KHMER STRIKE CULTURE

philosophy ebooks free librarys

2010-02-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

by N/A
This superb text is a great reference work for anyone interested in philosophy and the study thereof. Its the TomeRaider equivalent of having Plato and Wittgenstein as your best buddies.

Download Dictionary of Philosophy ( 846.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by John Stuart Mill

GENERAL REMARKS.

There are few circumstances among those which make up the present condition of human knowledge, more unlike what might have been expected, or more significant of the backward state in which speculation on the most important subjects still lingers, than the little progress which has been made in the decision of the controversy respecting the criterion of right and wrong. From the dawn of philosophy, the question concerning the summum bonum , or, what is the same thing, concerning the foundation of morality, has been accounted the main problem in speculative thought, has occupied the most gifted intellects, and divided them into sects and schools, carrying on a vigorous warfare against one another. And after more than two thousand years the same discussions continue, philosophers are still ranged under the same contending banners, and neither thinkers nor mankind at large seem nearer to being unanimous on the subject, than when the youth Socrates listened to the old Protagoras, and asserted (if Plato's dialogue be grounded on a real conversation) the theory of utilitarianism against the popular morality of the so-called sophist.
It is true that similar

Download Utilitarianism ( 69.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by N/A

This is all of the works of Plato, including Wikipedia summaries, analysis and references. Whether you are studying philosophy or just want to have read The Republic or Theateatus, then this awesome collection is a first in electronic format.

Download Plato Complete ( 1.8MB )

Downcleckhere

by N/A

Download Plato Complete ( 1.8MB )

Downcleckhere

by Rene Descartes

If your looking for a good book to start reading about western philosophy then you cannot go far wrong with this. The Meditations involve Descartes' forced descent into total doubt and then clawing his way back with a line of thought so convincing that it can astound. Its racey, never booring, and something that to be really grasped will require more than one reading.

Download Meditations by Rene Descartes ( 70.6KB )

Downcleckhere

by Aristotle
1
EVERY art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim. But a certain difference is found among ends; some are activities, others are products apart from the activities that produce them. Where there are ends apart from the actions, it is the nature of the products to be better than the activities. Now, as there are many actions, arts, and sciences, their ends also are many; the end of the medical art is health, that of shipbuilding a vessel, that of strategy victory, that of economics wealth. But where such arts fall under a single capacity- as bridle-making and the other arts concerned with the equipment of horses fall under the art of riding, and this and every military action under strategy, in the same way other arts fall under yet others- in all of these the ends of the master arts are to be preferred to all the subordinate ends; for it is for the sake of the former that the latter are pursued. It makes no difference whether the activities themselves are the ends of the actions, or something else apart from the activities, as in the case

Download Nicomachean Ethics ( 183.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by N/A
The Wikipedia contains some fascinating and well discussed articles on philosophy and philosophers. In this e-book, ten articles have been selected that should prove interesting and informative reading to most, philosopher or non-philosopher alike.

This is a Wikitome which means it "Plays for free" in all unregistered versions of TomeRaider.

Download Philosophy Wikitome ( 725.5KB )

Downcleckhere

by Friedrich Nietzsche
Plucky German philosopher moans about bedsores. Can you write a better review of this book?

Download Beyond Good and Evil ( 45.5KB )

Downcleckhere

by PHYLOS
"Why not?" I asked myself, pausing amidst the snow on the mountain, there so far above the sea that the Storm King was ever supreme, even while summer reigned below. "Am I not an Atlan, a Poseid, and is not that name synonymous with freedom, honor, power? Is not this, my native land, the most glorious beneath the sun? Beneath Incal?" Again I queried:--"Why not, aye, why not strive to become one amongst the foremost in my proud country?"

"Poseid is the Queen of the Sea, yea, and of the world also, since all nations pay tribute of praise and commerce to us--all emulate us. To rule in Poseid, then, is not that virtually to rule over all the earth? Therefore will I strive to grasp thc prize, and I will do it, too! And thou, O pale, cold moon, bear witness of my resolve"--I cried aloud, raising my hands to heaven--"And ye also, ye glittering diamonds of the sky."

If resolute effort could insure success, I usually achieved whatever end I determined to attain. So there I made my vows at a great height above the ocean, and above the plain which stretched away westward two thousand miles to Caiphul, the Royal City. So high was it, that all about and below me lay peaks and mountain ranges, vast in themselves, but dwarfed beside the apex whereon I stood.

Download A Dweller on Two Planets ( 1013.6KB )

Downcleckhere

by John Bagnell Bury
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND THE FORCES AGAINST IT (INTRODUCTORY)
IT is a common saying that thought is free. A man can never be hindered from thinking whatever he chooses so long as he conceals what he thinks. The working of his mind is limited only by the bounds of his experience and the power of his imagination. But this natural liberty of private thinking is of little value. It is unsatisfactory and even painful to the thinker himself, if he is not permitted to communicate his thoughts to others, and it is obviously of no value to his neighbours. Moreover it is extremely difficult to hide thoughts that have any power over the mind. If a man’s thinking leads him to call in question ideas and customs which regulate the behaviour of those about him, to reject beliefs which they hold, to see better ways of life than those they follow, it is almost [8] impossible for him, if he is convinced of the truth of his own reasoning, not to betray by silence, chance words, or general attitude that he is different from them and does not share their opinions. Some have preferred, like Socrates, some would prefer to-day, to face death rather than conceal their thoughts. Thus freedom of thought,

Download A History of Freedom of Thought ( 151.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by David Hume et al
OF THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF PHILOSOPHY.
1. Moral philosophy, or the science of human nature, may be treated after two different manners; each of which has its peculiar merit, and may contribute to the entertainment, instruction, and reformation of mankind. The one considers man chiefly as born for action; and as influenced in his measures by taste and sentiment; pursuing one object, and avoiding another, according to the value which these objects seem to possess, and according to the light in which they present themselves. As virtue, of all objects, is allowed to be the most valuable, this species of philosophers paint her in the most amiable colours; borrowing all helps from poetry and eloquence, and treating their subject in an easy and obvious manner, and such as is best fitted to please the imagination, and engage the affections. They select the most striking observations and instances from common life; place opposite characters in a proper contrast; and alluring us into the paths of virtue by the views of glory and happiness, direct our steps in these paths by the soundest precepts and most illustrious examples. They make us feel the difference between vice and virtue; they

Download An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding ( 156.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Herbert George Wells
This book sets out as forcibly and exactly as possible the religious belief of the writer. That belief is not orthodox Christianity; it is not, indeed, Christianity at all; its core nevertheless is a profound belief in a personal and intimate God. There is nothing in its statements that need shock or offend anyone who is prepared for the expression of a faith different from and perhaps in several particulars opposed to his own. The writer will be found to be sympathetic with all sincere religious feeling. Nevertheless it is well to prepare the prospective reader for statements that may jar harshly against deeply rooted mental habits. It is well to warn him at the outset that the departure from accepted beliefs is here no vague scepticism, but a quite sharply defined objection to dogmas very widely revered. Let the writer state the most probable occasion of trouble forthwith. An issue upon which this book will be found particularly uncompromising is the dogma of the Trinity. The writer is of opinion that the Council of Nicaea, which forcibly crystallised the controversies of two centuries and formulated the creed upon which all the existing Christian churches are based, was one

Download God The Invisible King ( 106.7KB )

Downcleckhere

by D.L. Murray

Mr. Murray's youthful modesty insists that his study of Pragmatism needs a sponsor; this is not at all my own opinion, but I may take the opportunity of pointing out how singularly qualified he is to give a good account of it.
In the first place he is young, and youth is an almost indispensable qualification for the appreciation of novelty; for the mind works more and more stiffly as it grows older, and becomes less and less capable of absorbing what is new. Hence, if our 'great authorities' lived for ever, they would become complete Struldbrugs . This is the justification of death from the standpoint of social progress. And as there is no subject in which Struldbruggery is more rampant than in philosophy, a youthful and nimble mind is here particularly needed. It has given Mr. Murray an eye also to the varieties of Pragmatism and to their connections.
Secondly, Mr. Murray has (like myself) enjoyed the advantage of a severely intellectualistic training in the classical philosophy of Oxford University, and in its premier college, Balliol. The aim of this training is to instil into the best minds the country produces an adamantine conviction that philosophy has

Download Pragmatism ( 50.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by Peter B. Kyne
Mr. Alden P. Ricks, known in Pacific Coast wholesale lumber and shipping circles as Cappy Ricks, had more troubles than a hen with ducklings. He remarked as much to Mr. Skinner, president and general manager of the Ricks Logging & Lumbering Company, the corporate entity which represented Cappy's vast lumber interests; and he fairly barked the information at Captain Matt Peasley, his son-in-law and also president and manager of the Blue Star Navigation Company, another corporate entity which represented the Ricks interest in the American mercantile marine.
Mr. Skinner received this information in silence. He was not related to Cappy Ricks. But Matt Peasley sat down, crossed his legs and matched glares with his mercurial father-in-law.
" You have troubles!" he jeered, with emphasis on the pronoun. "Have you got a misery in your back, or is Herbert Hoover the wrong man for Secretary of Commerce?"
"Stow your sarcasm, young feller," Cappy shrilled. "You know dad-blamed well it isn't a question of health or politics. It's the fact that in my old age I find myself totally surrounded by the choicest aggregation of mental duds since Ajax defied the lightning."

Download The Go-Getter ( 34.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
LUCY.
It lay down in a hollow, rich with fine old timber and luxuriant pastures; and you came upon it through an avenue of limes, bordered on either side by meadows, over the high hedges of which the cattle looked inquisitively at you as you passed, wondering, perhaps, what you wanted; for there was no thorough-fare, and unless you were going to the Court you had no business there at all.
At the end of this avenue there was an old arch and a clock tower, with a stupid, bewildering clock, which had only one hand—and which jumped straight from one hour to the next—and was therefore always in extremes. Through this arch you walked straight into the gardens of Audley Court.
A smooth lawn lay before you, dotted with groups of rhododendrons, which grew in more perfection here than anywhere else in the county. To the right there were the kitchen gardens, the fish-pond, and an orchard bordered by a dry moat, and a broken ruin of a wall, in some places thicker than it was high, and everywhere overgrown with trailing ivy, yellow stonecrop, and dark moss. To the left there was a broad graveled walk, down which, years ago, when the place had been a convent, the

Download Lady Audley's Secret ( 377.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by Frederic William Farrar
On the banks of the Baetis--the modern Guadalquiver,--and under the woods that crown the southern slopes of the Sierra Morena, lies the beautiful and famous city of Cordova. It had been selected by Marcellus as the site of a Roman colony; and so many Romans and Spaniards of high rank chose it for their residence, that it obtained from Augustus the honourable surname of the "Patrician Colony." Spain, during this period of the Empire, exercised no small influence upon the literature and politics of Rome. No less than three great Emperors--Trajan, Hadrian, and Theodosius,--were natives of Spain. Columella, the writer on agriculture, was born at Cadiz; Quintilian, the great writer on the education of an orator, was born at Calahorra; the poet Martial was a native of Bilbilis; but Cordova could boast the yet higher honour of having given birth to the Senecas, an honour which won for it the epithet of "The Eloquent." A ruin is shown to modern travellers which is popularly called the House of Seneca, and the fact is at least a proof that the city still retains some memory of its illustrious sons.
Marcus Annaeus Seneca, the father of the philosopher, was by rank

Download Seekers after God ( 240.6KB )

Downcleckhere

by Epictetus
Of things some are in our power, and others are not. In our power are opinion ([Greek: hupolaepsis]), movement towards a thing ([Greek: hormae]), desire, aversion ([Greek: echchlisis]), turning from a thing; and in a word, whatever are our acts. Not in our power are the body, property, reputation, offices (magisterial power), and in a word, whatever are not our own acts. And the things in our power are by nature free, not subject to restraint or hindrance; but the things not in our power are weak, slavish, subject to restraint, in the power of others. Remember then, that if you think the things which are by nature slavish to be free, and the things which are in the power of others to be your own, you will be hindered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, you will blame both gods and men; but if you think that only which is your own to be your own, and if you think that what is another's, as it really is, belongs to another, no man will ever compel you, no man will hinder you, you will never blame any man, you will accuse no man, you will do nothing involuntarily (against your will), no man will harm you, you will have no enemy, for you will not suffer any harm.
If then

Download A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus With the Encheiridion ( 25KB )

Downcleckhere

History

A vast catalogue of history ebooks are available free, exclusively to TomeRaider ebook users. Read some timeless masterpieces such as Mein Kampf (The Struggle), The Magna Carta(1215 A.D.), An Account of Egypt by Herodotus in which Herodotus narrates account of Egyptian life after the invasion by the Persians.

by Adolf Hitler

Hitler's famous prison writings of 1923--the bible of national socialism and the blueprint for the Third Reich. Mein Kampf (English: My Struggle) is a book by the German-Austrian Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, which merge elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's National Socialist political ideology.

When Mein Kampf was published in 1925, it was a failure. In 1926 a second volume appeared - it was no more successful than the first. People either laughed at it or ignored it. They were wrong to do so. As Hitler's power increased, pressure was put on all party members to buy the book. Gradually this pressure was extended to all elements of the German population. Soon Mein Kampf was even being passed out to newlywed couples as a gift. Ironically, and frighteningly, by the time Hitler came to power on January 30, 1933, what has been considered by many to be the most satanic book ever written was running neck and neck with the Bible at the top of the German bestseller lists.

We would be wrong in thinking that such a program, such a man, and such appalling consequences could not reappear in our world of the present. We cannot permit our selves the luxury of forgetting the tragedy of World War II or the man who, more than any other, fostered it. Mein Kampf must be read and constantly remembered as a specimen of evil demagoguery that people whenever men grow tired of thinking and acting for themselves. Mein Kampf is a blueprint for the age of chaos.

Download Mein Kampf (The Struggle) ( 685.5KB )

Downcleckhere

by Raymond D Swindell
There are times when a strange quirk of circumstances can awaken ones memory. One of these occurred at the Village Church Hall during a Bring and Buyï¿½ sale, where I saw lying on one of the tables a portable typewriter. Having not using one for many years, like a bull at a gate I bought it. When I got the machine home it was found that the ribbon was completely worn out. Going to an office supplies shop, I discovered that ribbons for that particular model were no longer available and so another brand of ribbon had to be converted to fit. Now that the typewriter was working properly, I started to think about what it was going to be used for. Some years previously I had made up a photograph album of my years in uniform, so I decided to write the story of those years.
My tale begins in 1926, the year I was born. It was at the time of the great depression after the 1914-1918 War. We were a very poor family as our father was un-employed. He had served with The Leicestershire Regiment throughout that War, and when hostilities ceased he was retained in the Army of Occupation of Germany. Consequently when he was released there were no jobs left and there were thousands of un-employed. Mother

Download 15 years in uniform ( 42.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by P. H. Ditchfield
INTRODUCTION
Local histories—Ignorance and destruction—Advantages of the study of village antiquities—Description of an English village—The church— The manor-house—Prehistoric people—Later inhabitants—Saxons—Village inn—Village green—Legends.
To write a complete history of any village is one of the hardest literary labours which anyone can undertake. The soil is hard, and the crop after the expenditure of much toil is often very scanty. In many cases the records are few and difficult to discover, buried amidst the mass of papers at the Record Office, or entombed in some dusty corner of the Diocesan Registry. Days may be spent in searching for these treasures of knowledge with regard to the past history of a village without any adequate result; but sometimes fortune favours the industrious toiler, and he discovers a rich ore which rewards him for all his pains. Slowly his store of facts grows, and he is at last able to piece together the history of his little rural world, which time and the neglect of past generations had consigned to dusty oblivion.
In recent years several village histories have been

Download English Villages ( 4.4MB )

Downcleckhere

by na
The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the Charter.Amendments to Articles ">23 , ">27 and ">61 of the Charter were adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 1963 and came into force on 31 August 1965. A further amendment to Article ">61 was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 1971, and came into force on 24 September 1973. An amendment to Article ">109 , adopted by the General Assebmly on 20 December 1965, came into force on 12 June 1968.

The amendment to Article ">23 enlarges the membership of the Security Council from eleven to fifteen. The amended Article ">27 provides that decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members
(formerly seven) and on all other matters by an affirmative vote of nine members (formerly seven), including the concurring votes of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

The amendment to Article ">61 , which entered

Download United Nations Charter ( 28KB )

Downcleckhere

by na

Europe had tremendous impact over the course of United States history. Europeans "discovered" and colonized the North American continent, and even after they lost control they still continued to influence it.
Greece and Rome The Roman Empire The first significant civilizations of Europe formed in the second millennium BCE. By 800 BCE, the Greek city-states began to gain dominance over European civilization. By about 500 BCE, the state of Athens had created a democracy, but one that differs from today's democracies in certain respects.
Meanwhile, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BCE. Slowly, Rome grew and built its empire, which at various points included most of present-day Britain (a large part of Scotland never belonged to the empire), France (then known as Gaul), Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Palestine (Israel), Northern Arabia, Egypt, the Balkans, and the entire Northern coast of Africa.
By 180 CE, the Roman Empire began to disintegrate. The Emperors were overthrown and anarchy resulted. But Diocletian (243 - 316 CE), reinstated the Empire by 284 CE. The Empire was restored and continued to regain territory until 395 CE, when the

Download United States History ( 1.5MB )

Downcleckhere

by Carl von Clausewitz

THE Germans interpret their new national colours—black, red, and white—by the saying, "Durch Nacht und Blut zur licht." ("Through night and blood to light"), and no work yet written conveys to the thinker a clearer conception of all that the red streak in their flag stands for than this deep and philosophical analysis of "War" by Clausewitz.
It reveals "War," stripped of all accessories, as the exercise of force for the attainment of a political object, unrestrained by any law save that of expediency, and thus gives the key to the interpretation of German political aims, past, present, and future, which is unconditionally necessary for every student of the modern conditions of Europe. Step by step, every event since Waterloo follows with logical consistency from the teachings of Napoleon, formulated for the first time, some twenty years afterwards, by this remarkable thinker.
What Darwin accomplished for Biology generally Clausewitz did for the Life-History of Nations nearly half a century before him, for both have proved the existence of the same law in each case, viz., "The survival of the fittest"—the "fittest," as Huxley long since pointed

Download On War ( 264.3KB )

Downcleckhere

by na
Introduction
The purpose of this volume is to give the reader a broad historic overview of the period from the high middle ages to the present day, roughly AD 1000 and AD 2000. This is, of course, a somewhat arbitrary period, but not a wholly unuseful one; whilst the early middle ages see a contraction of the urbanised societies of Europe, the eleventh century sees a consolidation of many states and the growth of their military power. The eleventh century is, then, a useful starting point, as it forms the historical background to European ascendency in the modern world.
As a pretext to this reading, please consider the following question: "What skills do I need to think historically?" Carl G. Gustavson, in his book A Preface to History , directly addresses this, and offers insight as to what a person should do to think historically.

Thinking Historically Minded Throughout this reading, a historically minded person will ask him or herself:
What motivated this person to act? What were the prevailing attitudes at the time regarding this issue? How did previous events cause this one? What are similar events and how did they turn out? How will this event matter

Download A Survey of Modern European History ( 2.1MB )

Downcleckhere

by na
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative;

Download US Constitution and Amendments ( 22.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by N/A
OK... here is the thing. In Google video or get it on ebay but go watch Loose Change 911 about the attacks. Then you should do some online research and test and challenge the facts in the Loose Change Film. Then you should download this TomeRaider file and then you should read it. And as you are reading it think: "Mmmmm ya, de TomeRaider am gooooood."

Description Submitted By: Kent Larson

Download The 9/11 Commission Report ( 741.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by Logan Marshall
Dedication
To the 1635 souls who were lost with the ill-fated Titanic, and especially to those heroic men, who, instead of trying to save themselves, stood aside that women and children might have their chance; of each of them let it be written, as it was written of a Greater One-- "He Died that Others might Live"

"I stood in unimaginable trance
And agony that cannot be remembered." --COLERIDGE

Dr. Van Dyke's Spiritual Consolation to the Survivors
April 18, 1912

The Titanic, greatest of ships, has gone to her ocean grave. What has she left behind her? Think clearly.
She has left debts. Vast sums of money have been lost. Some of them are covered by insurance which will be paid. The rest is gone. All wealth is insecure.
She has left lessons. The risk of running the northern course when it is menaced by icebergs is revealed. The cruelty of sending a ship to sea without enough life-boats and life-rafts to hold her company is exhibited and underlined in black.
She has left sorrows. Hundreds of human hearts and homes are in mourning for the loss of dear companions and friends. The universal sympathy which is written in every face and

Download The Sinking of the Titanic ( 184.6KB )

Downcleckhere

by A.F.Pollard
THE BREACH OF THE PEACE
On 28 June 1914 the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the Hapsburg throne, was shot in the streets of Serajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia. Redeemed by the Russo-Turkish war of 1876-7 from Ottoman rule, Bosnia had by the Congress of Berlin in 1878 been entrusted to Austrian administration; but in 1908, fearing lest a Turkey rejuvenated by the Young Turk revolution should seek to revive its claims on Bosnia, the Austrian Government annexed on its own authority a province confided to its care by a European mandate. This arbitrary act was only challenged on paper at the time; but the striking success of Serbia in the Balkan wars of 1912-13 brought out the dangers and defects of Austrian policy. For the Serbs were kin to the great majority of the Bosnian people and to millions of other South Slavs who were subject to the Austrian crown and discontented with its repressive government; and the growing prestige of Serbia bred hopes and feelings of Slav nationality on both sides of the Hapsburg frontier. The would-be and the real assassins of the Archduke, while technically Austrian subjects, were Slavs by birth, and the murder brought

Download A Short History of the Great War ( 342.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Martin Luther King, Jr

Download I have a dream ( 14.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by King John of England
The document that not only defined law and liberty and rights to the english speaking world but also gave rise to an entire Japanese comic movement.

There are things in here that we have had, that it isnt clear now, if we still have.

Download The Magna Carta(1215 A.D.) ( 14KB )

Downcleckhere

by The Manhattan Engineer District
This report describes the effects of the atomic bombs which were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. It summarizes all the authentic information that is available on damage to structures, injuries to personnel, morale effect, etc., which can be released at this time without prejudicing the security of the United States.

