, England, Allen and his younger brother grew up in straitened circumstances. His father, a factory worker, traveled to America in search of a better job, but was tragically attacked and killed by criminals in New York. James, the older son, was compelled to leave school and seek work back in England. He found employment as a secretary to a stationer and later worked as a journalist. He later discovered a deep and enduring interest in spiritual matters when he began working as a writer with a magazine devoted to spiritual themes. His first book From Poverty to Power was published in 1901. Subsequently, he also launched his own spiritual magazine. As a Man Thinketh was his third and most famous book. It became an instant bestseller and the sales of this tiny volume were so great that they allowed Allen and his family to retire to the country, buy a house and live in relative comfort for the rest of their life. The book’s language is very simple and the message presented here will certainly provide a basis for further thought and meditation. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: As a Man Thinketh, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, James Allen, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Psychology