This report has been compiled by the Manhattan Engineer District of the United States Army under the direction of Major General Leslie R. Groves. tomic explosions,
Majors

Download The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ( 62.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by Leonard Charles Eades
If you look at a map you will see the island of Crete is a long strip of land lying across the Southern end of the Aegean Sea and 300 miles from Alexandria. Bomber aircraft based on Crete could control all shipping in the Aegean; therefore after the fall of Greece it was essential to the Germans to take the island. It is a rugged mountainous country with one good airfield at Maleme and a place that could be used in an emergency at Heraklion. After the fall of Greece it was decided that air defence of the island was not practicable for a number of reasons. Firstly there were no good harbours or transport for large supplies, secondly there was only one airfield which was bound to be the object of the enemy's attack and if that fell, they must fly to Alexandria 300 miles away. Thirdly there were very few fighters and they could not be replaced in time to defend Alexandria itself. So the fighter force was withdrawn. The anti-aircraft defences were also scanty. At that time, we were expecting an invasion of England and rightly or wrongly, we kept most of our men and material at home. Added to that we had lost a lot of material in Greece, and with the Libyan air bases in enemy hands,

Download Battle of Crete 1941 ( 53.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by P. M. Hough
Chapter I
There is in human affairs a reason for everything we see, although not always reason in everything. It is the part of the historian to seek in the archives of a nation the reasons for the facts of common experience and observation, it is the part of the philosopher to moralize upon antecedent causes and present results. Neither of these positions is taken up by the author of this little book. He merely, as a rule, gives the picture of Dutch life now to be seen in the Netherlands, and in all things tries to be scrupulously fair to a people renowned for their kindness and courtesy to the stranger in their midst.
And this strikes one first about Holland--that everything, except the old Parish Churches, the Town Halls, the dykes and the trees, is in miniature. The cities are not populous, the houses are not large, the canals are not wide, and one can go from the most northern point in the country to the most southern, or from the extreme east to the extreme west, in a single day, and, if it be a summer's day, in day-light , while from the top of the tower of the Cathedral at Utrecht one can look over a large part of the land.

Types of Zeeland Women.
As

Download Dutch Life in Town and Country ( 2.6MB )

Downcleckhere

by C. A. Fyffe
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION OF THE FIRST VOLUME. [1]

In revising this volume for the second edition I have occupied myself mainly with two sources of information-the unpublished Records of the English Foreign Office, and the published works which have during recent years resulted from the investigation of the Archives of Vienna. The English Records from 1792 to 1814, for access to which I have to express my thanks to Lord Granville, form a body of firsthand authority of extraordinary richness, compass, and interest. They include the whole correspondence between the representatives of Great Britain at Foreign Courts and the English Foreign Office; a certain number of private communications between Ministers and these representatives; a quantity of reports from consuls, agents, and "informants" of every description; and in addition to these the military reports, often admirably vivid and full of matter, sent by the British officers attached to the head-quarters of our Allies in most of the campaigns from 1792 to 1814. It is impossible that any one person should go through the whole of this material, which it took the Diplomatic Service a quarter of a century to

Download History of Modern Europe 1792-1878 ( 1.1MB )

Downcleckhere

by Herodotus
HERODOTUS was born at Halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of Asia Minor, in the early part of the fifth century, B. C. Of his life we know almost nothing, except that he spent much of it traveling, to collect the material for his writings, and that he finally settled down at Thurii, in southern Italy, where his great work was composed. He died in 424 B. C.
The subject of the history of Herodotus is the struggle between the Greeks and the barbarians, which he brings down to the battle of Mycale in 479 B. C. The work, as we have it, is divided into nine books, named after the nine Muses, but this division is probably due to the Alexandrine grammarians. His information he gathered mainly from oral sources, as he traveled through Asia Minor, down into Egypt, round the Black Sea, and into various parts of Greece and the neighboring countries. The chronological narrative halts from time to time to give opportunity for descriptions of the country, the people, and their customs and previous history; and the political account is constantly varied by rare tales and wonders.
Among these descriptions of countries the most fascinating to the modern, as it was to the ancient, reader is his

Download An Account of Egypt ( 83.3KB )

Downcleckhere

by Thucydides

CHAPTER I

The State of Greece from the earliest Times to the Commencement of the Peloponnesian War

THUCYDIDES, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, beginning at the moment that it broke out, and believing that it would be a great war and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it. This belief was not without its grounds. The preparations of both the combatants were in every department in the last state of perfection; and he could see the rest of the Hellenic race taking sides in the quarrel; those who delayed doing so at once having it in contemplation. Indeed this was the greatest movement yet known in history, not only of the Hellenes, but of a large part of the barbarian world--I had almost said of mankind. For though the events of remote antiquity, and even those that more immediately preceded the war, could not from lapse of time be clearly ascertained, yet the evidences which an inquiry carried as far back as was practicable leads me to trust, all point to the conclusion that there was nothing on a great scale, either in war or in other matters.
For instance, it is evident that the country

Download The Peloponnesian War ( 480.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by Colonel James Churchward
I wish particularly to point out in the present volume that I am not giving the meanings of symbols in the vestments in which they are now garbed. I am giving their origin and original meanings.

Up to the time of Mu's submersion all symbols retained their original meanings. From the time of Mu's destruction I must pass over about 5,000 or 6,000 years. Those were years when seemingly no history was written except a few scraps in India and Egypt.

During this time mankind apparently was reviving and repeopling the earth, after its almost total destruction by the submersion of Mu and other lands and the subsequent formation of gas belts and mountains.

On entering Egypt 6,000 years ago we find that many of the original symbols had survived but were very much Egyptianized, especially in pattern or design, with an incomprehensible theology attached to them. A multitude of new ones had besides been added, most of them having esoteric or hidden meanings.

This confusion increased when Upper and Lower Egypt merged into one kingdom. The two peoples not only commingled personally, but also their two sets of symbols. Thus two sets were made into one without any being discarded. It meant at least two symbols for every conception. So great was the confusion of symbols in Egypt, 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, that hardly one-half of the priesthood understood those used in the temples of other cities, although they might be but a few miles away.

Download Sacred Symbols of Mu ( 2.7MB )

Downcleckhere

by na
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion

Download Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( 9.5KB )

Downcleckhere

by Edward Channing
THE EUROPEAN DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
Leif Ericson.

1. Leif Ericson discovers America, 1000. --In our early childhood many of us learned to repeat the lines:--
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
In fourteen hundred, ninety-two. Leif discovers America, 1000. Higginson , 25-30; American History Leaflets , No. 3.
We thought that he was the first European to visit America. But nearly five hundred years before his time Leif Ericson had discovered the New World. He was a Northman and the son of Eric the Red. Eric had already founded a colony in Greenland, and Leif sailed from Norway to make him a visit. This was in the year 1000. Day after day Leif and his men were tossed about on the sea until they reached an unknown land where they found many grape-vines. They called it Vinland or Wineland. They Then sailed northward and reached Greenland in safety. Precisely where Vinland was is not known. But it certainly was part of North America. Leif Ericson, the Northman, was therefore the real discoverer of America.
[Illustration: EUROPE, ICELAND, GREENLAND, AND NORTH AMERICA.]
Marco Polo, Cathay, and Cipango.
2. Early European Travelers. --The people of Europe

Download A Short History of the United States ( 1.5MB )

Downcleckhere

by James Anthony Froude

Map of GALLIA in the time of Caesar.
To the student of political history, and to the English student above all others, the conversion of the Roman Republic into a military empire commands a peculiar interest. Notwithstanding many differences, the English and the Romans essentially resemble one another. The early Romans possessed the faculty of self-government beyond any people of whom we have historical knowledge, with the one exception of ourselves. In virtue of their temporal freedom, they became the most powerful nation in the known world; and their liberties perished only when Rome became the mistress of conquered races, to whom she was unable or unwilling to extend her privileges. If England was similarly supreme, if all rival powers were eclipsed by her or laid under her feet, the Imperial tendencies, which are as strongly marked in us as our love of liberty, might lead us over the same course to the same end. If there be one lesson which history clearly teaches, it is this, that free nations cannot govern subject provinces. If they are unable or unwilling to admit their dependencies to share their own constitution, the constitution itself will fall in pieces from mere

Download Caesar: A Sketch ( 607.5KB )

Downcleckhere

by N/A
Collection of War Time memories is a collection of WW2 recollections taken from WW2 People's War. WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC.

Download War Time Memories ( 45.6MB )

by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF POMPEII.
'HO, Diomed, well met! Do you sup with Glaucus to-night?' said a young man of small stature, who wore his tunic in those loose and effeminate folds which proved him to be a gentleman and a coxcomb.
'Alas, no! dear Clodius; he has not invited me,' replied Diomed, a man of portly frame and of middle age. 'By Pollux, a scurvy trick! for they say his suppers are the best in Pompeii'.
'Pretty well—though there is never enough of wine for me. It is not the old Greek blood that flows in his veins, for he pretends that wine makes him dull the next morning.'
'There may be another reason for that thrift,' said Diomed, raising his brows. 'With all his conceit and extravagance he is not so rich, I fancy, as he affects to be, and perhaps loves to save his amphorae better than his wit.'
'An additional reason for supping with him while the sesterces last. Next year, Diomed, we must find another Glaucus.'
'He is fond of the dice, too, I hear.'
'He is fond of every pleasure; and while he likes the pleasure of giving suppers, we are all fond of him.'
'Ha, ha, Clodius, that is well said! Have you ever

Download The Last Days of Pompeii ( 408.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by Founding Fathers

Section 1 . All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2 . The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent

Download The United States' Constitution ( 16.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by V.C. Fairfield
It is a constant source of regret that I didnï¿½t pay more attention to my fatherï¿½s stories about the war. Its not that they werenï¿½t interesting, its just that Dad had a tendency to reminisce whenever there was a war film on or documentary, and he would interrupt our viewing by angrily disputing, with Mum usually, about what was not correct about the programme. For my sister and me it was irritating and we both developed a ï¿½deaf earï¿½. It was a great shame because in hindsight, what we should have done was to have encouraged him to jot down notes.
Both parents had their fair share of momentous experiences both good and bad during the war. Sadly both have now passed away and all we have are the old photos, letters and momentoes that relate to these times, times which were the most important of their lives.
As an overdue exercise and because of the importance of the massive contribution the actions of men like our Father made to the war effort, we would like to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the BBC. We would like to add our memories to their website and create a lasting record of the men who were connected with our father. We will document their experiences

Download 64th (7th London) Field Regiment Royal Artillery ( 195.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by CSV Action Desk/BBC Radio Lincolnshire

I remember being with my father listening to the radio when Neville Chamberlain the Prime Minister at that time said that we are now at war with Germany. I think that was Sunday morning September 3rd, 1939. I was seven and a half years old then. Next came the evacuees from Hull. These children arrived in Swineshead by coach and I remember it being a nice sunny day; they came early in September. There were twice as many children in Swineshead now and we only went to school for half days ; Swineshead kids mornings and Hull kids in the afternoons.

We now had the blackout. Nobody was allowed to show a chink of light from any house or building. Every window had to have extra blinds or curtains. All vehicles had to have dimmed lights and there were no street lights. It really was dark when there was no moon.

All men and women who had not gone into the military forces had to join some branch of the civil defence such as the Home Guard, ARP, AFS, WVS, ambulance service, police as special constables, the land army or work in munitions factories or coal mines, etc. My father worked on a farm by day but at night was a part time fire watcher. AN older teenage brother became

Download 1940's School Boy Memories ( 7.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by William E Alford

I was born on the 24th April 1920 and my mother was a country girl from Essex and my father was an Accountant from London. I had an older sister Mary born in 1915 and a younger sister born in 1929. I lived in and around London until commencement of the War in 1939.
I was a reasonably good athlete and I captained school teams at cricket and football, had a trial for Middlesex Juniors at cricket, sang in the church choir but at 12-14 I lost my voice after being top boy and “singing solos”. I ran at The White City in county sports.
I started work at 14 years old as an office boy and left that after a year to take up an apprenticeship with the GLCC for four years which took me up to the beginning of the War.
During my apprenticeship I did a spell of boxing but realised I didn’t like being knocked around so switched to sculling which I proved to be quite good at and also won a cup for all indoor sports in 1938. I played in the company football team and played badminton and table tennis.
Most of the chaps were called up to be fitters in the fleet air arm. I had my papers through first for the army so I thought as I had those before the fleet air arm I should

Download The Life of a Desert Rat ( 111.2KB )

Downcleckhere
by Kennedy McConnell
The portable encoding machine used by all German Forces during the 1939/1945 war was the ENIGMA. This ingenious electro-mechanical device was designed to transpose plain text messages into scrambled output before radio transmission. Because of its complex mechanism and variable circuitry, the Enigma could produce an astronomical number of permutations. The encoded text was made even more baffling by daily changes in settings. Consequently, the Germans remained convinced throughout the war that the Enigma codes could not be broken. Nevertheless, British cryptographers and engineers succeeded in doing so. The resultant intelligence, which was codenamed ULTRA, made a major contribution to the Allied victory.
The main components of the Enigma were the keyboard, lamp board, scrambler unit and plug board. The keyboard had the alphabet arranged in three rows, but there were no numbers or punctuation keys. The same three rows layout was repeated in the lamp board, but behind each letter was a 4.5 volts electric bulb. When the key was pressed then a letter was illuminated. The most important part of the machine was the scrambler unit, in which three interchangeable rotors were mounted

Download An Amazing Wartime Secret ( 65.4KB )

Downcleckhere
by Francis Parkman, Jr.
THE FRONTIER
Last spring, 1846, was a busy season in the City of St. Louis. Not only were emigrants from every part of the country preparing for the journey to Oregon and California, but an unusual number of traders were making ready their wagons and outfits for Santa Fe. Many of the emigrants, especially of those bound for California, were persons of wealth and standing. The hotels were crowded, and the gunsmiths and saddlers were kept constantly at work in providing arms and equipments for the different parties of travelers. Almost every day steamboats were leaving the levee and passing up the Missouri, crowded with passengers on their way to the frontier.
In one of these, the Radnor, since snagged and lost, my friend and relative, Quincy A. Shaw, and myself, left St. Louis on the 28th of April, on a tour of curiosity and amusement to the Rocky Mountains. The boat was loaded until the water broke alternately over her guards. Her upper deck was covered with large weapons of a peculiar form, for the Santa Fe trade, and her hold was crammed with goods for the same destination. There were also the equipments and provisions of a party of Oregon emigrants, a band of mules

Download The Oregon Trail ( 327.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by Milan Lorman

Only when a man knows his roots can he make sense of the course of his life.
I don't know if it has always been so, but in these our times, when the future is becoming the present every day even before the sun goes down, young people are, with rare exceptions, not showing any particular interest in the past. And that is a pity! We oldies, around my age, feel that something of value is lost forever when any part of the future is forgotten. And even greater calamity happens when into the memories of people is implanted some distorted version of the past.
I am similarly guilty in that I have not 'pestered'? my father during my childhood years to tell me more about his early life's experiences and beyond. Still, I am thankful that at least something about him and the Lorman family was entered into my memory banks, most probably second-hand, by my mother. So, if I now begin to tell the story, I shall start in the seventeenth century. Please don't go away, after only two or three sentences we shall be in the twentieth.
The rulers of Hungary have decided to open until then rather dormant mining activity in the mineral-rich northern highlands of the kingdom, in the territory of

Download Story of a Reluctant SS-Pioneer ( 55.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Ron West
My story has to begin to with my father: he was a remarkable man, in many senses. He worked down a coal mine in a pit somewhere in the Huddersfield area, where the family came from.
When he was about twelve or thirteen, pushing tubs down the mine, he would get paid coppers per week which he used to spend buying books, etc., to educate himself.
Story has it heï¿½d do maths on the back of a shovel with a piece of chalk, by the light of an oil lamp down the pit, and then he went to night school to pursue his education, eventually going to London University and gaining a BA and MA. He taught for many years, became a headmaster in the East End of London and then represented North Kensington as a Labour Member of Parliament for several years, and later on Hammersmith for another couple of years. He was a remarkable man, self taught, self educated.
My father was an ardent socialist and a pacifist. I was interested in aeroplanes at that time, which he regarded as bad. Aircraft, to him, were military objects. If I was caught reading an aircraft book, or making a model, then he would destroy it and send me to my room.
I'm afraid I wasn't brilliant at school. I did reasonably well,

Download Airplane Crazy ( 38.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by Henry Eldridge Bourne and Elbert Jay Benton
CHAPTER I
THE SCATTERED CHILDREN OF EUROPE

The Emigrant and what he brings to America . The emigrant who lands at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or any other seaport, brings with him something which we do not see. He may have in his hands only a small bundle of clothing and enough money to pay his railroad fare to his new home, but he is carrying another kind of baggage more valuable than bundles or boxes or a pocket full of silver or gold. This other baggage is the knowledge, the customs, and the memories he has brought from the fatherland.
He has already learned in Europe how to do the work at which he hopes to labor in America. In his native land he has been taught to obey the laws and to do his duty as a citizen. This fits him to share in our self-government. He also brings great memories, for he likes to think of the brave and noble deeds done by men of his race. If he is a religious man, he worships God just as his forefathers have for hundreds of years. To understand how the emigrant happens to know what he does and to be what he is, we must study the history of the country from which he comes.
All Americans are Emigrants . If this is true of

Download Introductory American History ( 2.1MB )

Downcleckhere

by Brian Armstrong
ï¿½HMS "Queen of Bermudaï¿½
Her First Commission
Commissioned at Belfast on 4th November 1939 by Captain M. Brock Birkett RN and superseded by Captain G.A.B. Hawkins RN, 12th December 1939 who was relieved by
Captain Allan Peachey RN at Freetown 24th April 1941.
J.D. Armstrong (Lt. Cdr. R.N.R. 1942)
Officers.
Captain Brock Birkett RN
Lieut. Cdr. G.T. McInnes RN
Lieut. Cdr. N.A.F. Kingscote RNR
Lieut. H.J. Aldiss RNR
Surn. Lieut J.C.Boyd RNVR
Lieut. J.D. Armstrong RNR
Mr. Kingswell Commissioned Gunner RN
------------**-----------
Captain G.A.B. Hawkins superseded
Captain Brock Birkett at Portsmouth December 1939
Left at Freetown:
Midshipman Smith RNR
Midshipman Toynbee RNR
Midshipman Stretton RNR
Midshipman Scott RNR
Joined ship at Portsmouth
Midshipman Barton RNR
Midshipman Battrick RNR
Midshipman Murray RNR
Lieut. R. Richards Brown RNR joined ship Buenos Aires
Commander G. Healey relieved McInnes at Durban in August
Sub Lieut Caldwell RNVR joined ship at Freetown vice Stretton (Sept 41)
T.124 Officers
S. Burns Temporary Commander

Download HMS Queen of Bermuda ( 224.3KB )

by Various
Earthquake and famine, fire and sudden death—these are the destroyers that men fear when they come singly; but upon the unhappy people of California they came together, a hideous quartette, to slay human beings, to blot from existence the wealth that represented prolonged and strenuous effort, to bring hunger and speechless misery to three hundred thousand homeless and terror-stricken people.
The full measure of the catastrophe can probably never be taken. The summary cannot be made amid the panic, the confusion, the removal of ancient landmarks, the complete subversion of the ordinary machinery of society. When chaos comes, as it did in San Francisco, and all the channels of familiar life are closed, and human anguish grows to be intolerable, compilation of statistics is impossible, even if it were not repugnant to the feelings. And when order is once more restored, after the lapse of many weeks, months and perhaps years, the details of the calamity have merged into one undecipherable mass of misery which defies the analyst and the historian. It is the purpose of this book faithfully to record the story of these awful days when years were lived in a moment and to

Download The San Francisco Calamity ( 319.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Alexis de Toqueville
In the eleven years that separated the Declaration of the Independence of the United States from the completion of that act in the ordination of our written Constitution, the great minds of America were bent upon the study of the principles of government that were essential to the preservation of the liberties which had been won at great cost and with heroic labors and sacrifices. Their studies were conducted in view of the imperfections that experience had developed in the government of the Confederation, and they were, therefore, practical and thorough.
When the Constitution was thus perfected and established, a new form of government was created, but it was neither speculative nor experimental as to the principles on which it was based. If they were true principles, as they were, the government founded upon them was destined to a life and an influence that would continue while the liberties it was intended to preserve should be valued by the human family. Those liberties had been wrung from reluctant monarchs in many contests, in many countries, and were grouped into creeds and established in ordinances sealed with blood,

Download Democracy In America, Volume 1 (of 2) ( 464.3KB )

Downcleckhere

by Robert Louis Stevenson

An affair which might be deemed worthy of a note of a few lines in any general history has been here expanded to the size of a volume or large pamphlet. The smallness of the scale, and the singularity of the manners and events and many of the characters, considered, it is hoped that, in spite of its outlandish subject, the sketch may find readers. It has been a task of difficulty. Speed was essential, or it might come too late to be of any service to a distracted country. Truth, in the midst of conflicting rumours and in the dearth of printed material, was often hard to ascertain, and since most of those engaged were of my personal acquaintance, it was often more than delicate to express. I must certainly have erred often and much; it is not for want of trouble taken nor of an impartial temper. And if my plain speaking shall cost me any of the friends that I still count, I shall be sorry, but I need not be ashamed.
In one particular the spelling of Samoan words has been altered; and the characteristic nasal n of the language written throughout ng instead of g . Thus I put Pango-Pango, instead of Pago-Pago; the sound being that of

Download A Footnote to History ( 167.7KB )

Downcleckhere

by James Wycliffe Headlam
BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.

Otto Eduard Leopold Von Bismarck was born at the manor-house of Schoenhausen, in the Mark of Brandenburg, on April 1, 1815. Just a month before, Napoleon had escaped from Elba; and, as the child lay in his cradle, the peasants of the village, who but half a year ago had returned from the great campaign in France, were once more called to arms. A few months passed by; again the King of Prussia returned at the head of his army; in the village churches the medals won at Waterloo were hung up by those of Grossbehren and Leipzig. One more victory had been added to the Prussian flags, and then a profound peace fell upon Europe; fifty years were to go by before a Prussian army again marched out to meet a foreign foe.
The name and family of Bismarck were among the oldest in the land. Many of the great Prussian statesmen have come from other countries: Stein was from Nassau, and Hardenberg was a subject of the Elector of Hanover; even Blücher and Schwerin were Mecklenburgers, and the Moltkes belong to Holstein. The Bismarcks are pure Brandenburgers; they belong to the old Mark, the district ruled over by the first Margraves who were sent by the Emperor

Download Bismarck and the Foundation of the German Empire ( 1.2MB )

Downcleckhere

by Gertrude W. Morrison
THE ODDEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED
"Well, if that isn't the oddest thing that ever happened!" murmured Laura Belding, sitting straight up on the stool before the high desk in her father's glass-enclosed office, from which elevation she could look down the long aisles of his jewelry store and out into Market Street, Centerport's main business thoroughfare.
But Laura was not looking down the vista of the electrically lighted shop and into the icy street. Instead, she gave her attention to that which lay right under her eyes upon the desk top. She looked first at the neat figures she had written upon the page of the day ledger, after carefully proving them, and thence at the packet of bills and piles of coin on the desk at her right hand.
"It is the oddest thing that ever happened," she affirmed, as though in answer to her own first declaration.
It was Saturday evening, and it was always Laura's duty to straighten out her father's books for him on that day, for although she was a high school girl, she was usually so well prepared in her studies that she could give the books proper attention weekly. Laura had taken a course in bookkeeping and she was quite familiar

Download The Girls of Central High Aiding the Red Cross ( 108.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by Edited by James D. Richardson
Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Va., on April 2 (old style), 1743. He was the oldest son of Peter Jefferson, who died in 1757. After attending private schools, he entered William and Mary College in 1760. In 1767 began the practice of the law. In 1769 was chosen to represent his county in the Virginia house of burgesses, a station he continued to fill up to the period of the Revolution. He married Mrs. Martha Skelton in 1772, she being a daughter of John Wayles, an eminent lawyer of Virginia. On March 12, 1773, was chosen a member of the first committee of correspondence established by the Colonial legislature. Was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1775; was placed on the Committee of Five to prepare the Declaration of Independence, and at the request of that committee he drafted the Declaration, which, with slight amendments, was adopted July 4, 1776. Resigned his seat in Congress and occupied one in the Virginia legislature in October, 1776. Was elected governor of Virginia by the legislature on June 1, 1779, to succeed Patrick Henry. Retired to private life at the end of his term as governor, but was the same year elected again to the

Download A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Thomas Jefferson ( 174.7KB )

Downcleckhere

by Len (Snowie) Baynes
Britain disarmed during the thirties, our pacific government deciding to rely on The League of Nations, with what was called 'Collective Security'.
Meanwhile, Germany was re-arming fast. Hitler and Mussolini joined forces, forming 'The Axis', and Hitler later made a non-aggression pact with Stalin. Too late, a couple of years only before war was declared, we decided to re-arm, without putting the nation on a war footing.
After war broke out late 1939, we sent all our available forces to help France defend her borders (The Maginot Line) against the anticipated German assault, and began all-out re-arming.
For several months Hitler consolidated his gains in Poland, Czechoslovakia etc. in what was called 'The Phoney War'. Then he quickly conquered the low countries, which left The Allies' flank exposed. The French defence rapidly collapsed, and after retreating, leaving our flank exposed, they capitulated.
In our weakened state, Japan took the opportunity to attack, and as we had disbanded our Far Eastern Fleet, we could no longer defend our Far East empire.
In France, we were left with our only stratagem; to get out of the country as quickly as possible,

Download The Will to Live ( 918.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Phyllis Lee
The clothes rationing scheme was imposed upon us by the government for the good of the country. It may be a little tough for some people who are used to buying a lot of clothing, but we have to make allowances in war-time, and grin and bear all sacrifices. It really is a very good idea, and it goes a long way in helping us to win the war. The scheme functions as follows. On June the first we were informed we have twenty-six margarine coupons to last us till December of 1941. The reason for using margarine coupons is because they are spare, and they will save paper for new coupons. We have to tender a limited number of coupons for each rationed article of clothing we purchase. Children under four, seem very lucky for they donï¿½t need any coupons at all. Milliners wonï¿½t have to be worried with coupons, for hats arenï¿½t rationed. Coupons are not transferable, but you can use the coupons of any member of your family. Rationing helps the country in various way. It saved the unnecessary import of raw materials such as cotton, silk, leather, flax etc. It also helps us to sell our goods to other countries for money, with which we canï¿½t do without. Many people will save more. It will release

Download Book Written At School In 1941 (WWII) ( 270.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by C. N. Williamson & A. M. Williamson
THE SECRET AND THE GIRL
The exciting part began in Cairo; but perhaps I ought to go back to what happened on the Laconia , between Naples and Alexandria. Luckily no one can expect a man who actually rejoices in his nickname of "Duffer" to know how or where a true story should begin.
The huge ship was passing swiftly out of the Bay of Naples, and already we were in the strait between Capri and the mainland. I had come on deck from the smoking-room for a last look at poor Vesuvius, who lost her lovely head in the last eruption. I paced up and down, acutely conscious of my great secret, the secret inspiring my voyage to Egypt. For months it had been the hidden romance of life; now it began to seem real. This is not the moment to tell how I got the papers that revealed the secret, before I passed them on to Anthony Fenton at Khartum, for him to say whether or not the notes were of real importance. But the papers had been left in Rome by Ferlini, the Italian Egyptologist, seventy years ago, when he gave to the museum at Berlin the treasures he had unearthed. It was Ferlini who ransacked the pyramids all about Meroë, that so-called island in the desert, where in its days

Download It Happened in Egypt ( 686.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by Karl Marx
"The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" is one of Karl Marx' most profound and most brilliant monographs. It may be considered the best work extant on the philosophy of history, with an eye especially upon the history of the Movement of the Proletariat, together with the bourgeois and other manifestations that accompany the same, and the tactics that such conditions dictate.
The recent populist uprising; the more recent "Debs Movement"; the thousand and one utopian and chimerical notions that are flaring up; the capitalist maneuvers; the hopeless, helpless grasping after straws, that characterize the conduct of the bulk of the working class; all of these, together with the empty-headed, ominous figures that are springing into notoriety for a time and have their day, mark the present period of the Labor Movement in the nation a critical one. The best information acquirable, the best mental training obtainable are requisite to steer through the existing chaos that the death-tainted social system of today creates all around us. To aid in this needed information and mental training, this instructive work is now made accessible to English readers, and is commended to the

Download The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte ( 109.9KB )

by Brooks Adams
THE COLLAPSE OF CAPITALISTIC GOVERNMENT

Downcleckhere
Civilization, I apprehend, is nearly synonymous with order. However much we may differ touching such matters as the distribution of property, the domestic relations, the law of inheritance and the like, most of us, I should suppose, would agree that without order civilization, as we understand it, cannot exist. Now, although the optimist contends that, since man cannot foresee the future, worry about the future is futile, and that everything, in the best possible of worlds, is inevitably for the best, I think it clear that within recent years an uneasy suspicion has come into being that the principle of authority has been dangerously impaired, and that the social system, if it is to cohere, must be reorganized. So far as my observation has extended, such intuitions are usually not without an adequate cause, and if there be reason for anxiety anywhere, it surely should be in the United States, with its unwieldy bulk, its heterogeneous population, and its complex government. Therefore, I submit, that an hour may not be quite wasted which is passed in considering some of the recent phenomena which have appeared about us, in order to

Download The Theory of Social Revolutions ( 122.6KB )

by Worcester Polytechnic Institute
The American Revolution chapter VII: Saratoga, 1777
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company - 1891
The time for the summer campaign was now at hand. The first year of the independence of the United States was nearly completed, and up to this time the British had nothing to show for their work except the capture of the city of New York and the occupation of Newport. The army of Washington, which six months ago they had regarded as conquered and dispersed, still balked and threatened them from its inexpugnable position on the heights of Morristown. It was high time that something more solid should be accomplished, for every month of adverse possession added fresh weight to the American cause, and increased the probability that France would interfere.
A decisive blow was accordingly about to be struck. After careful study by Lord George Germain, and much consultation with General Burgoyne, who had returned to England for the winter, it was decided to adhere to the plan of the preceding year, with slight modifications. The great object was to secure firm possession of the entire valley of the Hudson, together with that of the Mohawk. It must be borne in mind that at this

Download Battle of Saratoga ( 119.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by Edited by James D. Richardson
James Madison was born in King George County, Va., on the 16th of March, 1751. He was the son of James Madison, the family being of English descent, and among the early settlers of Virginia. Was fitted for college by private tutors, and entered Princeton College in 1769, graduating in 1771; remained a year at college pursuing his studies. After this he returned to Virginia and began the practice of law. In 1776 was elected a member of the general assembly of Virginia, and in 1778 was appointed a member of the executive council. In the winter of 1779-80 was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, of which body he continued an active and prominent member till 1784. The legislature of Virginia appointed him in 1786 a delegate to a convention at Annapolis, Md., to devise a system of commercial regulations for all the States. Upon their recommendation a convention of delegates from all the States was held in Philadelphia in May, 1787. This Convention framed the Constitution of the United States, and of it Mr. Madison was a leading member. He was next a member of the convention of his State which met to consider the new Constitution for the United States. Was a member of the House

Download A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: James Madison ( 153.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by ss

The experiences related in this volume fell to me in the summer of 1902. I went down into the under-world of London with an attitude of mind which I may best liken to that of the explorer. I was open to be convinced by the evidence of my eyes, rather than by the teachings of those who had not seen, or by the words of those who had seen and gone before. Further, I took with me certain simple criteria with which to measure the life of the under-world. That which made for more life, for physical and spiritual health, was good; that which made for less life, which hurt, and dwarfed, and distorted life, was bad.
It will be readily apparent to the reader that I saw much that was bad. Yet it must not be forgotten that the time of which I write was considered “good times” in England. The starvation and lack of shelter I encountered constituted a chronic condition of misery which is never wiped out, even in the periods of greatest prosperity.
Following the summer in question came a hard winter. Great numbers of the unemployed formed into processions, as many as a dozen at a time, and daily marched through the streets of

Download The People of the Abyss ( 171.3KB )

by Jacqueline Wilde
I was fire woman in the fire service C division headquarters, Cambridge Street in Birmingham which was area 24 from 1939 to 1945. I was also the divisional instructress Squad Drill and PE. In 1938 I joined the ARP which was Air Raid Precautions and it was being formed to protect the home front so if war was declared, and we had bombs or fires or anything over here it was the civilian population helping out with the forces. It was purely a voluntary organisation and I and many of my friends joined this. Later on in the year which was May 1939, I heard that the fire service were hoping to recruit people. They needed civilians to help out in the offices and back up the firemen when they went to fires, they wanted civilians for admin jobs, office jobs, cooking, switchboards, transport and help with training . So I rang up to see if I was qualified enough to help and the age limit was 18 but because they were in such need of people they said if I filled in the form and sent it in, by the time war was declared I'd be 18 and eligible to join. So I filled the form in sent it in and when war was declared on the 3rd of September, I was told on the radio to mobilise and to go to the nearest

Download A Firewoman in Wartime ( 61.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by Thomas E. Davies

Brecon - October 1939
With my head still echoing to the sound of the long shrill blast from the guard’s whistle, blowing from my mind any last-minute thoughts I might have had like bits of straw in the wind, I waved goodbye to the little gathering of people on the platform of Neath General Station who had come to see me off on that grey and windy October day in 1939.
I felt strangely excited as the train chugged out past the drab backs of the houses with their gardens sprawling down almost to the edge of the railway line, washing on the clothes lines, as if sensing the mood I was in, gaily dancing themselves dry in the morning breeze.
A few weeks earlier, Hitler had marched into Poland and Prime Minister Chamberlain had made the dramatic announcement that Britain had no alternative but to enter into a state of war with Germany.
I had received my conscription papers instructing me to report at the barracks in Brecon for service with the South Wales Borderers, the twenty-fourth foot regiment of the line, which had a very distinguished record in the field, collecting a record number of Victoria Crosses at the famous battle of Rourke’s Drift in the Zulu Wars,

Download My Story ( 368.3KB )

Downcleckhere

by na
Warsaw, 31.8.1939.

My darling Marushka,

You certainly will be astonished to receive this letter from Warsaw, as less than a week ago in Wilno you said goodbye to me, the called-up soldier.

I went east to my formation and now I am in Warsaw as a civilian. Here is what happened in this short time: after arrival at my regiment I presented my call-up card and, after completion of formalities, I was sent to the supply stores. Rushing from one corner of the barracks to another I received all my equipment consisting of wearing apparel and also utensils for eating as well as killing, such as mess tin, cutlery, rifle and bayonet, haversack and hand grenades.

In the afternoon I was detailed to my company which was bivouacked in the forest near the railway ramp. There was great activity in checking lists, etc. Liaison officers were running forwards and backwards, the field telephone situated under an old pear tree was chattering busily.

Before I had time to get acquainted with all my companions and commanders, the field telephone summoned me to the headquarters of the regiment. With my heart in my mouth, I ran to the barracks. What could

Download Bellum Vobiscum: Polish War Memoirs ( 293.5KB )

Downcleckhere

by Edited by James D. Richardson
John Adams was born on October 19 (old style), 1735, near Boston, Mass., in the portion of the town of Braintree which has since been incorporated as Quincy. He was fourth in descent from Henry Adams, who fled from persecution in Devonshire, England, and settled in Massachusetts about 1630. Another of his ancestors was John Adams, a founder of the Plymouth Colony in 1620. Entered Harvard College in 1751, and graduated therefrom four years later. Studied the law and taught school at Worcester; was admitted to the bar of Suffolk County in 1758. In 1768 removed to Boston, where he won distinction at the bar. In 1764 married Abigail Smith, whose father was Rev. William Smith and whose grandfather was Colonel Quincy. In 1770 was chosen a representative from Boston in the legislature of Massachusetts. In 1774 was a member of the Continental Congress, and in 1776 was the adviser and great supporter of the Declaration of Independence. The same year was a deputy to treat with Lord Howe for the pacification of the Colonies. He declined the offer of chief justice of Massachusetts. In December, 1777, was appointed a commissioner to France, and returned home in the summer of 1779. He was then

Download A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: John Adams ( 112.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by Bernard Hallas
To the Post War population poverty has never been experienced to the same degree as it had been in the twenties and thirties; to the majority of the unemployed, life was merely an existence and acts that today would be considered degrading were every day occurrences.
To those who fell foul of the habit of smoking, it was not considered out of the ordinary to wait outside cinemas at the end of each performance and as the emergency doors were thrown open, to fight their way through the outgoing mass and once inside run along the rows of seats emptying the ash trays of their contents before they were caught by the cinema attendants.
It was then off to the city centre to wait outside the various hotels and as the ï¿½Toffsï¿½ stubbed out their smokes before entering their transports home, become engaged in scuffles to retrieve the much valued ï¿½Fag endsï¿½ from the gutter. Cigar butts were an extra dividend and a much-prized commodity. It was then home where the proceeds of the nightï¿½s activity were carefully shredded and rebuilt with the help of the faithful Rizla cigarette rolling machine, after which it was a case of selling them off to the highest bidder after retaining

Download My Life My War ( 149.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Rupert Lyons

War was declared on a Sunday. I remember Leslie Bloomfield and I were rowing on the river at Coddam (Suffolk) that day. There had been radio broadcasts telling everybody to carry their respirators, so on the Monday everyone went to work carrying them in boxes. I, of course, kept trying to join the army. At Colchester there was a medical board of 12 doctors, who examined your ears, eyes, heart, movement of limbs and all the rest of it. They quickly detected the fact that I was deaf in one ear. They simply said ‘rejected…’
The recruiting Sergeant said,
‘Well you’re lucky…off you go back to your job…’
I was thoroughly cheesed of; all I wanted was to go and see the fun of the war.
Back at work the next day, we received the list from the ministry, of all the people who were in reserved occupations, and my name was on it. People were congratulating each other at not having to join up. This, I thought, was a pretty terrible spirit to have. So I couldn’t see much hope of me joining up. I tried other recruitment centres, but they all had the same rigorous medical board procedure.
Then a miraculous thing happened…just like in a fairy tale.
I was in London

Download Extracts from the Audio Memoirs of Major LWA Lyons ( 387.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by Petty Officer Basil Woolf

THE SUPPORT SQUADRON EASTERN FLANK. (S.S.E.F) AND THE BATTLE FOR WALCHEREN ISLAND.
My name is Basil Woolf, I am 82 years of age, I was born in Hackney, London, in January 1923. I volunteered for the Royal Navy in September 1940 my first overseas draft was to America, in November 1940 where we commissioned an LCI and after some training we were to sail this frail craft, we found later, to North Africa, with eleven other LCIs, without any protection, we left Norfolk Virginia, January 1941, I was just 18 years old.
This trip was to take thirty days, we were now given sleeve badges. with the anchor, Tommy gun, and Eagle, and were told we were Naval Commandos, some time after we took supplies to Malta, smuggled Greek women guerrillas into Crete, took part in the Sicily and Italy landings, and finally received orders to return to England, where we were stationed in Poole, Dorset, and became a part of the Support Squadron Eastern Flank
The Support Squadron Eastern Flank, (SSEF) was established to land and protect Infantry on the eastern flank of “Sword Area,” the British section of the Normandy Invasion, it was in this position, off a small village called Ouistrehan, that

Download SSEF and the Battle for Walcheren Island ( 48.3KB )

Downcleckhere

by William T. Sherman
FROM 1820 TO THE MEXICAN WAR.

1820-1846.

According to Cothren, in his "History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut," the Sherman family came from Dedham, Essex County, England. The first recorded name is of Edmond Sherman, with his three sons, Edmond, Samuel, and John, who were at Boston before 1636; and farther it is distinctly recorded that Hon. Samuel Sherman, Rev. John, his brother, and Captain John, his first cousin, arrived from Dedham, Essex County, England, in 1634. Samuel afterward married Sarah Mitchell, who had come (in the same ship) from England, and finally settled at Stratford, Connecticut. The other two (Johns) located at Watertown, Massachusetts.
From Captain John Sherman are descended Roger Sherman, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, Hon. William M. Evarts, the Messrs. Hoar, of Massachusetts, and many others of national fame. Our own family are descended from the Hon. Samuel Sherman and his son; the Rev. John, who was born in 1650-'51; then another John, born in 1687; then Judge Daniel, born in 1721; then Taylor Sherman, our grandfather, who was born in 1758. Taylor Sherman was a lawyer and judge in Norwalk, Connecticut, where he resided

Download The Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman, Vol. I., Part 1 ( 264KB )

Downcleckhere

by Leslie Davison
On the eighth of September we were briefed for an operation, which had it come off, would have been the biggest debacle in British army history. The first airborne division was to be spit into its three brigades and each brigade was to be sent to secure three bridges in Holland. The bridges were at Grave, on the river Maas, Nijmegen on the Waal and Arnhem on the Rhine.
These bridges were on a main road running from south to north in Western Holland with U.S. Airborne troops capturing other bridges further to the south around Eindhoven. The plan was that as these bridges were secured, the main land forces, namely the Second Army, under General Horrocks would be able to advance without hindrance. It was a pretty wild idea and fortunately it was cancelled.
However on the fifteenth of September we were assembled in the briefing room once more. The plan was basically the same except that the whole concept had been upgraded. Now the whole first airborne division was going to take the Arnhem bridge and the 82nd American the bridge at Nijmegen. The 101st American Airborne was to take the bridge at Grave and some smaller crossings to the South.
D-Day was Sunday the 17th of September,

Download A Story of Escape ( 37.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by Hiram Bingham
Crossing the Desert A kind friend in Bolivia once placed in my hands a copy of a most interesting book by the late E. George Squier, entitled “Peru. Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas.” In that volume is a marvelous picture of the Apurimac Valley. In the foreground is a delicate suspension bridge which commences at a tunnel in the face of a precipitous cliff and hangs in mid-air at great height above the swirling waters of the “great speaker.” In the distance, towering above a mass of stupendous mountains, is a magnificent snow-capped peak. The desire to see the Apurimac and experience the thrill of crossing that bridge decided me in favor of an overland journey to Lima.

As a result I went to Cuzco, the ancient capital of the mighty empire of the Incas, and was there urged by the Peruvian authorities to visit some newly re-discovered Inca ruins. As readers of “Across South America” will remember, these ruins were at Choqquequirau, an interesting place on top of a jungle-covered ridge several thousand feet above the roaring rapids of the great Apurimac. " id="d0e561"> Page 2 There was some doubt as to who had originally lived here.

Download Inca Land ( 4.5MB )

Downcleckhere

by Terence Robertson
The Walker trio, father, mother and son, matured and learned to cope with recurrent minor financial crises. Father, always an individualist, acquired the reputation of being an outspoken critic of instruction he considered ill-advised or based on wrong precepts. Yet he was a popular figure at Osprey and regarded as one of the few pioneer experts in the developing art of tactical defence and attack against an underwater enemy. Mrs. Walker increased her authority over all things domestic by giving birth in 1924 to a second son, Nicholas, and a year later to their first daughter, Gillian. But the years ashore made Walker restless, even promotion to lieutenant-commander failing to induce him to settle down in his career. For many long hours, he discussed with his wife the attractive possibility of leaving the Navy and finding a more lucrative job in civilian life while they were both young. When he said that the Navy in peacetime was ï¿½not my cup of teaï¿½ he really meant it. He had enormous energy and an equally vast capacity for sheer hard work, but the Navy had returned to its pre-war role of providing a salty atmosphere in society ashore. Overshadowing this frustrating state of affairs

Download Captain Frederic John Walker ( 170.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by E. F. Benson
In compiling the following pages I have had access to certain sources of official information, the nature of which I am not at liberty to specify further. I have used these freely in such chapters of this book as deal with recent and contemporary events in Turkey or in Germany in connection with Turkey: the chapter, for instance, entitled 'Deutschland über Allah,' is based very largely on such documents. I have tried to be discriminating in their use, and have not, as far as I am aware, stated anything derived from them as a fact, for which I had not found corroborative evidence. With regard to the Armenian massacres I have drawn largely on the testimony collected by Lord Bryce, on that brought forward by Mr. Arnold J. Toynbee in his pamphlet The Murder of a Nation , and The Murderous Tyranny of the Turks, and on the pamphlet by Dr. Martin Niepage, called The Horrors of Aleppo . In the first chapter I have based the short historical survey on the contribution of Mr. D.G. Hogarth to The Balkans (Clarendon Press, 1915). The chapter called 'Thy Kingdom is Divided' is in no respect at all an official utterance, and merely represents the individual opinions and surmises of the author.

Download Crescent and Iron Cross ( 137.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by Henry A. Murray
Gratis and Explanatory .
What is the use of a preface? Who wants a preface? Nay, more—what is a preface? Who can define it? That which it is most unlike is the mathematical myth called a point, which may be said to have neither length nor breadth, and consequently no existence; whereas a preface generally has extreme length, all the breadth the printer can give it, and an universal existence.
But if prefaces cannot be described with mathematical accuracy, they admit of classification with most unmathematical inaccuracy. First, you have a large class which may be called CLAIMERS. Ex.: One claims a certain degree of consideration, upon the ground that it is the author's first effort; a second claims indulgence, upon the ground of haste; a third claims attention, upon the ground of the magnitude and importance of the subject, &c. &c. Another large class may be termed MAKERS. Ex.: One makes an excuse for tediousness; a second makes an apology for delay; a third makes his endeavours plead for favourable reception, &c. Then again you have the INTERROGATOR, wherein a reader is found before the work is printed, convenient questions are put into his mouth, and ready

Download Lands of the Slave and the Free ( 514.6KB )

Downcleckhere

by Mike Hazell
FOREWORD
I still canï¿½t believe it - they donï¿½t want me any more. Twenty-two years of bus conducting - cycling two miles each way to the garage summer and winter - in the rain, sunshine, fog, ice, snow and gales - late turn and early turn - happy in my job I thought - but no more - itï¿½s true - Iï¿½ve got to face it - they just donï¿½t want me. Of course I canï¿½t pretend it came as a totally unexpected shock. When I first came to Staines Garage all those years ago there were rumours that the Country Buses might go to Windsor and the red buses of London Transportï¿½s Central fleet take over instead. But we all laughed and said it would never happen and it hasnï¿½t has it? Well, there was a rumour only last week - remember? Not quite the same rumour that went round in the middle fifties mind you - this time itï¿½s just that Staines Garage was closing down completely - well that canï¿½t be true- people will always want buses.
Doris Hazell 1979

ï¿½People will always want buses - so if you are lucky enough to pass your interviews, the medical tests and the exams at the end of your training course, then you have a job for life - the best paid unskilled labour in the country, a weekï¿½s

Download Bus Stop ( 94.7KB )

Downcleckhere

by Julia Corner
CHARLES'S PROGRESS IN LEARNING.
You have heard a great deal about Charles in the Seeds of Useful Knowledge; perhaps you would like to hear a little more about him; for, as he was never tired of learning good things, I might fill many books, if I were to speak of every thing that his papa and mamma taught him. But I dare say all the boys and girls who read this, have kind parents or friends who teach them, as well as Charles's papa and mamma taught him; so I will only mention such things as they may not perhaps yet have heard.
But first of all, I must tell you what Charles has been doing, since you heard of him last. He was now a year older than he was then, and he was also wiser, for he could write pretty well, and read without spelling the long words; he knew the multiplication table, and the pence table too; and could do sums in multiplication without a mistake, when he took pains; but sometimes, when he was careless, or in a hurry, the sums were wrong: however, I am happy to say that did not happen very often. Besides all these things, Charles learned grammar, and geography, and could decline many Latin nouns; which was very well for a little boy not quite seven years

Download More Seeds of Knowledge; Or, Another Peep at Charles. ( 333.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by Charles Hague
I was called up for army service 24th June 1940 (age 25). Had to report for duty at Sigglesthorn, East Yorkshire. From there, taken to Hornsea by East Yorkshire Buses where we were billeted in a Girls' College awaiting for uniforms etc. After 6 days when we were kitted out, we were marched from Hornsea to Beverley in shirts - no jacket, too hot - 50 rounds of ammunition in a bandolier, with string on rifles (no straps!) Kept having a break now and again on route. Had to lay on our backs with feet above our head in the ditches to ease the pain. On arrival at Beverley railway station - first call was the Medical Room. Blood and blisters the main ailment, a good start to army life !!! Route marches and drills for weeks, plus night manoeuvres on Beverley Racecourse and target practice etc for 3 months - for each Platoon.
Posted to 8th Battalion East Yorks for coasta1 duty on N E Coast (Sunderland) in September. Billeted in terrace houses in Roker Park Road on arrival. More drilling and marching in the Park. Rifle practice took place on the cliffs at Seaburn also firing Bren Gun and tossing hand grenades.
Called out at 4 a.m. one morning and told to put denims on! Marched

Download Wartime experiences of Charles Hague ( 266.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by Tom Simkins
This story is taken from my father's unpublished autobiography, which covers the early years to the end of the war. He never finished the book, which he called Another Door , because he suffered a stroke which affected his speech and memory - and in fact now he cannot properly communicate with us.
I have also included his account of his time in the Far East on this website, but this story covers his account of the invasion of Africa. My father worked for the Marconi company as a ship's radio officer. He was a chief radio officer in the Merchant Navy. Here is his story:
Japan declared war on December 7/8th 1941 , the exact date depending upon where one was situated at the time.
They did this by attacking the American Naval base, Pearl Harbour, at Hawaii at dawn with a massive air strike by carrier-born aircraft of the Japanese fleet. That attack was co-coordinated closely in time with bombing attacks on Hong Kong and Singapore, and amphibious landings on the north-east coast of Malaya, between Kota Baru and the border with Thailand. But of course I knew nothing of this at the time. The first inclination I had that something was amiss was actually being shaken

Download Another Door ( 138.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Thomas Arthur Russell
The year was 1938; Iï¿½d been offered a job boring the coalface and was proud of the fact that the under-manager sought me out for the job. He asked me personally, as man to man, and flattered me by saying that he knew it was a tough job, but thought I could be trusted to do my best. He helped me by first having me instructed for a shift by a surveyor who had been a very efficient borer himself, which meant colliers could fill coal more efficiently. Like all jobs, it had its bad points. The job was regular afternoons; I got my bike out and rode from home at about 11 oï¿½clock, having first changed into my dirty work clothes, reposing at the bottom of a cupboard near the fireplace.
When I set out to work, I wore an old jacket, a waistcoat in which mother had sewn two large pockets and one in which I carried a quart bottle of water, and a snap tin with four large slices of her excellent home-baked bread, smeared with a thick covering of best butter and strawberry jam. Sometimes it was dripping, out of the Sunday joint, or sometimes I took half an onion. Simple fare, but as it was, I enjoyed it.
The job was tough and dusty. As I dragged the borer and cable along the face,

Download Approach of the Storm ( 253KB )

Downcleckhere

by Ralph Chaplin
This booklet is not an apology for murder. It is an honest effort to unravel the tangled mesh of circumstances that led up to the Armistice Day tragedy in Centralia, Washington. The writer is one of those who believe that the taking of human life is justifiable only in self-defense. Even then the act is a horrible reversion to the brute--to the low plane of savagery. Civilization, to be worthy of the name, must afford other methods of settling human differences than those of blood letting.
The nation was shocked on November 11, 1919, to read of the killing of four American Legion men by members of the Industrial Workers of the World in Centralia. The capitalist newspapers announced to the world that these unoffending paraders were killed in cold blood--that they were murdered from ambush without provocation of any kind. If the author were convinced that there was even a slight possibility of this being true, he would not raise his voice to defend the perpetrators of such a cowardly crime.
But there are two sides to every question and perhaps the newspapers presented only one of these. Dr. Frank Bickford, an ex-service man who participated in the affair, testified at

Download The Centralia Conspiracy ( 105.2KB )

Downcleckhere

by John M. Taylor
"First, because Witchcraft is a rife and common sinne in these our daies, and very many are intangled with it, beeing either practitioners thereof in their owne persons, or at the least, yielding to seeke for helpe and counsell of such as practise it." A Discovrse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft , PERKINS, 1610.
"And just as God has his human servants, his church on earth, so also the Devil has his—men and women sworn to his service and true to his bidding. To win such followers he can appear to men in any form he pleases, can deceive them, enter into compact with them, initiate them into his worship, make them his allies for the ruin of their fellows. Now it is these human allies and servants of Satan, thus postulated into existence by the brain of a monkish logician, whom history knows as witches." The Literature of Witchcraft , BURR.

Witchcraft in its generic sense is as old as human history. It has written its name in the oldest of human records. In all ages and among all peoples it has taken firm hold on the fears, convictions and consciences of men. Anchored in credulity and superstition, in the dread and love of mystery, in

Download The Witchcraft Delusion In Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697) ( 129.5KB )

Downcleckhere

by Action Desk ? Sheffield
A letter written on 28th February 1942 (my 16th birthday) by the Engineer-in-Charge of the BBC transmitting station situated on top of Churchdown (Chosen) Hill near Gloucester, asked me to go there for an interview the following day, a Sunday, at 9.OOam, ".....in order to see if I would prove suitable for the vacancy". This had been instigated by a school friend, Ron Gittings, who was employed there, and was to be posted elsewhere, thus leaving a vacancy for a 'Youth-in-Training (Transmitters)'. Ron had previously discussed this with me and asked if I would be interested. INTERESTED! I should say so!

Therefore on the Sunday morning, I prepared myself in my best clothes and cycled the six or so miles to the bottom of the lane leading to the summit of the 154m (505ft) 'Chosen Hill', so called as the result of a legend concerning The Devil and the parish church which stood up there in a very isolated place. Apparently before the Water Authority built the road, coffins had to be carried all the way up. No mean feat! I then pushed my bike up this steep narrow road and eventually reached the wire fence enclosing the two semi-underground Gloucester and Cheltenham water reservoirs.

Download My Life and Times as a BBC Engineer ( 41.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by Louis P. Benezet
The Great War The call from Europe.—Friend against friend.—Why?—Death and devastation.—No private quarrel.—Ordered by government.—What makes government?—The influence of the past.—Four causes of war.

Among the bricklayers at work on a building which was being erected in a great American city during the summer of 1914 were two men who had not yet become citizens of the United States. Born abroad, they still owed allegiance, one to the Emperor of Austria, the other to the Czar of Russia.
Meeting in a new country, and using a new language which gave them a chance to understand each other, they had become well acquainted. They were members of the same labor union, and had worked side by side on several different jobs. In the course of time, a firm friendship had sprung up between them. Suddenly, on the same day, each was notified to call at the office of the agent of his government in the city. Next morning the Russian came to his boss to explain that he must quit work, that he had been called home to fight for the "Little Father" of the Russians. He found his chum, the Austrian, there ahead of him, telling that he had to go,

Download The World War and What was Behind It ( 2.2MB )

Downcleckhere

by John R. Musick,
Written history is generally too scholastic to interest the great mass of readers. Dignified and formal, it deals mainly with great events, and often imperfectly with these, because, not pausing to present clear impression by the associations of individual life, it conveys a stiff and unnatural opinion of the past. Historians ignore the details which go to make up the grand sum total of history, and from the very best histories one can get but a meagre idea of the life and times of the people of bygone ages. It is these minor details of past events which lend to fiction its greatest charm, and attract the multitude, by appearing more like truth. Although untrue in the particular combinations, scenes and plots delineated, yet well written fiction is drawn from nature and experience, and these facts in life, as with chessmen, are only arranged in new but natural positions. History should include everything in the nature, character, customs and incidents, both general and individual, that contribute to originate what is peculiar in a people, or what causes their advancement or decline. So broad is its scope, that nothing is too mighty for its grasp--so searching, scarce anything is

Download Sustained honor ( 255KB )

Downcleckhere

by Marcus Dorman
This journal is practically my Diary reproduced with the minimum of editing in order that the impressions gained on the spot should be described without modification. It was never intended for publication, and was written only as an aid to memory. Consequently it is little more than a collection of rough notes.
Having left England with a prejudice against the Government of the Congo Free State and returned with a very strong feeling in its favour, I feel however that it is my duty to publish an account of what I did see for the benefit of those whose opinions are not already formed beyond recall.
As in all controversies where feelings subordinate reason and people judge more by their emotions than by evidence, many are too quick to-day to attribute interested motives to those whose opinions are not similar to their own. Since a great number of people in the Congo and at home are curious to know whether I was sent out by the Congo Government, the British Government or the Times , I will state here once for all that I went to the Congo entirely to please myself and with the hope of shooting big game. In order indeed to satisfy curiosity, I will go further and state that

Download A Journal of a Tour in the Congo Free State ( 1.3MB )

Downcleckhere

by Alexander Aaronsohn
While Belgium is bleeding and hoping, while Poland suffers and dreams of liberation, while Serbia is waiting for redemption, there is a little country the soul of which is torn to pieces—a little country that is so remote, so remote that her ardent sighs cannot be heard.
It is the country of perpetual sacrifice, the country that saw Abraham build the altar upon which he was ready to immolate his only son, the country that Moses saw from a distance, stretching in beauty and loveliness,—a land of promise never to be attained,—the country that gave the world its symbols of soul and spirit. Palestine!
No war correspondents, no Red Cross or relief committees have gone to Palestine, because no actual fighting has taken place there, and yet hundreds of thousands are suffering there that worst of agonies, the agony of the spirit.
Those who have devoted their lives to show the world that Palestine can be made again a country flowing with milk and honey, those who have dreamed of reviving the spirit of the prophets and the great teachers, are hanged and persecuted and exiled, their dreams shattered, their holy places profaned, their work ruined. Cut

Download With the Turks in Palestine ( 11.1MB )

by William Lewis Manly
St. Albans, Vermont is near the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, and only a short distance south of "Five-and-forty north degrees" which separates the United States from Canada, and some sixty or seventy miles from the great St. Lawrence River and the city of Montreal. Near here it was, on April 6th, 1820, I was born, so the record says, and from this point with wondering eyes of childhood I looked across the waters of the narrow lake to the slopes of the Adirondack mountains in New York, green as the hills of my own Green Mountain State.

The parents of my father were English people and lived near Hartford, Connecticut, where he was born. While still a little boy he came with his parents to Vermont. My mother's maiden name was Phoebe Calkins, born near St. Albans of Welch parents, and, being left an orphan while yet in very tender years, she was given away to be reared by people who provided food and clothes, but permitted her to grow up to womanhood without knowing how to read or write. After her marriage she learned to do both, and acquired the rudiments of an education.

Grandfather and his boys, four in all, fairly carved a farm out of the big

Download Death Valley in '49 ( 2.1MB )

Downcleckhere

by Le Page Du Pratz
Of the first Discovery and Settlement of LOUISIANA.
After the Spaniards came to have settlements on the Great Antilles, it was not long before they attempted to make discoveries on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico. In 1520, Lucas Vasquez de Aillon landed on the continent to the north of that Gulf, being favourably received by the people of that country, who made him presents in gold, pearls, and plated silver. This favourable reception made him return thither four years after; but the natives having changed their friendly sentiments towards him, killed two hundred of his men, and obliged him to retire.
In 1528, Pamphilo Nesunez 16 landed also on that coast, receiving from the first nations he met in his way, presents made in gold; which, by signs, they made him to understand, came from the Apalachean mountains, in the country which at this day goes under the name of Florida: and thither he attempted to go, undertaking a hazardous journey of twenty-five days. In this march he was so often attacked by the new people he continually discovered, and lost so many of his men, as only to think of re-embarking with the few that were left, happy to have himself escaped the

Download History of Louisisana ( 2.8MB )

by William T. Sherman
FROM THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN TO PADUCAH KENTUCKY AND MISSOURI

1861-1862.

And now that, in these notes, I have fairly reached the period of the civil war, which ravaged our country from 1861 to 1865—an event involving a conflict of passion, of prejudice, and of arms, that has developed results which, for better or worse, have left their mark on the world's history—I feel that I tread on delicate ground.
I have again and again been invited to write a history of the war, or to record for publication my personal recollections of it, with large offers of money therefor; all of which I have heretofore declined, because the truth is not always palatable, and should not always be told. Many of the actors in the grand drama still live, and they and their friends are quick to controversy, which should be avoided. The great end of peace has been attained, with little or no change in our form of government, and the duty of all good men is to allow the passions of that period to subside, that we may direct our physical and mental labor to repair the waste of war, and to engage in the greater task of continuing our hitherto wonderful national development.
What I

Download The Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman, Vol. I., Part 2 ( 1.2MB )

Downcleckhere

by James Fenimore Cooper

In one respect, this book is a parallel to Franklin's well-known apologue of the hatter and his sign. It was commenced with a sole view to exhibit the present state of society in the United States, through the agency, in part, of a set of characters with different peculiarities, who had freshly arrived from Europe, and to whom the distinctive features of the country would be apt to present themselves with greater force, than to those who had never lived beyond the influence of the things portrayed. By the original plan, the work was to open at the threshold of the country, or with the arrival of the travellers at Sandy Hook, from which point the tale was to have been carried regularly forward to its conclusion. But a consultation with others has left little more of this plan than the hatter's friends left of his sign. As a vessel was introduced in the first chapter, the cry was for "more ship," until the work has become "all ship;" it actually closing at, or near, the spot where it was originally intended it should commence. Owing to this diversion from the author's design--a design that lay at the bottom of all his projects--a necessity has been created of running the tale through

Download Homeward Bound ( 443.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by John Owen Smith
The village of Headley in east Hampshire sits just across the River Wey from Bordon Camp. This was constructed at the turn of the century on land first purchased by the army in 1863 for use as a training area and, until the end of the 1920s, formed an integral part of Headley parish. Through the years, therefore, the village has become familiar with the presence of the military close at hand. Older residents tell of hearing the bugle calls from the Camp, and today we can hear quite distinctly the firing coming from the Woolmer ranges.
During the First World War, villagers saw troops, led by their military bands, marching through from Bordon to Ludshott Common in order to practice digging trenches. They remember a meat depot and bakery being established on the Village Green, bread being baked in open ovens for the soldiers of several local camps, and the Institute adjoining the back of the Congregational Chapel (both since demolished) being used to give soldiers a cup of tea on Sunday afternoons.
Sadly, all too few years were to pass before the village and common were again used for similar purposes.
The Village Prepares
Britain declared war on Germany on 3rd September 1939

Download All Tanked Up ( 52.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Mildred Aldrich

Note To Tenth Impression

The author wishes to apologize for the constant use of the word English in speaking of the British Expedition to France. At the beginning of the war this was a colloquial error into which we all fell over here, even the French press. Everything in khaki was spoken of as "English," even though we knew perfectly well that Scotch, Irish, and Welsh were equally well represented in the ranks, and the colors they followed were almost universally spoken of as the "English flag." These letters were written in the days before the attention of the French press was called to this error of speech, which accounts for the mistake's persisting in the book.

La Creste, Huiry,

France, February, 1916.

To My Grandmother
Judith Trask Baker
That Staunch New Englander And
Pioneer Universalist
To The Memory Of Whose Courage
And Example I Owe A Debt
Of Eternal Gratitude
June 3, 1914
Well, the deed is done. I have not wanted to talk with you much about it until I was here. I know all your objections. You remember that you did not spare me when, a year ago, I told you that this was my plan. I realize that you—more

Download A Hilltop on the Marne ( 421KB )

Downcleckhere

by Charles Duke Yonge
Mr. Hallam's "Constitutional History" closes, as is well known, with the death of George II. The Reformation, the great Rebellion, and the Revolution, all of which are embraced in the period of which it treats, are events of such surpassing importance, and such all-pervading and lasting influence, that no subsequent transactions can ever attract entirely equal attention. Yet the century which has elapsed since the accession of George III. has also witnessed occurrences not only full of exciting interest at the moment, but calculated to affect the policy of the kingdom and the condition of the people, for all future time, in a degree only second to the Revolution itself. Indeed, the change in some leading features and principles of the constitution wrought by the Reform Bill of 1832, exceeds any that were enacted by the Bill of Rights or the Act of Settlement. The only absolutely new principle introduced in 1688 was that establishment of Protestant ascendency which was contained in the clause which disabled any Roman Catholic from wearing the crown. In other respects, those great statutes were not so much the introduction of new principles, as a recognition of privileges of the people

Download The Constitutional History of England From 1760 to 1860 ( 442.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by Action Desk ? Sheffield
84 General
Hospital BNAF
11.4.43
Dear Mrs. Chambers,
I am the chaplain at the hospital your husband was taken to and I was with him when he died, and also took his funeral, so I want to tell you something about it.
He was terribly badly injured and it was not to be hoped that he would ever be a whole man again ï¿½ if he had lived, it would have meant that he could never have been strong and it was better for him to go. I could not speak to him a lot, as he was mostly asleep or unconscious, but the morning of the last day, he felt much better and said he was getting better soon ï¿½ he never realised he was dying and when he relapsed that afternoon, he was never conscious again. I was called about 5 am on the morning of the 9th and he died about 6 am.
I said prayers by his bedside, but he could not hear me. I saw him constantly and am sure he was not in great pain, but was uncomfortable. Certainly, he did not suffer; he was buried at the European Country here, no doubt the authorities will tell you the name of the place which I am not allowed to do.
He was covered with the Union Jack and the Welsh Guards made the funeral party ï¿½ it is a lovely

Download Pte. Leonard Chambers ( 234KB )

by Tony King

HOW IT ALL BEGAN
When war was declared I was fifteen and on holiday at a remote farmhouse on the banks of Loch Tay, hearing Neville Chamberlain's fateful announcement on a crackling wireless set in the farmer's kitchen. With the threat of early petrol rationing our holiday was quickly curtailed and a search was made that Sunday for filling stations with petrol cans for sale to ensure our safe return to the family home in Bristol. My three sisters all played their part in the War Effort, Joan in the Land Army, Betty as theatre sister in a hospital treating war wounded and Ruth in the ATS.
The strong spirit of patriotism amongst most boys of my age at that time led to a strange hope that our elders. who claimed the War would soon be over were wrong, and that our chance would come to join the fight against
Fascism.With this is mind, my schoolfriends and I took every opportunity over the next year or two to prepare ourselves for the great day when we could enlist in the Armed Forces - for example I spent the
1940 summer holidays at a forestry camp in the Forest of Dean, helping to cut pit-props, etc., and after leaving school (having had my school certificate exams.

Download Recollections of War Service ( 130.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by H.A.B. White

"Stretcher-bearers"
by
H.A.B.White
"Stretcher-bearers" gives a description of World War II as experienced by a Royal Army Medical Corps Field Ambulance unit that served mainly in France, North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Two wartime diaries and the personal accounts of seven men who served in the unit, as well as over 100 letters written home from battle zones, tell the story.
Like scores of other medical units this one, as in all other engagements, went into action armed with stretchers, becoming part of the British Expeditionary Force in France. At that time it consisted mainly of regulars soldiers, well trained in treating the sick and, to a much smaller extent, battle casualties.
The retreat from Dunkirk caused the Army to reorganise in Britain. During this phoney period, when we were expecting invasion, digging a hasty third line of defence, training to cope with gas, being posted out on farm work, and experiencing air raids, the Army reached a high peak of fitness by methods both conventional and bizarre.
In June 1942, this Field Ambulance joined the newly formed 78th Division which invaded North Africa on November 8th, as part of the 1st Army. By

Download Stretcher-bearers ( 154.8KB )

by Joseph Ellison
In 1939 I and my fiancé had arranged to get married on 2nd September at 10.30. I had joined the 6th Royal Northumberland Fusilierï¿½s TA Regiment in 1938 at the age of 24. At 8.30 on the morning of my wedding I received my call up papers telling me to report to my Headquarters as I was now on active service. My wife to be panicked and I told her to leave it to me. I arranged with her brother who was going to be my best man to come with me to the drill hall where I had to report to. When I got there I asked the Sergeant |Major if I could see the CO as it was very important to me. Eventually I was seen by the CO and after I had explained I hadnï¿½t arranged all this to avoid being called up he agreed to give me a 24hr pass so that I could get married. After the wedding, as we were about to have our meal, there was a knock on the door and two Red Caps (Military Police) came in and escorted me back to the drill hall because my pass had been cancelled due to my Company being moved to a new location. The next day we heard that we were moving to Tynemouth and that was the day England declared war on Germany. Then we were told that the 6th Battalion of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was

Download The Iron Phantom of the Desert ( 22.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by Joseph Patrick Gray

Preface
Although the early and final parts of this very moving story do not directly convey events of WW2, the bulk of it does so and in the sections that are accounts of the war experiences, there are reflections of the early parts, as well as forward references to the final outcome. The entire story is adequately epitomised in the Introduction that has been written by the wife of the author, and this will facilitate synchronisation of the various parts of the entire story.
Bill Ross (BBC Volunteer Story Editor).
INTRODUCTION
By
Mary Gray
This presentation was written by my husband, Joseph Patrick Gray. His journal tells his story of a big part of his life, from him being born in Philadelphia in the USA, and his youthful years. But mainly, itï¿½s about his long army career from 1937 to1946 (+ 3 years reserve). He then lived in Northern Ireland where he joined the Royal Irish Fusiliers, aged 19.
After a period of training, he, along with the regiment, was posted to Malta, although it was still peace time. He was still there when war broke out. In total, he was in Malta for almost 6 years. The only time he got away was when Churchill

Download The Philadelphian ( 225.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by Geoffrey Dent
I suppose it really all started after my 21 birthday in 1939 when I felt that I ought to do something about the impending war.
Ever since Neville Chamberlain came back from Munich waving that piece of paper and talking about ï¿½peace in our timeï¿½ .
We were all being urged to get involved in civil defence ï¿½ they wanted air raid wardens, first aiders, heavy rescue and fire service. I opted for the fire thing and duly presented myself at the fire station in Coulsdon.
I was confronted by a huge bum, which was encased in blue serge being stretched to the limits. Eventually it turned round to reveal a portly man with a very red face. ï¿½Corï¿½ he said, ï¿½dropped a fag end down there. It wouldnï¿½t do to set this place on fire.
What can I do for you?ï¿½ I soon became auxiliary fire man no 306 of the Coulsdon and Purley Fire Brigade. We trained for two hours every Friday evening.
When I started they were half way through a two year course ï¿½ which raises a certain question over the degree of urgency. By my first training session they had reached the use of a 24 horse power pump with the largest hose nozzle in use it took three men to control it.
I

Download Else Happened and I was in Uniform ( 68.5KB )

by Gwen Millward
On August 14th 1945 the Second World War ended.
Japan had surrendered after receiving two devastating blows. Atom bombs had been dropped
on Hiroshoma and Nagasaki.
I was thirteen years old, and had another few months of school to go before I left at fourteen. I went to Milverton School in Rugby Road, Leamington Spa, having failed my 11-plus by one mark.My parents were so upset at my failure that they went and had a chat with my headmistress, and she told them about about the one mark. Thinking back over the exam after the papers had been collected,I suddenly realised I had made a stupid mistake on one of the questions. So -I never got to go to the Leamington College for Girls with my friend Shirley Harper.
The day after the war ended, August 15th, was declared VJ day, Victory in Japan. Previously, when the Germans had surrended and the war in Europe had ended, May 8th 1948 had been declared
VE day.
I remembered I was up very early on the morning of VJ day and I slipped out of the house where I lived
in Woodbine Street.It was a beautiful day weatherwise, briliant sunshine and blue skies, and I walked along the street and stood at the top of Church Hill that adjoined

Download And I Was in the Brownies ( 37.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by cornwallcsv
Helen and I kept writing to each other until the end of the war.
The romantic interlude became just that when we sailed off, heading north to an unknown destination. Some said Indian waters, others the east, and yet others Malta, this last guess frightening us silly. 1942 was the year of the deadly ï¿½Malta Convoysï¿½.
Malta lay in the middle of the Med and was supplied by ships running either from Suez or from Gibraltar. Both had to run the gauntlet of enemy attacks by air and sea by forces which had only short distances to travel, whether from North Africa, the Mediterranean islands or mainland Europe. Our losses were immense with only one or two cargoes succeeding out of the dozen or so that set off.
Off we went up the coast, usually with naval vessels in tow, our favourite companion being an aircraft tender. Its Captain had a sense of humour and would exchange teasing comments about seamanship and manoeuvre procedures with our ï¿½old manï¿½ after the evening visual signals. In risky waters, ships proceeded in a series of zigzags to deter submarines from anticipating oneï¿½s position. The course changes were made according to an arranged pattern of time changes. Ten

Download Extracts from Douglas Mahoney's WW2 Memories ( 14.2KB )

by Anne Misselke

Part one of an edited oral history interview with Mrs. Anne Misselke (nï¿½e Alexandre) conducted by Jenny Ford on behalf of Bedford Museum.

ï¿½I was born on the Channel Island of Guernsey in January 1930 and I lived there very happily with my parents. We had my fatherï¿½s father living with us because that grandmother had died just before I was born and I had lots of aunts and uncles and cousins all living on the Island. Guernsey is a lovely place for a child to grow up, it was then and it still is now safe - you could go out to play and things like that.

Life continued very nicely all the way through the Thirties and I can remember the day war was declared because my cousin Imelda had come to stay with us for the weekend. On the Sunday morning we girls were playing at dressing up on our landing, we had quite a big landing but it only had lino on the floor so when we had my mumï¿½s high heeled shoes on we could make a lovely clippy cloppy noise. My dad came in from the garden for his elevenses and he put the wireless on. He had to have the wireless on very loudly because he wouldnï¿½t admit to the fact that he was deaf and so we could hear the man on the wireless say,

Download One Small Suitcase ( 242.4KB )

Downcleckhere

by Edward A. Johnson
THE CAUSE OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN.
Many causes led up to the Spanish-American war. Cuba had been in a state of turmoil for a long time, and the continual reports of outrages on the people of the island by Spain greatly aroused the Americans. The "ten years war" had terminated, leaving the island much embarrassed in its material interests, and woefully scandalized by the methods of procedure adopted by Spain and principally carried out by Generals Campos and Weyler, the latter of whom was called the "butcher" on account of his alleged cruelty in attempting to suppress the former insurrection. There was no doubt much to complain of under his administration, for which the General himself was not personally responsible. He boasted that he only had three individuals put to death, and that in each of these cases he was highly justified by martial law.
FINALLY THE ATTENTION OF THE UNITED STATES was forcibly attracted to Cuba by the Virginius affair, which consisted in the wanton murder of fifty American sailors--officers and crew of the Virginius, which was captured by the Spanish off Santiago bay, bearing arms and ammunition to the insurgents--Captain Fry, a West Point graduate,

Download History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and Other Items of Interest ( 3.3MB )

by sapperawgh

In 1940, the 14th June to be precise, which was only days after war was declared between South Africa and Italy, I joined up and became a Sapper, Army number 189654, in the South African Engineering Corps.

We arrived at Sonderwater Camp in the late afternoon and were immediately led off to the Quartermasters Stores where we were issued with our kit, needless to say all in sizes that did not match our own! We were then led stumbling in the dark loaded down with all our kit through an area where Sappers had been carrying out training in digging trenches (shades of World War 1) to a temporary tented area and shown in batches of the magical number of 21 to our respective tents. The reason for the 21 batching soon became apparent when we discovered that a bell tent is made up of 22 segments so that the maximum number that could be accommodated was 21 with the extra segment the door. Sleeping 21 to a bell tent is an art and necessitates sleeping with feet to the central pole, and it can be imagined what a restful night 21 feet bunched around a central tent pole provides!! That June at Sonderwater was bitterly cold and on our first morning we noticed that there was a stream of

Download Reminiscences of a Veteran Sapper ( 35.4KB )

by John Lord
CONTENTS.
">ALFRED THE GREAT .
THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND.
The early Saxons
Their conquest of England
Division of England into petty kingdoms
Conversion of the Saxons
The Saxon bishoprics
Early distinguished men
Isadore, Caedmon, and Baeda, or Bede
Birth and early life of Alfred
Succession to the throne of Wessex
Danish invasions
Humiliation and defeat of Alfred
His subsequent conquests
Final settlement of the Danes
Alfred fortifies his kingdom
Reorganizes the army and navy
His naval successes
Renewed Danish invasions
The laws of Alfred
Their severity
Alfred's judicial reforms
Establishment of shires and parishes
Administrative reforms
Financial resources of Alfred
His efforts in behalf of education
His literary labors
Final defeat of the Danes
Death and character of Alfred
His services to civilization
Authorities
">QUEEN ELIZABETH .
WOMAN AS A SOVEREIGN.
The reign of Queen Elizabeth associated with progress
Her birth and education
Her trials of the heart
Her critical situation during the reign of Mary
Her expediences
Her

Download Beacon Lights of History, Volume VIII ( 1.5MB )

Downcleckhere

by H.A.B. White
Interviewer: Er, could you tell me when and where you were born Mr. Adams?
George Adams: 19th of January, 1922 at New Whittington, Chesterfield.
Int: What did your father do for a living?
GA: He was a works clerk at Staveley, he worked at Staveley.
Int: And how many of you were there in the family?
GA: Just mother and father and myself, just the three of us.
Int: Which school did you go to?
GA: New Whittington first of all, then on to Tapton.
Int: What did you want to do when you left school?
GA: I didnï¿½t know actually, it just happened that this job came up at Staveley where my father worked. They asked if it would be any use, they said, ï¿½Yes, send him down,ï¿½ so I went to see them and I went into the laboratory there on the foundry side.
Int: What were you actually doing?
GA: Training as a metallurgist. I stayed there until I went into the forces in 1940.
Int: Had you been in the Boy Scouts or the Rover Scouts?
GA: Yes, both the Scouts and Rover Scouts.
Int: What sort of activities were you doing with them?
GA: Camping, walking, all that kind of thing.
Int: Did it

Download The George Adams Interview ( 83.4KB )

by E. A. WALLIS BUDGE
A study of ancient Egyptian religious texts will convince the reader that the Egyptians believed in One God, who was self-existent, immortal, invisible, eternal, omniscient, almighty, and inscrutable; the maker of the heavens, earth, and underworld; the creator of the sky and the sea, men and women, animals and birds, fish and creeping things, trees and plants, and the incorporeal beings who were the messengers that fulfilled his wish and word. It is necessary to place this definition of the first part of the belief of the Egyptian at the beginning of the first chapter of this brief account of the principal religious ideas which he held, for the whole of his theology and religion was based upon it; and it is also necessary to add that, however far back we follow his literature, we never seem to approach a time when he was without this remarkable belief. It is true that he also developed polytheistic ideas and beliefs, and that he cultivated them at certain periods of his history with diligence, and to such a degree that the nations around, and even the stranger in his country, were misled by his actions, and described him as a polytheistic idolater.

Download Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life ( 654.8KB )

by John Leighton
Early in June of the present year I was making notes and sketches, without the least idea of what I should do with them. I was at the Mont-Parnasse Station of the Western Railway, awaiting a train from Paris to St. Cloud. Our fellow passengers, as we discovered afterwards, were principally prisoners for Versailles; the guards, soldiers; and the line, for two miles at least, appeared desolation and ruin.
The façade of the station, a very large one, was pockmarked all over by Federal bullets, whilst cannon balls had cut holes through the stone wall as if it had been cheese, and gone down the line, towards Cherbourg or Brest! The restaurant below was nearly annihilated, the counters, tables, and chairs being reduced to a confused heap. But there was a book-stall and on that book-stall reposed a little work, entitled the "Bataille des Sept Jours," a brochure which a friend bought and gave to me, saying, " Voilà la texte de vos croquis ," From seven days my ideas naturally wandered to seventy-three—the duration of the reign of the Commune—and then again to two hundred and twenty days—that included the Commune of 1871 and its antecedents. Hence this

Download Paris under the Commune ( 404.1KB )

by Ernest Favenc
In presenting to the public this history of those makers of Australasia whose work consisted in the exploration of the surface of the continent of Australia, I have much pleasure in drawing the reader's attention to the portraits which illustrate the text. It is, I venture to say, the most complete collection of portraits of the explorers that has yet been published in one volume. Some of them of course must needs be conventional; but many of them, such as the portrait of Oxley when a young man, and of A.C. Gregory, have never been given publicity before; and in many cases I have selected early portraits, whenever I had the opportunity, in preference to the oft published portrait of the same subject when advanced in years.
There are many who assisted me in the collection of these portraits. To Mr. F. Bladen, of the Public Library, Sydney; Mr. Malcolm Fraser, of Perth, Western Australia; Mr. Thomas Gill, of Adelaide; Sir John Forrest; The Reverend J. Milne Curran; Mr. Archibald Meston; and many others my best thanks are due. In fact, in such a work as this, one cannot hope for success unless he seek the assistance of those who remembered the explorers in life, or have heard their

Download The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work ( 1.8MB )

by John Lord
PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
The remarks made in the preface to the volume on "American Founders" are applicable also to this volume on "American Leaders." The lecture on Daniel Webster has been taken from its original position in "Warriors and Statesmen" (a volume the lectures of which are now distributed for the new edition in more appropriate groupings), and finds its natural neighborhood in this volume with the paper on Clay and Calhoun.
Since the intense era of the Civil War has passed away, and Northerners and Southerners are becoming more and more able to take dispassionate views of the controversies of that time, finding honorable reasons for the differences of opinion and of resultant conduct on both sides, it has been thought well to include among "American Leaders" a man who stands before all Americans as the chief embodiment of the "cause" for which so many gallant soldiers died--Robert E. Lee. His personal character was so lofty, his military genius so eminent, that North and South alike looked up to him while living and mourned him dead. His career is depicted by one who has given it careful study, and who, himself a

Download Beacon Lights of History, Volume XII ( 1.5MB )

Downcleckhere

by John Lord
CONTENTS.
">MIRABEAU .
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
First act of the Revolution
Remote causes
Louis XVI
Derangement of finances
Assembly of notables
Mirabeau; his writings and extraordinary eloquence
Assembly of States-General
Usurpation of the Third Estate
Mirabeau's ascendency
Paralysis of government
General disturbances; fall of the Bastille
Extraordinary reforms by the National Assembly
Mirabeau's conservatism
Talleyrand, and confiscation of Church property
Death of Mirabeau; his characteristics
Revolutionary violence; the clubs
The Jacobin orators
The King arrested
The King tried, condemned, and executed
The Reign of Terror
Robespierre, Marat, Danton
Reaction
The Directory
Napoleon
What the Revolution accomplished
What might have been done without it
Carlyle
True principles of reform
The guide of nations
">EDMUND BURKE .
POLITICAL MORALITY.
Early life and education of Burke
Studies law
Essay on "The Sublime and Beautiful"
First political step
Enters Parliament
Debates on American difficulties
Burke opposes

Download Beacon Lights of History, Volume IX ( 1.2MB )

by John Lord
A SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME, BY RECENT WRITERS,
AS SET FORTH IN THE PREFACE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
In preparing the new edition of Dr. Lord's great work, it has been thought desirable to do what the venerable author's death in 1894 did not permit him to accomplish, and add a volume summarizing certain broad aspects of achievement in the last fifty years. It were manifestly impossible to cover in any single volume--except in the dry, cyclopaedic style of chronicling multitudinous facts, so different from the vivid, personal method of Dr. Lord--all the growths of the wonderful period just closed. The only practicable way has been to follow our author's principle of portraying selected historic forces ,--to take, as representative or typical of the various departments, certain great characters whose services have signalized them as "Beacon Lights" along the path of progress, and to secure adequate portrayal of these by men known to be competent for interesting exposition of the several themes.
Thus the volume opens with a paper on "Richard Wagner: Modern Music," by Henry T. Finck, the musical critic of the New York Evening Post , and author

Download Beacon Lights of History, Volume XIV ( 1.4MB )

by John Lord
PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
Dr. Lord's volume on "American Statesmen" was written some years after the issue of his volume on "Warriors and Statesmen," which was Volume IV of his original series of five volumes. The wide popular acceptance of the five volumes encouraged him to extend the series by including, and rewriting for the purpose, others of his great range of lectures. The volume called "Warriors and Statesmen" (now otherwise distributed) included a number of lectures which in this new edition have been arranged in more natural grouping. Among them were the lectures on Hamilton and Webster. It has been deemed wise to bring these into closer relation with their contemporaries, and thus Hamilton is now placed in this volume, among the other "American Founders," and Webster in the volume on "American Leaders."
Of the "Founders" there is one of whom Dr. Lord did not treat, yet whose services--especially in the popular confirmation of the Constitution by the various States, and notably in its fundamental interpretation by the United States Supreme Court--rank as vitally important. John Marshall, as Chief Justice of that

Download Beacon Lights of History, Volume XI ( 1.4MB )

Downcleckhere

by John Lord
CONTENTS.
">WILLIAM IV .
ENGLISH REFORMS.
Social evils in England on the accession of William IV.
Political agitations.
Premiership of Lord Grey.
Aristocratic character of the reformers.
Lord John Russell.
The Reform Bill.
Its final passage.
Henry Brougham.
Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister.
Troubles in Ireland.
O'Connell.
Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister.
His short administration.
Succeeded by Lord Melbourne.
Abolition of West India slavery.
Thomas Babington Macaulay.
Popular reforms.
Trades unions.
Reform of municipal corporations.
Death of William IV.
Penny postage.
Second ministry of Sir Robert Peel.
The Duke of Wellington.
Agitations for repeal of the Corn Laws.
">SIR ROBERT PEEL .
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Birth and education of Sir Robert Peel.
His conservative views.
His High Church principle.
Enters the Cabinet of Lord Liverpool.
Catholic Emancipation.
Resigns the representation of Oxford.
Member of Tamworth.
Opposes the Reform Bill.
Prime Minister in 1841.
Financial genius.
His sliding scale.
O'Connell's death.
The

Download Beacon Lights of History, Volume X ( 1.3MB )

Downcleckhere

by John Lord
DR LORD'S UNCOMPLETED PLAN,
SUPPLEMENTED WITH ESSAYS BY
EMERSON, MACAULAY, HEDGE, AND MERCER ADAM. PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.

This being the last possible volume in the series of "Beacon Lights of History" from the pen of Dr. Lord, its readers will be interested to know that it contains all the lectures that he had completed (although not all that he had projected) for his review of certain of the chief Men of Letters. Lectures on other topics were found among his papers, but none that would perfectly fit into this scheme; and it was thought best not to attempt any collection of his material which he himself had not deemed worthy or appropriate for use in this series, which embodies the best of his life's work,--all of his books and his lectures that he wished to have preserved. For instance, "The Old Roman World," enlarged in scope and rewritten, is included in the volumes on "Old Pagan Civilizations," "Ancient Achievements," and "Imperial Antiquity;" much of his "Modern Europe" reappears in "Great Rulers," "Modern European Statesmen," and "European National Leaders," etc.
The

Download Beacon Lights of History, Volume XIII ( 1.7MB )

Here you will find free novels in Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery/Crime, Western, science fiction and even classic novels. Novels such as The Count of Monte Cristo, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, The Iliad and many other similar ebooks are available exclusively to TomeRaider users

by Herbert George Wells

THE WORLD SET FREE was written in 1913 and published early in 1914, and it is the latest of a series of three fantasias of possibility, stories which all turn on the possible developments in the future of some contemporary force or group of forces. The World Set Free was written under the immediate shadow of the Great War. Every intelligent person in the world felt that disaster was impending and knew no way of averting it, but few of us realised in the earlier half of 1914 how near the crash was to us. The reader will be amused to find that here it is put off until the year 1956. He may naturally want to know the reason for what will seem now a quite extraordinary delay. As a prophet, the author must confess he has always been inclined to be rather a slow prophet. The war aeroplane in the world of reality, for example, beat the forecast in Anticipations by about twenty years or so. I suppose a desire not to shock the sceptical reader's sense of use and wont and perhaps a less creditable disposition to hedge, have something to do with this dating forward of one's main events, but in the particular case of The World Set Free there was, I think, another motive in holding the Great

Download The World Set Free ( 178.3KB )

Downcleckhere

by Charlotte Bronte
A preface to the first edition of "Jane Eyre" being unnecessary,
I gave none: this second edition demands a few words both of
acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark.
My thanks are due in three quarters.
To the Public, for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain tale
with few pretensions.
To the Press, for the fair field its honest suffrage has opened to
an obscure aspirant.
To my Publishers, for the aid their tact, their energy, their
practical sense and frank liberality have afforded an unknown and
unrecommended Author.
The Press and the Public are but vague personifications for me, and
I must thank them in vague terms; but my Publishers are definite:
so are certain generous critics who have encouraged me as only
large-hearted and high-minded men know how to encourage a struggling
stranger; to them, i.e., to my Publishers and the select Reviewers,
I say cordially, Gentlemen, I thank you from my heart.
Having thus acknowledged what I owe those who have aided and
approved me, I turn to another class; a small one, so far as I know,
but not, therefore, to be overlooked. I mean the timorous or
carping few who doubt the tendency...

Download Jane Eyre ( 505.4KB )

by H G Wells
The stranger came early in February one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it seemed from Bramblehurst railway station and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand. He was wrapped up from head to foot, and the brim of his soft felt hat hid every inch of his face but the shiny tip of his nose; the snow had piled itself against his shoulders and chest, and added a white crest to the burden he carried. He staggered into the Coach and Horses, more dead than alive as it seemed, and flung his portmanteau down. "A fire," he cried, "in the name of human charity! A room and a fire!" He stamped and shook the snow from off himself in the bar, and followed Mrs. Hall into her guest parlour to strike his bargain. And with that much introduction, that and a ready acquiescence to terms and a couple of sovereigns flung upon the table, he took up his quarters in the inn.
Mrs. Hall lit the fire and left him there while she went to prepare him a meal with her own hands. A guest to stop at Iping in the winter-time was an unheard-of piece of luck, let alone a guest who was no "haggler," and she was resolved

Download The Invisible Man ( 127.5KB )

by A Bushman

The author of these pages considered that a lengthened explanation might be necessary to account for the present work.
He had therefore, at some length, detailed the motives that influenced him in its composition. He had shown that as a solitary companionless bushman, it had been a pleasure to him in his lone evenings
"To create, and in creating live A being more intense."
He had expatiated on the love he bears his adopted country, and had stated that he was greatly influenced by the hope that although
"Sparta hath many a worthier son than he,"
this work might be the humble cornerstone to some enduring and highly ornamented structure.
The author however fortunately remembered, that readers have but little sympathy with the motives of authors; but expect that their works should amuse or instruct them. He will therefore content himself, with giving a quotation from one of those old authors, whose "well of English undefined" shames our modern writers.
He intreats that the indulgence prayed for by the learned Cowell may be accorded to his humble efforts.
"My true end is the advancement of knowledge, and therefore have I published

Download A Love Story ( 244.8KB )

by H. P. Lovecraft
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.
Theosophists have guessed at the awesome grandeur of the cosmic cycle wherein our world and human race form transient incidents. They have hinted at strange survival in terms which would freeze the blood if not masked by a bland optimism. But it is not from them that there came the single glimpse of forbidden aeons which chills me when I think of it and maddens me when I dream of it. That glimpse, like all dread glimpses of truth, flashed out from an accidental piecing together of separated things - in this case an old newspaper item and the notes of a dead professor. I hope that no one else will accomplish

Download The Call of Cthulhu ( 38.8KB )

by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of Mark Twain's most beloved works. A mischievous young boy carries on under the watchful eye of his Aunt Polly. Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer is one part trickster, one escape artist and one part very lucky fellow!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer takes the reader along on a series of entertaining adventures and pranks with his unruly companion Huckleberry Finn while Tom's youthful romance with his sweetheart Becky Thatcher blooms in the background. Enjoy the adventures of Tom Sawyer. Available for free download to TomeRaider ebook readers.

Download The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ( 185.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by Victor Hugo
In 1815, M. Charles-Francois-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of D---- He was an old man of about seventy-five years of age; he had occupied the see of D---- since 1806.
Although this detail has no connection whatever with the real substance of what we are about to relate, it will not be superfluous, if merely for the sake of exactness in all points, to mention here the various rumors and remarks which had been in circulation about him from the very moment when he arrived in the diocese. True or false, that which is said of men often occupies as important a place in their lives, and above all in their destinies, as that which they do. M. Myriel was the son of a councillor of the Parliament of Aix; hence he belonged to the nobility of the bar. It was said that his father, destining him to be the heir of his own post, had married him at a very early age, eighteen or twenty, in accordance with a custom which is rather widely prevalent in parliamentary families. In spite of this marriage, however, it was said that Charles Myriel created a great deal of talk. He was well formed, though rather short in stature, elegant, graceful, intelligent; the whole of the first portion of his life had

Download Les Miserables ( 1.4MB )

by D. H. Lawrence
Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We've got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen.

Download Lady Chatterley's Lover ( 269.8KB )

by Alexandre Dumas
Marseilles -- The Arrival.
On the 24th of February, 1810, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.
As usual, a pilot put off immediately, and rounding the Chateau d'If, got on board the vessel between Cape Morgion and Rion island.
Immediately, and according to custom, the ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean were covered with spectators; it is always an event at Marseilles for a ship to come into port, especially when this ship, like the Pharaon, has been built, rigged, and laden at the old Phocee docks, and belongs to an owner of the city.
The ship drew on and had safely passed the strait, which some volcanic shock has made between the Calasareigne and Jaros islands; had doubled Pomegue, and approached the harbor under topsails, jib, and spanker, but so slowly and sedately that the idlers, with that instinct which is the forerunner of evil, asked one another what misfortune could have happened on board. However, those experienced in navigation saw plainly that if any accident had occurred, it was not to the vessel herself, for she bore down with all the evidence of being skilfully handled, the anchor a-cockbill,

Download The Count of Monte Cristo ( 1.1MB )

by Bram Stoker
Jonathan Harker's Journal Continued
5 May.--I must have been asleep, for certainly if I had been fully awake I must have noticed the approach of such a remarkable place. In the gloom the courtyard looked of con- siderable size, and as several dark ways led from it under great round arches, it perhaps seemed bigger than it really is. I have not yet been able to see it by daylight. When the caleche stopped, the driver jumped down and held out his hand to assist me to alight. Again I could not but notice his prodigious strength. His hand actually seemed like a steel vice that could have crushed mine if he had chosen. Then he took my traps, and placed them on the ground beside me as I stood close to a great door, old and studded with large iron nails, and set in a projecting doorway of massive stone. I could see even in th e dim light that the stone was massively carved, but that the carving had been much worn by time and weather. As I stood, the driver jump- ed again into his seat and shook the reins.The horses start- ed forward,and trap and all disappeared down one of the dark openings. I stood in silence where I was, for I did not know what to do. Of bell or knocker there was no

Download Dracula ( 382.6KB )

by N/A
THE EVE OF THE WAR
No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scru- tinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a mis- sionary enterprise. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic,

Download War of the Worlds ( 159.7KB )

Downcleckhere

by Joseph Conrad

Mr Verloc, going out in the morning, left his shop nominally in charge of his brother-in-law. It could be done, because there was very little business at any time, and practically none at all before the evening. Mr Verloc cared but little about his ostensible business. And, moreover, his wife was in charge of his brother-in-law.
The shop was small, and so was the house. It was one of those grimy brick houses which existed in large quantities before the era of reconstruction dawned upon London. The shop was a square box of a place, with the front glazed in small panes. In the daytime the door remained closed; in the evening it stood discreetly but suspiciously ajar.
The window contained photographs of more or less undressed dancing girls; nondescript packages in wrappers like patent medicines; closed yellow paper envelopes, very flimsy, and marked two-and-six in heavy black figures; a few numbers of ancient French comic publications hung across a string as if to dry; a dingy blue china bowl, a casket of black wood, bottles of marking ink, and rubber stamps; a few books, with titles hinting at impropriety; a few apparently old copies

Download The Secret Agent ( 242.7KB )

by N/A

Guy with slight skin irritation above the left eye is also an evil genius. Bad combination, good underground lair. Please note this is an ebook of the novel and not in any way associated with Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, film or XBOX 360 game.

Download The Phantom of the Opera ( 214.5KB )

by Jules Verne
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is about the adventures of Captain Nemo and his crew aboard the submarine. Written by celebrated author Jules Verne.

The deepest parts of the ocean are totally unknown to us," admits Professor Aronnax early in this novel. "What goes on in those distant depths? What creatures inhabit, or could inhabit, those regions twelve or fifteen miles beneath the surface of the water? It's almost beyond conjecture."

Jules Verne (1828-1905) published the French equivalents of these words in 1869, and little has changed since. 126 years later, a Time cover story on deep-sea exploration made much the same admission: "We know more about Mars than we know about the oceans." This reality begins to explain the dark power and otherworldly fascination of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.

Born in the French river town of Nantes, Verne had a lifelong passion for the sea. First as a Paris stockbroker, later as a celebrated author and yachtsman, he went on frequent voyages to Britain, America, the Mediterranean. But the specific stimulus for this novel was an 1865 fan letter from a fellow writer, Madame George Sand. She praised Verne's two early novels Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), then added: "Soon I hope you'll take us into the ocean depths, your characters traveling in diving equipment perfected by your science and your imagination."

Download 20000 Leagues Under the Sea ( 390.8KB )

by ZONA GALE
“Cat-boats and house-boats and yawls, look here. You're bound to observe that this is my steam yacht. I own her—do you see? She belongs to me, St. George, who never before owned so much as a piece of rope.”

Instead—mindful, perhaps, that “a man should not communicate his own glorie”—he stepped sedately down to the trim green skiff and was rowed ashore by a boy who, for aught that either knew, might three months before have jostled him at some ill-favoured lunch counter. For in America, dreams of gold—not, alas, golden dreams—do prevalently come true; and of all the butterfly happenings in this pleasant land of larvae, few are so spectacular as the process by which, without warning, a man is converted from a toiler and bearer of loads to a taker of his bien. However, to none, one must believe, is the changeling such gazing-stock as to himself...

Download Romance Island ( 226.6KB )

by Fyodor Dostoevsky
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY
SOME DETAILS OF THE BIOGRAPHY OF THAT HIGHLY RESPECTED GENTLEMAN STEFAN TEOFIMOVITCH VERHOVENSKY.
IN UNDERTAKING to describe the recent and strange incidents in our town, till lately wrapped in uneventful obscurity, I find' myself forced in absence of literary skill to begin my story rather far back, that is to say, with certain biographical details concerning that talented and highly-esteemed gentleman, Stepan Trofimovitch Verhovensky. I trust that these details may at least serve as an introduction, while my projected story itself will come later.
I will say at once that Stepan Trofimovitch had always filled a particular role among us, that of the progressive patriot, so to say, and he was passionately fond of playing the part—so much so that I really believe he could not have existed without it. Not that I would put him on a level with an actor at a theatre, God forbid, for I really have a respect for him. This may all have been the effect of habit, or rather, more exactly of a generous propensity he had from his earliest years for indulging in an agreeable day-dream in which he figured as a picturesque public character. He fondly loved,

Download The Possessed ( 635.5KB )

Downcleckhere

by J. Walker McSpadden
HOW ROBIN HOOD BECAME AN OUTLAW
List and hearken, gentlemen,
That be of free-born blood,
I shall you tell of a good yeoman,
His name was Robin Hood.
Robin was a proud outlaw,
While as he walked on the ground.
So courteous an outlaw as he was one
Was never none else found.

In the days of good King Harry the Second of England—he of the warring sons—there were certain forests in the north country set aside for the King's hunting, and no man might shoot deer therein under penalty of death. These forests were guarded by the King's Foresters, the chief of whom, in each wood, was no mean man but equal in authority to the Sheriff in his walled town, or even to my lord Bishop in his abbey.
One of the greatest of royal preserves was Sherwood and Barnesdale forests near the two towns of Nottingham and Barnesdale. Here for some years dwelt one Hugh Fitzooth as Head Forester, with his good wife and son Robert. The boy had been born in Lockesley town—in the year 1160, stern records say—and was often called Lockesley, or Rob of Lockesley. He was a comely, well-knit stripling, and as soon as he was strong enough to walk

Download Robin Hood ( 162.1KB )

by Charles Dickens
Book the First--Recalled to Life
Chapter I The Period Chapter II The Mail Chapter III The Night Shadows Chapter IV The Preparation Chapter V The Wine-shop Chapter VI The Shoemaker
Book the Second--the Golden Thread
Chapter I Five Years Later Chapter II A Sight Chapter III A Disappointment Chapter IV Congratulatory Chapter V The Jackal Chapter VI Hundreds of People Chapter VII Monseigneur in Town Chapter VIII Monseigneur in the Country Chapter IX The Gorgon's Head Chapter X Two Promises Chapter XI A Companion Picture Chapter XII The Fellow of Delicacy Chapter XIII The Fellow of no Delicacy Chapter XIV The Honest Tradesman Chapter XV Knitting Chapter XVI Still Knitting Chapter XVII One Night Chapter XVIII Nine Days Chapter XIX An Opinion Chapter XX A Plea Chapter XXI Echoing Footsteps Chapter XXII The Sea still Rises Chapter XXIII Fire Rises Chapter XXIV Drawn to the Loadstone Rock
Book the Third--the Track of a Storm
Chapter I In Secret Chapter II The Grindstone Chapter III The Shadow Chapter IV Calm in Storm Chapter V The Wood-sawyer Chapter VI Triumph Chapter VII A Knock at the Door Chapter VIII A Hand at Cards Chapter IX The Game Made Chapter X The Substance of the Shadow

Download A Tale of Two Cities ( 336.3KB )

by Shane Raffa
There are no original plots, only differing expressions of a single
plot. Existence is a view to that plot, pleasure and suffering its
vocabulary – Anonymous Shadow
I dodged a forward fist thrust aimed at my face. Air stirred near my
ear, rustled my short hair, hinting that the miss was closer than it
should have been. I knocked the fist away and followed through with a
directed knee jab, straight to the fist owner’s gut. A greasy,
chunky brute with lots of weight but little poise, he exhaled hot,
smelly breath before cleverly rolling with the impact. He finished
behind me, his hairy arms about my chest. They tightened, grating my
linen breast strap painfully. I grunted, gritted my teeth. Curse it,
I was fighting badly today!
Frowning, I wriggled my tall, lithe frame downwards and
simultaneously heaved the brute using my shoulder. He spun in front
of me and I lashed for him; one of my palms found his bare chest
while the other nipped his shoulder. I twirled beside him and
extended my leg near his ankles. His balance faltered and he tripped.
A moment later his loinclothed buttocks slapped the stamped clay
floor. Finally!
Contest

Download AXIOM ( 287.1KB )

Downcleckhere

by H. G. Wells
The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way--marking the points with a lean forefinger--as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it:) and his fecundity.
`You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted. The geometry, for instance, they taught you at school is founded on a misconception.'
`Is not that rather a large thing to expect us to begin upon?' said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair.
`I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you. You know

Download The Time Machine ( 87.3KB )

by Herman Melville
(Supplied by a Late Consumptive Usher to a Grammar School)
The pale Usher- threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I see him now. He was ever dusting his old lexicons and grammars, with a queer handkerchief, mockingly embellished with all the gay flags of all the known nations of the world. He loved to dust his old grammars; it somehow mildly reminded him of his mortality.
"While you take in hand to school others, and to teach them by what name a whale-fish is to be called in our tongue leaving out, through ignorance, the letter H, which almost alone maketh the signification of the word, you deliver that which is not true."
HACKLUYT
"WHALE. * * * Sw. and Dan. hval. This animal is named from roundness or rolling; for in Dan. hvalt is arched or vaulted."
WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY
"WHALE. * * * It is more immediately from the Dut. and Ger. Wallen; A.S. Walw-ian, to roll, to wallow."
RICHARDSON'S DICTIONARY
KETOS, Greek.
CETUS, Latin.
WHOEL, Anglo-Saxon.
HVALT, Danish.
WAL, Dutch.
HWAL, Swedish.
WHALE, Icelandic.
WHALE, English.
BALEINE, French.
BALLENA, Spanish.
PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, Fegee.
PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, Erromangoan.

Download Moby-Dick; or, The Whale ( 565KB )

by Daniel Defoe
I WAS born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had married my mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but, by the usual corruption of words in England, we are now called - nay we call ourselves and write our name - Crusoe; and so my companions always called me.
I had two elder brothers, one of whom was lieutenant-colonel to an English regiment of foot in Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous Colonel Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk against the Spaniards. What became of my second brother I never knew, any more than my father or mother knew what became of me.
Being the third son of the family and not bred to any trade, my head began to be filled very early with rambling thoughts. My father, who was very ancient, had given me a competent share of learning, as far as house-education and a country free school generally go, and designed me for the law; but

Download The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe ( 259.8KB )

Downcleckhere

by Alexandre Dumas
THE THREE PRESENTS OF D'ARTAGNAN THE ELDER
On the first Monday of the month of April, 1625, the market town of Meung, in which the author of ROMANCE OF THE ROSE was born, appeared to be in as perfect a state of revolution as if the Huguenots had just made a second La Rochelle of it. Many citizens, seeing the women flying toward the High Street, leaving their children crying at the open doors, hastened to don the cuirass, and supporting their somewhat uncertain courage with a musket or a partisan, directed their steps toward the hostelry of the Jolly Miller, before which was gathered, increasing every minute, a compact group, vociferous and full of curiosity.
In those times panics were common, and few days passed without some city or other registering in its archives an event of this kind. There were nobles, who made war against each other; there was the king, who made war against the cardinal; there was Spain, which made war against the king. Then, in addition to these concealed or public, secret or open wars, there were robbers, mendicants, Huguenots, wolves, and scoundrels, who made war upon everybody. The citizens always took up arms readily against thieves, wolves or scoundrels,

Download The Three Musketeers ( 554KB )

by James Joyce
ONCE upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo....
His father told him that story: his father looked at him through a glass: he had a hairy face.
He was baby tuckoo. The moocow came down the road where Betty Byrne lived: she sold lemon platt.
O, the wild rose blossoms
On the little green place.
He sang that song. That was his song.
O, the green wothe botheth.
When you wet the bed first it is warm then it gets cold. His mother put on the oilsheet. That had the queer smell.
His mother had a nicer smell than his father. She played on the piano the sailor's hornpipe for him to dance. He danced:
Tralala lala
Tralala tralaladdy
Tralala lala
Tralala lala.
Uncle Charles and Dante clapped. They were older than his father and mother but uncle Charles was older than Dante.
Dante had two brushes in her press. The brush with the maroon velvet back was for Michael Davitt and the brush with the green velvet back was for Parnell. Dante gave him a cachou every time he brought her a piece of tissue paper.

Download A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man ( 206.8KB )

by Henry James

It was in the early days of April; Bernard Longueville had been spending the winter in Rome. He had travelled northward with the consciousness of several social duties that appealed to him from the further side of the Alps, but he was under the charm of the Italian spring, and he made a pretext for lingering. He had spent five days at Siena, where he had intended to spend but two, and still it was impossible to continue his journey. He was a young man of a contemplative and speculative turn, and this was his first visit to Italy, so that if he dallied by the way he should not be harshly judged. He had a fancy for sketching, and it was on his conscience to take a few pictorial notes. There were two old inns at Siena, both of them very shabby and very dirty. The one at which Longueville had taken up his abode was entered by a dark, pestiferous arch-way, surmounted by a sign which at a distance might have been read by the travellers as the Dantean injunction to renounce all hope. The other was not far off, and the day after his arrival, as he passed it, he saw two ladies going in who evidently belonged to the large fraternity of Anglo-Saxon tourists, and one of whom was young and

Download Confidence ( 190.6KB )

Downcleckhere

by Jane Austen
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife.
However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of someone or other of their daughters.
"My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?"
Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.
"But it is, returned she; "for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.
Mr. Bennet made no answer.
"Do you not want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife impatiently.
"YOU want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it."
This was invitation enough.
"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end

Download Pride and Prejudice ( 300.2KB )

by Edgar Rice Burroughs
As we advanced up the river which winds beneath the Golden Cliffs out of the bowels of the Mountains of Otz to mingle its dark waters with the grim and mysterious Iss the faint glow which had appeared before us grew gradually into an all-enveloping radiance.
The river widened until it presented the aspect of a large lake whose vaulted dome, lighted by glowing phosphorescent rock, was splashed with the vivid rays of the diamond, the sapphire, the ruby, and the countless, nameless jewels of Barsoom which lay incrusted in the virgin gold which forms the major portion of these magnificent cliffs.
Beyond the lighted chamber of the lake was darkness--what lay behind the darkness I could not even guess.
To have followed the thern boat across the gleaming water would have been to invite instant detection, and so, though I was loath to permit Thurid to pass even for an instant beyond my sight, I was forced to wait in the shadows until the other boat had passed from my sight at the far extremity of the lake.
Then I paddled out upon the brilliant surface in the direction they had taken.
When, after what seemed an eternity, I reached the shadows at the upper end of the lake I found

Download Mars #3. The Warlord of Mars ( 140.9KB )

Downcleckhere

by Leo Tolstoy/Tolstoi

The book you always planned to read is now available in TomeRaider format, so you can leave the copy that's propping your door open where it is. Free of wrist strain, you can now delve into this staggeringly epic tale with its cast of over five hundred characters and fabulously opulent settings. Now that you can actually carry it around, it's hard to put down.

Description Submitted By: Julie R.

Download War and Peace ( 1.4MB )

by Cory Doctorow I once had a Tai Chi instructor who explained the difference between Chinese and Western medicine thus: "Western medicine is based on corpses, things that you discover by cutting up dead bodies and pulling them apart. Chinese medicine is based on living flesh, things observed from vital, moving humans."

Download Eastern Standard Tribe ( 157.1KB )

by Grace Livingston Hill THE GIRL, AND A GREAT PERIL The late afternoon sun was streaming in across the cabin floor as the girl stole around the corner and looked cautiously in at the door. There was a kind of tremulous courage in her face. She had a duty to perform, and she was resolved to do it without delay. She shaded her eyes with her hand from the glare of the sun, set a firm foot upon the threshold, and, with one wild glance around to see whether all was as she had left it, entered her home and stood for a moment shuddering in the middle of the floor. A long procession of funerals seemed to come out of the past and meet her eye as she looked about upon the signs of the primitive, unhallowed one which had just gone out from there a little while before. The girl closed her eyes, and pressed their hot, dry lids hard with her cold fingers; but the vision was clearer even than with her eyes open. She could see the tiny baby sister lying there in the middle of the room, so little and white and pitiful; and her handsome, careless father sitting at the head of the rude home-made coffin, sober for the moment; and her tired, disheartened mother, faded before her time, dry-eyed and

Download The Girl from Montana ( 318.6KB )

by Zane Grey A SEPTEMBER sun, losing some of its heat if not its brilliance, was dropping low in the west over the black Colorado range. Purple haze began to thicken in the timbered notches. Gray foothills, round and billowy, rolled down from the higher country. They were smooth, sweeping, with long velvety slopes and isolated patches of aspens that blazed in autumn gold. Splotches of red vine colored the soft gray of sage. Old White Slides, a mountain scarred by avalanche, towered with bleak rocky peak above the valley, sheltering it form the north. A girl rode along the slope, with gaze on the sweep and range and color of the mountain fastness that was her home. She followed an old trail which led to a bluff overlooking an arm of the valley. Once it had been a familiar lookout for her, but she had not visited the place of late. It was associated with serious hours of her life. Here seven years before, when she was twelve, she had made a hard choice to please her guardian - the old rancher whom she loved and called father, who had indeed been a father to her. That choice had been to go to school in Denver. Four years she had lived away from her beloved gray hills and black mountains. Only

Download The Mysterious Rider ( 247.1KB )

by Cory Doctorow I lived long enough to see the cure for death; to see the rise of the Bitchun Society, to learn ten languages; to compose three symphonies; to realize my boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World; to see the death of the workplace and of work. I never thought I'd live to see the day when Keep A-Movinï¿½ Dan would decide to deadhead until the heat death of the Universe.

Download Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom ( 152.3KB )

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "There Are Heroisms All Round Us" Mr. Hungerton, her father, really was the most tactless person upon earth,--a fluffy, feathery, untidy cockatoo of a man, perfectly good-natured, but absolutely centered upon his own silly self. If anything could have driven me from Gladys, it would have been the thought of such a father-in-law. I am convinced that he really believed in his heart that I came round to the Chestnuts three days a week for the pleasure of his company, and very especially to hear his views upon bimetallism, a subject upon which he was by way of being an authority. For an hour or more that evening I listened to his monotonous chirrup about bad money driving out good, the token value of silver, the depreciation of the rupee, and the true standards of exchange. "Suppose," he cried with feeble violence, "that all the debts in the world were called up simultaneously, and immediate payment insisted upon,--what under our present conditions would happen then?" I gave the self-evident answer that I should be a ruined man, upon which he jumped from his chair, reproved me for my habitual levity, which made it impossible for him to discuss any reasonable subject in my presence,

Download The Lost World ( 200.3KB )

by Robert Louis Stevenson SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17__ and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof. I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow--a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards: "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a

Download Treasure Island ( 172.3KB )

by James Branch Cabell How Manuel Left the Mire They of Poictesme narrate that in the old days when miracles were as common as fruit pies, young Manuel was a swineherd, living modestly in attendance upon the miller's pigs. They tell also that Manuel was content enough: he knew not of the fate which was reserved for him. Meanwhile in all the environs of Rathgor, and in the thatched villages of Lower Targamon, he was well liked: and when the young people gathered in the evening to drink brandy and eat nuts and gingerbread, nobody danced more merrily than Squinting Manuel. He had a quiet way with the girls, and with the men a way of solemn, blinking simplicity which caused the more hasty in judgment to consider him a fool. Then, too, young Manuel was very often detected smiling sleepily over nothing, and his gravest care in life appeared to be that figure which Manuel had made out of marsh clay from the pool of Haranton. This figure he was continually reshaping and realtering. The figure stood upon the margin of the pool; and near by were two stones overgrown with moss, and supporting a cross of old worm-eaten wood, which commemorated what had been done there. One day, toward autumn,

Download Figures of Earth ( 988.9KB ) Downcleckhere

by Baroness Orczy A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate. The hour, some little time before sunset, and the place, the West Barricade, at the very spot where, a decade later, a proud tyrant raised an undying monument to the nation's glory and his own vanity. During the greater part of the day the guillotine had been kept busy at its ghastly work: all that France had boasted of in the past centuries, of ancient names, and blue blood, had paid toll to her desire for liberty and for fraternity. The carnage had only ceased at this late hour of the day because there were other more interesting sights for the people to witness, a little while before the final closing of the barricades for the night. And so the crowd rushed away from the Place de la Greve and made for the various barricades in order to watch this interesting and amusing sight. It was to be seen every day, for those aristos were such fools! They were traitors to the people of course, all of them, men, women, and children, who happened to be descendants

Download The Scarlet Pimpernel ( 221.9KB )

by N/A 1801. - I have just returned from a visit to my landlord - the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's heaven: and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A capital fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered themselves, with a jealous resolution, still further in his waistcoat, as I announced my name...

Download Wuthering Heights ( 309.3KB )

by Robert Hichens Alick Craven, who was something in the Foreign Office, had been living in London, except for an interval of military service during the war, for several years, and had plenty of interesting friends and acquaintances, when one autumn day, in a club, Frances Braybrooke, who knew everybody, sat down beside him and began, as his way was, talking of people. Braybrooke talked well and was an exceedingly agreeable man, but he seldom discussed ideas. His main interest lay in the doings of the human race, the "human animal," to use a favorite phrase of his, in what the human race was "up to." People were his delight. He could not live away from the centre of their activities. He was never tired of meeting new faces, and would go to endless trouble to bring an interesting personality within the circle of his acquaintance. Craven's comparative indifference about society, his laziness in social matters, was a perpetual cause of surprise to Braybrooke, who nevertheless was always ready to do Craven a good turn, whether he wanted it done to him or not. Indeed, Craven was indebted to his kind old friend for various introductions which had led to pleasant times, and for these he was quite grateful.

Download December Love ( 454KB ) Downcleckhere

by Mary Roberts Rinehart THIS is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous. For twenty years I had been perfectly comfortable; for twenty years I had had the window-boxes filled in the spring, the carpets lifted, the awnings put up and the furniture covered with brown linen; for as many summers I had said good-by to my friends, and, after watching their perspiring hegira, had settled down to a delicious quiet in town, where the mail comes three times a day, and the water supply does not depend on a tank on the roof. And then -- the madness seized me. When I look back over the months I spent at Sunnyside, I wonder that I survived at all. As it is, I show the wear and tear of my harrowing experiences. I have turned very gray -- Liddy reminded me of it, only yesterday, by saying that a little bluing in the rinse-water would make my hair silvery, instead of a yellowish white. I hate to be reminded of unpleasant things and I snapped her off. "No," I said sharply, "I'm not going

Download Circular Staircase ( 176.6KB )

by Bram Stoker Adam Salton sauntered into the Empire Club, Sydney, and found awaiting him a letter from his grand-uncle. He had first heard from the old gentleman less than a year before, when Richard Salton had claimed kinship, stating that he had been unable to write earlier, as he had found it very difficult to trace his grand-nephew’s address. Adam was delighted and replied cordially; he had often heard his father speak of the older branch of the family with whom his people had long lost touch. Some interesting correspondence had ensued. Adam eagerly opened the letter which had only just arrived, and conveyed a cordial invitation to stop with his grand-uncle at Lesser Hill, for as long a time as he could spare. “Indeed,” Richard Salton went on, “I am in hopes that you will make your permanent home here. You see, my dear boy, you and I are all that remain of our race, and it is but fitting that you should succeed me when the time comes. In this year of grace, 1860, I am close on eighty years of age, and though we have been a long-lived race, the span of life cannot be prolonged beyond reasonable bounds. I am prepared to like you, and to make

Download The Lair of the White Worm ( 143.6KB )

by Homer Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achæans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jove fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another. And which of the gods was it that set them on to quarrel? It was the son of Jove and Leto; for he was angry with the king and sent a pestilence upon the host to plague the people, because the son of Atreus had dishonoured Chryses his priest. Now Chryses had come to the ships of the Achæans to free his daughter, and had brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the sceptre of Apollo wreathed with a suppliant's wreath and he besought the Achæans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, who were their chiefs. "Sons of Atreus," he cried, "and all other Achæans, may the gods who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam, and to reach your homes in safety; but free my daughter, and accept a ransom for her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Jove." On this the rest of

Download The Iliad ( 341.8KB ) Downcleckhere

by Jane Austen The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance. The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he intended to bequeath it. In the society of his nephew and niece, and their children, the old Gentleman's days were comfortably spent. His attachment to them all increased. The constant attention of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood to his wishes, which proceeded not merely from interest, but from goodness of heart, gave him every degree of solid comfort which his age could receive; and the cheerfulness of the children added a relish to his existence. By

Download Sense and Sensibility ( 294.3KB )

by Baroness Orczy PARIS: SEPTEMBER, 1792 A SURGING, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate. The hour, some little time before sunset, and the place, the West Barricade, at the very spot where, a decade later, a proud tyrant raised an undying monument to the nation's glory and his own vanity. During the greater part of the day the guillotine had been kept busy at its ghastly work: all that France had boasted of in the past centuries, of ancient names, and blue blood, had paid toll to her desire for liberty and for fraternity. The carnage had only ceased at this late hour of the day because there were other more interesting sights for the people to witness, a little while before the final closing of the barricades for the night. And so the crowd rushed away from the Place de la Grève and made for the various barricades in order to watch this interesting and amusing sight. It was to be seen every day, for those aristos were such fools! They were traitors to the people of course, all of them, men, women, and children, who

Download The Scarlet Pimpernel ( 222.5KB )

by Milo Hastings When but a child of seven my uncle placed me in a private school in which one of the so-called redeemed sub-sailors was a teacher of the German language. As I look back now, in the light of my present knowledge, I better comprehend the docile humility and carefully nurtured ignorance of this man. In his class rooms he used as a text a description of German life, taken from the captured submarine. From this book he had secured his own conception of a civilization of which he really knew practically nothing. I recall how we used to ask Herr Meineke if he had actually seen those strange things of which he taught us. To this he always made answer, "The book is official, man's observation errs." "He can talk it," said my playmates who attended the public schools where all teaching of the language of the outcast nation was prohibited. They invariably elected me to be "the Germans," and locked me up in the old garage while they rained a stock of sun-dried clay bombs upon the roof and then came with a rush to "batter down the walls of Berlin" by breaking in the door, while I, muttering strange guttural oaths, would be led forth to be "exterminated." On rainy days I would sometimes take my favoured playmates into my uncle's library where five great maps hung in ordered sequence on the panelled wall. The first map was labelled "The Age of Nations--1914," and showed the black spot of Germany, like in size to many of the surrounding countries, the names of which one recited in the history class. The second map--"Germany's Maximum Expansion of the First World War--1918"--showed the black area trebled in size, crowding into the pale gold of France, thrusting a hungry arm across the Hellespont towards Bagdad, and, from the Balkans to the Baltic, blotting out all else save the flaming red of Bolshevist Russia, which spread over the Eastern half of Europe like a pool of fresh spilled blood.

Download City of Endless Night ( 218.1KB )

by Max Brand PAN OF THE DESERT EVEN to a high-flying bird this was a country to be passed over quickly. It was burned and brown, littered with fragments of rock, whether vast or small, as if the refuse were tossed here after the making of the world. A passing shower drenched the bald knobs of a range of granite hills and the slant morning sun set the wet rocks aflame with light. In a short time the hills lost their halo and resumed their brown. The moisture evaporated. The sun rose higher and looked sternly across the desert as if he searched for any remaining life which still struggled for existence under his burning curse. And he found life. Hardy cattle moved single or in small groups and browsed on the withered bunch grass. Summer scorched them, winter humped their backs with cold and arched up their bellies with famine, but they were a breed schooled through generations for this fight against nature. In this junk-shop of the world, rattlesnakes were rulers of the soil. Overhead the buzzards, ominous black specks pendant against the white-hot sky, ruled the air. It seemed impossible that human beings could live in this rock-wilderness. If so, they must be to other men what

Download The Untamed ( 184.2KB ) Downcleckhere

by R. Austin Freeman The Mysterious Patient As I look back through the years of my association with John Thorndyke, I am able to recall a wealth of adventures and strange experiences such as falls to the lot of very few men who pass their lives within hearing of Big Ben. Many of these experiences I have already placed on record; but it now occurs to me that I have hitherto left unrecorded one that is, perhaps, the most astonishing and incredible of the whole series; an adventure, too, that has for me the added interest that it inaugurated my permanent association with my learned and talented friend, and marked the close of a rather unhappy and unprosperous period of my life. Memory, retracing the journey through the passing years to the starting-point of those strange events, lands me in a shabby little ground-floor room in a house near the Walworth end of Lower Kennington Lane. A couple of framed diplomas on the wall, a card of Snellen's test-types and a stethoscope lying on the writing-table, proclaim it a doctor's consulting-room; and my own position in the round-backed chair at the said table, proclaims me the practitioner in charge. It was nearly nine o'clock. The noisy little

Download The Mystery of 31 New Inn ( 252KB )

by Francis Hodgson Burnett THE NEW LODGERS AT NO. 7 PHILIBERT PLACE There are many dreary and dingy rows of ugly houses in certain parts of London, but there certainly could not be any row more ugly or dingier than Philibert Place. There were stories that it had once been more attractive, but that had been so long ago that no one remembered the time. It stood back in its gloomy, narrow strips of uncared-for, smoky gardens, whose broken iron railings were supposed to protect it from the surging traffic of a road which was always roaring with the rattle of busses, cabs, drays, and vans, and the passing of people who were shabbily dressed and looked as if they were either going to hard work or coming from it, or hurrying to see if they could find some of it to do to keep themselves from going hungry. The brick fronts of the houses were blackened with smoke, their windows were nearly all dirty and hung with dingy curtains, or had no curtains at all; the strips of ground, which had once been intended to grow flowers in, had been trodden down into bare earth in which even weeds had forgotten to grow. One of them was used as a stone-cutter's yard, and cheap monuments, crosses, and slates were set out for sale,

Download The Lost Prince ( 560.4KB )

by Rudyard Kipling "Or ever the knightly years were gone With the old world to the grave, I was a king in Babylon And you were a Christian slave," — W.E. Henley . His name was Charlie Mears; he was the only son of his mother who was a widow, and he lived in the north of London, coming into the City every day to work in a bank. He was twenty years old and suffered from aspirations. I met him in a public billiard-saloon where the marker called him by his given name, and he called the marker "Bullseyes." Charlie explained, a little nervously, that he had only come to the place to look on, and since looking on at games of skill is not a cheap amusement for the young, I suggested that Charlie should go back to his mother. That was our first step toward better acquaintance. He would call on me sometimes in the evenings instead of running about London with his fellow-clerks; and before long, speaking of himself as a young man must, he told me of his aspirations, which were all literary. He desired to make himself an undying name chiefly through verse, though he was not above

Download Indian Tales ( 426.4KB ) Downcleckhere

by Arthur Conan Doyle "I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have to go," said Holmes, as we sat down together to our breakfast one morning. "Go! Where to?" "To Dartmoor; to King's Pyland." I was not surprised. Indeed, my only wonder was that he had not already been mixed upon this extraordinary case, which was the one topic of conversation through the length and breadth of England. For a whole day my companion had rambled about the room with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and recharging his pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and absolutely deaf to any of my questions or remarks. Fresh editions of every paper had been sent up by our news agent, only to be glanced over and tossed down into a corner. Yet, silent as he was, I knew perfectly well what it was over which he was brooding. There was but one problem before the public which could challenge his powers of analysis, and that was the singular disappearance of the favorite for the Wessex Cup, and the tragic murder of its trainer. When, therefore, he suddenly announced his intention of setting out for the scene of the drama it was only what I had both expected and hoped for. "I should be most happy to go down with you if

Download The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ( 218.1KB )

by Lucy Maud Montgomery The Shadow of Change "Harvest is ended and summer is gone," quoted Anne Shirley, gazing across the shorn fields dreamily. She and Diana Barry had been picking apples in the Green Gables orchard, but were now resting from their labors in a sunny corner, where airy fleets of thistledown drifted by on the wings of a wind that was still summer-sweet with the incense of ferns in the Haunted Wood. But everything in the landscape around them spoke of autumn. The sea was roaring hollowly in the distance, the fields were bare and sere, scarfed with golden rod, the brook valley below Green Gables overflowed with asters of ethereal purple, and the Lake of Shining Waters was blue—blue—blue; not the changeful blue of spring, nor the pale azure of summer, but a clear, steadfast, serene blue, as if the water were past all moods and tenses of emotion and had settled down to a tranquility unbroken by fickle dreams. "It has been a nice summer," said Diana, twisting the new ring on her left hand with a smile. "And Miss Lavendar's wedding seemed to come as a sort of crown to it. I suppose Mr. and Mrs. Irving are on the Pacific coast now." "It seems to me they

Download Anne Of The Island ( 205.5KB ) Downcleckhere

by Jane Austen Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there any unwelcome sensations, arising from domestic affairs changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century; and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed. This was the page at which the favorite volume always opened: "ELLIOT OF KELLYNCH HALL. "Walter Elliot, born March 1, 1760, married, July 15, 1784, Elizabeth, daughter of James Stevenson, Esq. of South Park, in the county of Gloucester, by which lady (who died 1800) he has issue Elizabeth, born June 1, 1785; Anne, born August 9, 1787; a still-born son, November 5, 1789; Mary, born November 20, 1791." Precisely such had the paragraph originally stood from the printer's hands; but Sir Walter had improved it by adding, for the information of himself and his family,

Download Persuasion ( 205.4KB )

by Charles Dickens ON THE LOOK OUT In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a dark girl of nineteen or twenty, sufficiently like him to be recognizable as his daughter. The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man, with the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waistband, kept an eager look out. He had no net, hook, or line, and he could not be a fisherman; his boat had no cushion for a sitter, no paint, no inscription, no appliance beyond a rusty boathook and a coil of rope, and he could not be a waterman; his boat was too crazy and too small to take in cargo for delivery, and he could not be a lighterman or river-carrier; there was no clue to what he looked for, but he looked for something, with a most intent and searching gaze. The tide, which had turned an hour before, was running down, and

Download Our Mutual Friend ( 790.5KB )

by RUBY M. AYRES James Challoner, known to his friends and intimates as Jimmy, brushed an imaginary speck of dust from the shoulder of his dinner jacket, and momentarily stopped his cheery whistling to stare at himself in the glass with critical eyes...

Download The Second Honeymoon ( 147.5KB ) Downcleckhere

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ">BOOK I. ">Epigraph ">CHAPTER I. THE HERO. ">CHAPTER II. THE CHRIST OF ANDERNACH. ">CHAPTER III. HOMUNCULUS. ">CHAPTER IV. THE LANDLADY'S DAUGHTER. ">CHAPTER V. JEAN PAUL, THE ONLY-ONE. ">CHAPTER VI. HEIDELBERG AND THE BARON. ">CHAPTER VII. LIVES OF SCHOLARS. ">CHAPTER VIII. LITERARY FAME. ">BOOK II. ">Epigraph ">CHAPTER I. SPRING. ">CHAPTER II. A COLLOQUY. ">CHAPTER III. OWL-TOWERS. ">CHAPTER IV. A BEER-SCANDAL. ">CHAPTER V. THE WHITE LADY'S SLIPPER AND THE PASSION-FLOWER. ">CHAPTER VI. GLIMPSES INTO CLOUD-LAND. ">CHAPTER VII. MILL-WHEELS AND OTHER WHEELS. ">CHAPTER VIII. OLD HUMBUG. ">CHAPTER IX. THE DAYLIGHT OF THE DWARFS, AND THE FALLING STAR. ">CHAPTER X. THE PARTING. ">BOOK III. ">Epigraph ">CHAPTER I. SUMMER-TIME. ">CHAPTER II. FOOT-TRAVELLING. ">CHAPTER III. INTERLACHEN. ">CHAPTER IV. THE EVENING AND THE MORNING STAR. ">CHAPTER V. A RAINY DAY. ">CHAPTER VI. AFTER DINNER, AND AFTER THE MANNER OF THE BEST CRITICS. ">CHAPTER VII. TAKE CARE! ">CHAPTER VIII. THE FOUNTAIN OF OBLIVION. ">CHAPTER IX. A TALK ON THE STAIRS. ">BOOK IV. ">Epigraph ">CHAPTER I. A MISERERE. ">CHAPTER II. CURFEW BELLS. ">CHAPTER III. SHADOWS ON THE WALL. ">CHAPTER IV. MUSICAL SUFFERINGS OF JOHN KREISLER.

Download Hyperion ( 193.8KB )

by Upton Sinclair It was four o'clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive. There had been a crowd following all the way, owing to the exuberance of Marija Berczynskas. The occasion rested heavily upon Marija's broad shoulders- it was her task to see that all things went in due form, and after the best home traditions; and, flying wildly hither and thither, bowling every one out of the way, and scolding and exhorting all day with her tremendous voice, Marija was too eager to see that others conformed to the proprieties to consider them herself. She had left the church last of all, and, desiring to arrive first at the hall, had issued orders to the coachman to drive faster. When that personage had developed a will of his own in the matter, Marija had flung up the window of the carriage, and, leaning out, proceeded to tell him her opinion of him, first in Lithuanian, which he did not understand, and then in Polish, which he did. Having the advantage of her in altitude, the driver had stood his ground and even ventured to attempt to speak; and the result had been a furious altercation, which, continuing all the way down Ashland Avenue, had added a new swarm of urchins to the cortege

Download The Jungle ( 352.5KB )

by James Fenimore Cooper "What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse? Or shall we on without apology." Romeo and Juliet. The fine estuary which penetrates the American coast, between the fortieth and forty-first degrees of latitude, is formed by the confluence of the Hudson, the Hackensack, the Passaic, the Raritan, and a multitude of smaller streams; all of which pour their tribute into the ocean, within the space named. The islands of Nassau and Staten are happily placed to exclude the tempests of the open sea, while the deep and broad arms of the latter offer every desirable facility for foreign trade and internal intercourse. To this fortunate disposition of land and water, with a temperate climate, a central position, and an immense interior, that is now penetrated, in every direction, either by artificial or by natural streams, the city of New-York is indebted for its extraordinary prosperity. Though not wanting in beauty, there are many bays that surpass this in the charms of scenery; but it may be questioned if the world possesses another site that unites so many natural advantages for the growth and support of a widely extended commerce. As if never wearied with her kindness, Nature

Download The Water-Witch or, The Skimmer of the Seas ( 406.1KB )

by Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley TO Mrs. Saville, England St. Petersburgh, Dec. 11th, 17- You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking. I am already far north of London, and as I walk in the streets of Petersburgh, I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves and fills me with delight. Do you understand this feeling? This breeze, which has travelled from the regions towards which I am advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climes. Inspirited by this wind of promise, my daydreams become more fervent and vivid. I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of frost and desolation; it ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight. There, Margaret, the sun is forever visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon and diffusing a perpetual splendour. There--for with your leave, my sister, I will put some trust in preceding navigators--there snow and frost are banished; and, sailing over a calm sea,

Download Frankenstein ( 191.3KB ) Downcleckhere

http://www.tomeraider.com/ebooks/religion/buddhism/ebook_listing_CT-21_5_1/#sndReqArgPage:18:4:5

The Buddhism between other Religion

2010-02-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

From The Preface To The First Edition
As a first attempt of an authentic dictionary of Buddhist doctrinal terms, used in the Pï¿½li Canon and its Commentaries, this present manual will fill a real gap felt by many students of Buddhism. It provides the reader not with a mere superficial enumeration of important Pï¿½li terms and their English equivalents, but offers him precise and authentic definitions and explanations of canonical and post-canonical terms and doctrines, based on Sutta, Abhidhamma and Commentaries, and illustrated by numerous quotations taken from these sources, so that, if anyone wishes, he could, by intelligently joining

Download Buddhist Dictionary ( 277.1KB )

by N Sumana Thera
Buddhism has long been an important part of the cultural heritage of South East Asia. The monuments of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Indonesia are just two of countless testimonies to the former greatness of Buddhism in this region. In Singapore too Buddhism is an important element in the cultural heritage of the people. The fact that a large section of the Chinese Community as well as the small but influential Srilankan Community acknowledge Buddhism as the primary force shaping their religious ideals and moral values is more than proof of this. Nonetheless, it is certain that if Buddhism is to continue to exercise a positive influence upon present and future generations, it cannot remain content with the achievements of the past. The religious ideals and moral values of Buddhism which have proved so useful to past generations must be transmitted to men and women living in a changing world. In order that this can be accomp-lished, it is important that the teachings of the Buddha be made available to the largest number of people.
With this objective in mind, the Srilankaramaya Buddhist Temple invited Dr Santina to deliver a series of public lectures. The lectures outlined

Download Fundamentals of Buddhism ( 85.7KB )

by Narada Mahathera
The Buddha
On the fullmoon day of May, in the year 623 B.C., there was born in the district of Nepal an Indian Sakya Prince named Siddhattha Gotama, who was destined to be the greatest religious teacher in the world. Brought up in the lap of luxury, receiving an education befitting a prince, he married and had a son.
His contemplative nature and boundless compassion did not permit him to enjoy the fleeting material pleasures of a Royal household. He knew no woe, but he felt a deep pity for sorrowing humanity. Amidst comfort and prosperity, he realized the universality of sorrow. The palace, with all its worldly amusements, was no longer a congenial place for the compassionate prince. The time was ripe for him to depart. Realizing the vanity of sensual enjoyments, in his twenty-ninth year, he renounced all worldly pleasures and donning the simple yellow garb of an ascetic, alone, penniless, wandered forth in search of Truth and Peace.
It was an unprecedented historic renunciation; for he renounced not in his old age but in the prime of manhood, not in poverty but in plenty. As it was the belief in the ancient days that no deliverance could be gained unless one leads a life

Download Buddhism in a Nutshell ( 55.4KB )

by Piyadassi Thera
'Dependent Origination' - Pañicca-Samuppàda - is a basic teaching of the Buddha Dhamma (Buddhism). The doctrine therein being so deep and profound, it is not possible within the limited scope of this essay to make an extensive survey of the subject. Based solely on the teaching of the Buddha an attempt is made here to elucidate this doctrine, leaving aside the complex details involved.
Scholars and writers have in various forms rendered this term into English. 'Dependent Origination', 'Dependent Arising', 'Conditioned Co-production', 'Causal Genesis'. 'Conditioned Genesis' are some renderings. Throughout this essay the term 'Dependent Origination' is used. Dependent Origination is not a discourse for the unintelligent and superficial, nor is it a doctrine to be grasped by speculation and mere logic put forward by hair-splitting disputants. Hear these words of the Buddha.
'Deep, indeed, Ananda,The attendant - disciple of the Buddha. is this Pañicca-Samuppàda and deep does it appear. It is through not understanding, through not penetrating this doctrine, that these beings have become entangled like a matted ball or thread, become like munja grass and rushes, unable to pass beyond

Download The Law of Cause and Effect ( 34.8KB )

by Ven. Pannyavaro
Meditative attention is an art, or an acquired skill which brings clarity and an intelligence that sees the true nature of things. Among the variety of techniques in Buddhist meditation, the art of attention is the common thread underpinning all schools of Buddhist meditation: Mahamudra in the Tibetan tradition, Zazen in Zen Buddhism and Vipassana meditation in Theravada. Its ubiquitousness is illustrated by this Zen story: A monk once asked his teacher, What is the fundamental teaching in Buddhism? the Master replied Attention. The student, dissatisfied with the answer said, I wasnt asking about attention, but was wanting to know the essential teaching in Buddhism. The Master replied, Attention, Attention, Attention. So, it can be appreciated that the essence of Buddhist practice is to be found in the word - attention!
But how to do it? What is the practice? Vague advice to an aspiring meditator, such as be mindful or be attentive, while offered with good intention, is unlikely to be effective. It is like the rulers in Aldous Huxleys utopian novel Island who taught mynah birds to repeat attention in the hope of training the island inhabitants to be attentive it just didnt work.

Download The Art of Attention ( 26.5KB )

by Translated by F. Max Muller
The Project Gutenberg Etext The Dhammapada, Translated by Muller
Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!!
Please take a look at the important information in this header. We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations*
Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and further information is included below. We need your donations.
The Dhammapada
Translated by F. Max Muller
December, 1999 [Etext #2017]
The Project Gutenberg Etext The Dhammapada, Translated by Muller ******This file should be named dhmpd10.txt or 1dhmpd0.zip******
Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, dhmpd11.txt VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, dhmpd10a.txt
This etext was prepared by Tom Weiss (tom(at)iname.com)
Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, all of which

Download Dhammapada - 423 Sayings Originally Spoken ( 40.2KB )

by N/A

If your interested in the teachings of the Buddha this is a pretty good introduction to the core teaching, the Four Noble Truths.

It is written by Bikku Bhodi who is a very respected Buddhist monk and scholar. He also writes in a good and easy to understand English whilst explaining well often complex topics.

Download The Noble Eightfold Path ( 100.4KB )

by Ajahn Sumedho
The Blessed One was once living at Kosambi in a wood of simsapa trees. He picked up a few leaves in his hand, and he asked the bhikkhus, 'How do you conceive this, bhikkhus, which is more, the few leaves that I have picked up in my hand or those on the trees in the wood?
'The leaves that the Blessed One has picked up in his hand are few, Lord; those in the wood are far more.'
'So too, bhikkhus, the things that I have known by direct knowledge are more; the things that I have told you are only a few. Why have I not told them? Because they bring no benefit, no advancement in the Holy Life, and because they do
not lead to dispassion, to fading, to ceasing, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana. That is why I have not told them. And what have I told you? This is suffering; this is the origin of suffering; this is the cessation of suffering; this is the way leading to the cessation of suffering. That is what I have told you. Why have I told it? Because it brings benefit, and advancement in the Holy Life, and because it leads to dispassion, to fading, to ceasing, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana. So bhikkhus, let your task be

Download The Four Noble Truths ( 58.4KB )

by Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda
In the academic study of religion as a phenomenon in history the term 'religion' can be considered in its different aspects: as an inner experience, as theology, or intellectual formulation of doctrine, as a basis or source of ethics and as an element in culture.
Different scholars have given different views and opinions of its nature and meaning. According to Aldous Huxley, religion is, among other things, a system of education, by means of which human beings may train themselves, first to make desirable changes in their own personalities and in society, and second, to heighten consciousness and so establish more adequate relations between themselves and the universe of which they are parts. Modern Indian philosophers like Dr. Radhakrishnan, have expounded the theme that religion is not a set of doctrines but that it is experience. And religious experience is based on the realisation of the presence of the divine in man. H.G. Wells says 'religion is the central part of our education that determines our moral conduct'. The German philosopher, Kant, stated that 'religion is the recognition of our moral principles as laws that must not be transgressed.'
The Buddha's message as

Download Buddhism as a Religion ( 35KB )

by N/A
The life of the Buddha is more than an account of one mans quest for and realisation of the truth; it is also about the people who encountered that man during his forty-five year career and how their encounter transformed them.

Download Buddha and Disciples ( 74.3KB )

by N/A
Bible: Bible, the English form of the Greek name Biblia, meaning 'books,' the name which in the fifth century began to be given to the entire collection of sacred books, the 'Library of Divine Revelation.' The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came gradually into use in our English language. The Bible consists of sixty-six different books, composed by many different writers, in three different languages, under different circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and Gentiles; most of them unknown to each other, and writing at various periods during the space of about 1600 years: and yet, after all, it is only one book dealing with only one subject in its numberless aspects and relations, the subject of man's redemption.....
Read More

Christianity

It is divided into the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine books, and the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books. The names given to the Old in the writings of the New are 'the scriptures' (Matt. 21:42), 'scripture' (2 Pet. 1:20), 'the holy scriptures' (Rom. 1:2), 'the law' (John 12:34), 'the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms' (Luke 24:44), 'the law and the prophets' (Matt. 5:17), 'the old covenant' (2 Cor. 3:14, R.V.). There is a break of 400 years between the Old Testament and the New.....

Download Bible Dictionary ( 1.2MB )

by King James
The Holy Bible is the sacred book or Scriptures of Judaism and of Christianity. The Bible of Judaism and the Bible of Christianity are different in some important ways. The Jewish Bible is the Hebrew Scriptures, 39 books originally written in Hebrew, except for a few sections in Aramaic. The Christian Bible is in two parts, the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. The Old Testament is structured in two slightly different forms by the two principal divisions of Christendom. The version of the Old Testament used by Roman Catholics is the Bible of Judaism plus 7 other books and additions to books; some of the additional books were originally written in Greek, as was the New Testament. The version of the Old Testament used by Protestants is limited to the 39 books of the Jewish Bible. The other books and additions to books are called the Apocrypha by Protestants; they are generally referred to as deuterocanonical books by Roman Catholics.
The term Bible is derived through Latin from the Greek biblia, or “books,” the diminutive form of byblos, the word for “papyrus” or “paper,” which was exported from the ancient Phoenician port city of Biblos. By the time of the Middle

Download King James Bible and the Apocrypha ( 1.8MB )

by Ted Cross
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. The "ISV" and "International Standard Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by The ISV Foundation. Use of either trademark requires written permission of The ISV Foundation. The ISV triglyph device is claimed as a trademark by The ISV Foundation.
All trademarks for English language Bible translations noted herein are the property of their respective owners. The ISV text may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic, or audio) up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without expressed written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible and do not account for more than 25 percent of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. Notices of copyright must appear on the copyright page of the work as follows:
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, International Standard Version®. Copyright © 2000 by The ISV Foundation, Santa Ana, CA. All rights reserved internationally.
When quotations from the ISV text are used in non-commercial media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, sermon outlines, transparencies or other

Download The Holy Bible ISV ( 457.4KB )

by God
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit

Download Holy Bible, American Standard Version ( 1.6MB )

by Translated by Joseph Smith, Jr.
The Book of Mormon
Translated by Joseph Smith, Jr.
1908 Authorized Edition
Compared with the orginal manuscript and the Kirtland edition of 1837, which was carefully reexamined and compared with the original manuscript by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. The Title Page of the Book of Mormon was translated directly from the plates along with the rest of the translation. Joseph Smith explained this as follows,
"I wish also to mention here, that the title page of the Book of Mormon is a literal translation, taken from the very last leaf, on the left hand side of the collection or book of plates, which contained the record which has been translated; the language of the whole running the same as all Hebrew writing in general; and that, said title page is not by any means a modern composition either of mine or of any other man's who has lived or does live in this generation. Therefore, in order to correct an error which generally exists concerning it, I give below that part of the title page of the English version of the Book of Mormon, which is a genuine and literal translation of the title page of the Original Book of Mormon, as recorded on the plates" (Times and Seasons,

Download The Book of Mormon ( 504.7KB )

by Matthew Henry's agreed classic commentary.
* The first sabbath. (1-3) Particulars about the creation. (4-7) The planting of the garden of Eden. (8-14) Man is placed in it. (15) God's command. (16,17) The animals named, The making of woman, The Divine institution of marriage. (18-25)
1-3 After six days, God ceased from all works of creation. In miracles, he has overruled nature, but never changed its settled course, or added to it. God did not rest as one weary, but as one well pleased. Notice the beginning of the kingdom of grace, in the sanctification, or keeping holy, of the sabbath day. The solemn observing of one day in seven as a day of holy rest and holy work, to God's honour, is the duty of all to whom God has made known his holy sabbaths. At this time none of the human race were in being but our first parents. For them the sabbath was appointed; and clearly for all succeeding generations also. The Christian sabbath, which we observe, is a seventh day, and in it we celebrate the rest of God the Son, and the finishing the work of our redemption.
4-7 Here is a name given to the Creator, "Jehovah." Where the word "LORD" is printed in capital letters in our English Bibles, in the original it is "Jehovah." Jehovah is

Download Bible Commentary ( 1.7MB )

by R. W. Wright
Prefatory.
The office of a preface is twofold; first, to introduce the author to the public; second, to introduce his work. As the writer seeks no personal introduction, beyond what a favorable or unfavorable reception of his work may give him, he leaves the more formal, if not formidable branch of salutation untouched.
The work has cost him some labor, as the reader will see. The field he has traversed is vast and varied, and the facts he has gathered are numerous and from many and diversified sources--all bearing more or less conclusively on the one vital point he seeks to establish, viz: That the primordial germs (meaning germinal principles of life) of all living things, man alone excepted, are in themselves upon the earth, and that they severally make their appearance, each after its kind, whenever and wherever the necessary environing conditions exist .
The foundation of this emphatic formula we find in the Bible Genesis, in the words given on our title-page, which are more accurately translated in the Septuagint, than in our common English version of the Old Testament. The words are to be found in the 11th verse of the first chapter of Genesis, and the writer

Download Life: Its True Genesis ( 197.6KB )

by Marting Luther

Martin Luther's 95 Theses
Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther
on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
by Dr. Martin Luther, 1517
Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther
on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
by Dr. Martin Luther, 1517
Published in:
Works of Martin Luther
Adolph Spaeth, L.D. Reed, Henry Eyster Jacobs, et Al., Trans. & Eds.
(Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915), Vol. 1, pp. 29-38.
DISPUTATION OF DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER
ON THE POWER AND EFFICACY OF
INDULGENCES
OCTOBER 31, 1517
Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light,the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg,under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us,
may do so by letter.
In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession

Download Writings of Martin Luther ( 206.4KB )

by N/A
This e-book comes from multiple editions of Challoner's revised Douay-Rheims Version of the Holy Bible. In 1568 English exiles, many from Oxford, established the English College of Douay (Douai/Doway), Flanders, under William (later Cardinal) Allen. In October, 1578, Gregory Martin began the work of preparing an English translation of the Bible for Catholic readers, the first such translation into Modern English. Assisting were William Allen, Richard Bristow, Thomas Worthington, and William Reynolds who revised, criticized, and corrected Dr. Martin's work. The college published the New Testament at Rheims (Reims/Rhemes), France, in 1582 through John Fogny with a preface and explanatory notes, authored chiefly by Bristol, Allen, and Worthington. Later the Old Testament was published at Douay in two parts (1609 and 1610) by Laurence Kellam through the efforts of Dr. Worthington, then superior of the seminary. The translation had been prepared before the appearance of the New Testament, but the publication was delayed due to financial difficulties. The religious and scholarly adherence to the Latin Vulgate text led to the less elegant and idiomatic words and phrases often found in the

Download The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version ( 2.1MB )

by William Lyon Phelps

Page 01
P riests, atheists, sceptics, devotees, agnostics, and evangelists are generally agreed that the
Authorised Version of the English Bible is the best example of English literature that the world has
ever seen.
Figure 1.0 The Holy Bible.
It combines the noblest elevations of thought, aspiration, imagination, passion and religion with
simplicity of diction.
Everyone who has a thorough knowledge of the Bible may truly be called educated;and no other
learning or culture,no matter how extensive or elegant, can, among Europeans and Americans, form a proper substitute. Western civilisation is founded upon the Bible; our ideas,our wisdom, our philosophy, our literature,our art, our ideals, come more from the Bible than from all other books
put together.
It is a revelation of divinity and of humanity; it contains the loftiest religious aspiration along with a
candid representation of all that is earthly, sensual and devilish. I thoroughly believe in a university
education for both men and women;but I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible. For in the Bible

Download Human Nature In The Bible ( 208.1KB )

Psychology libary ebooks French

2010-02-06T03:09:00.000-08:00

Jean-Christophe Blumhardt

F. Grin

En 1842, Blumhardt est appelé au chevet d'une jeune fille atteinte d'une grave hystérie. Le pasteur s'occupa de la malade, alors que les médecins, au bout de leur science, jugeaient eux-mêmes que ce cas singulier rentrait plutôt dans le domaine de la cure d'âmes. A son corps défendant et usant de la plus grande réserve, le pasteur essaie de porter secours à la pauvre âme en détresse en se laissant dicter sa conduite par la parole de Dieu. Mais les événements qui se déroulent alors dans la maison de Gottliebin Dittus, sont si inouïs, le retentissement de l'affaire qui dure plus de deux ans et rebondit à plusieurs reprises, est si troublant, que le pasteur qui s'y trouve mêlé, doit bientôt se justifier devant l'autorité ecclésiastique dont il relève et devant le monde savant. Le rapport adressé au consistoire et la réponse aux attaques violentes de son ancien ami, le Dr de Valenti, nous renseignent d'une façon précise sur les faits et la manière dont Blumhardt les envisage. La droiture de son caractère, le respect qui l'entoure, la bienveillance de l'autorité ecclésiastique à son égard, ne nous permettent pas de douter de sa bonne foi. Son récit nous rappelle les histoires les plus lugubres de maisons hantées et de spectres damnés. Pour Blumhardt, il n'y a pas eu de doute que la Gottliebin ne fût possédée par des démons. Esprits damnés, ils provoquaient les souffrances de la malade et travaillaient à la perte de cette âme soumise dès son enfance à certaines influences obscures. Elle est donc assaillie par les démons qui manifestent leur présence par des coups, des flammes bleues, des apparitions. Comme, avec le secours spirituel du pasteur, elle résiste à leur séduction, ils usent de moyens plus grossiers. Ils introduisent dans son corps des aiguilles, des clous qui sortent ensuite de sa bouche ou de ses yeux. Ils lui injectent du poison, l'obsèdent d'idées de suicide. D'étranges phénomènes de catalepsie, de matérialisation se produisent, qu'il n'y a pas lieu d'étudier ici. Mais ce qui nous intéresse du point de vue théologique, c'est l'interprétation que Blumhardt en donne. Pour sa part, il est convaincu qu'il a affaire aux puissances de l'enfer, que c'est contre elles qu'il lutte, et non contre des idées fixes ou contre les suggestions et les hallucinations d'une âme égarée. Dès que cette conclusion lui semble suffisamment vérifiée, il dirige ses attaques avec décision contre celui qui se cache derrière tout cela, contre Satan. La prudence dont il fait preuve, n'est donc pas celle du dilettante qui se meut sur un terrain peu connu, ni celle de l'esprit sobre qui ne voudrait être victime d'aucune duperie, mais bien le souci d'une âme craignant les pièges que Satan le rusé peut lui dresser à chaque pas. Parce qu'il croit à la réalité, à l'efficacité, à la terrible tentation de la magie noire, il s'en tient aussi strictement que possible aux méthodes bibliques pour chasser les démons. Les armes spirituelles de la prière et du jeûne, consacrées par l'exemple du Christ, lui suffisent. Avec cette déclaration : « nous avons pu constater ce que Satan peut faire, à présent il s'agit de voir quelle est la puissance du Christ », il avait commencé la lutte au nom du vainqueur des démons. Cette lutte le mènera loin. Ce ne sont pas seulement des groupes, des armées du mauvais esprit qu'il réduit à l'impuissance, c'est un des grands chefs des démons qui, vaincu par la fidélité et la foi d'un serviteur du Christ, quitte finalement avec le cri farouche : « Jésus est vainqueur », le corps de la jeune fille pour être précipité dans l'abîme de l'enfer. C'est un véritable exorcisme au nom de Jésus qui a été pratiqué.

Cette guérison est donc une victoire du Christ vivant sur la formidable puissance du diable. La pensée réaliste et biblique de Blumhardt en tire une conclusion d'une grande portée. Un fait s'est produit qui rapproche les temps présents de l'époque apostolique, une puissance du royaume des cieux s'est manifestée qui durant des siècles était restée inefficace. Serait-ce l'aurore d'une nouvelle Pentecôte ? Alors Blumhardt prend conscience de sa mission johannique. La joie de l'apôtre qui se sent revêtu de puissance donne à sa prédication une autorité nouvelle, et le réveil éclate. Le pasteur de Môttlingen avait agi autant que possible dans le secret, mais ses paysans étaient bien informés. Beaucoup d'entre eux avaient encore une mauvaise conscience, ils avaient été récalcitrants, avaient renié leur maître, ne devaient-ils pas redouter le jugement du Christ qui venait de manifester son pouvoir d'une façon si effrayante ? L'un après l'autre, ils viennent confesser leurs péchés au pasteur, qui s'étonne de la sincérité de leurs paroles et du contenu de leurs confidences. Spontanément on lui demande la rémission des péchés. Il ne trouve pas de raisons à la refuser et l'accorde simplement en imposant la main. L'humble geste prend immédiatement une signification sacerdotale et quasi sacramentelle par l'effet qu'il produit sur les pénitents. Blumhardt en est lui-même surpris, comme s'il était transporté dans une sphère inconnue où des puissances sacrées se font jour. C'est le signal d'une conversion générale. Aussitôt le mouvement de réveil s'étend et son instigateur devient une sorte de prophète dont la renommée va grandissant. Les guérisons miraculeuses se multiplient, de toutes parts des âmes fatiguées et chargées affluent vers lui, il prie avec elles, leur impose les mains; un souffle d'esprit apostolique les enveloppe et les soulage. Môttlingen a sa grande époque.

Au culte du vendredi saint en 1848, les fidèles s'écrasent au pied de sa chaire. Le presbytère devient peu à peu un refuge qui ouvre ses portes à tous les malheureux. On vient de la Suisse, du Nord de l'Allemagne, de l'Alsace. Un homme plus vaniteux aurait pu avoir l'idée de créer une sorte d'église apostolique. Blumhardt n'en éprouva nullement la tentation. Parce que le mouvement avait pris naissance spontanément, il crut y voir un signe : Dieu voulait en faire profiter toute l'église. D'ailleurs il était trop sobre pour ne pas voir les grandes lacunes qui restaient à combler. Un rayon éblouissant de lumière, tombant dans l'obscurité rend les ténèbres d'autant plus sensibles. De plus, le prophète de Môttlingen connaît trop bien la bible pour ne pas savoir combien les grands changements s'opèrent lentement et difficilement. Que sont ces succès à côté de la grande misère du monde ? Ils ne signifient qu'une promesse et un appel à prier davantage pour une nouvelle effusion du Saint-Esprit. La note eschatologique dominera donc de plus en plus dans la vie religieuse de Blumhardt. Mais la présence du Christ si puissamment ressentie à travers ses expériences, garantira à cette attente eschatologique son caractère joyeux et optimiste.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF 672 KB)

Le chemin du calvaire

Roy Hession

Plusieurs seront sans doute surpris en lisant cette brochure, leur conception du réveil étant bien différente ! On est souvent enclin à considérer le réveil comme une chose spectaculaire, caractérisée par un mouvement de masse impressionnant : des foules d’inconvertis convaincus de péché, et cela au milieu d’une plus ou moins grande excitation. Dans ce cas, on ne peut jamais prévoir quand et où se passeront de tels réveils, malgré le désir ardent de les voir se réaliser. C’est là une chose pour laquelle on ne peut que prier et attendre l’heure de Dieu. En attendant, les croyants acceptent la défaite, laissant l’Eglise continuer à rendre un témoignage médiocre, parce que privée de la vie d’En-Haut. Mais Dieu soit béni ! Plusieurs enfants de Dieu ont fait avec nous l’expérience que le réveil est souvent chose toute différente. Non ! le réveil n’est pas spectaculaire, en tout cas pas pour qui est convaincu de péché devant la croix. Et, quand de grandes manifestations se produisent, reconnaissons qu’elles ne constituent que l’à-côté du réveil, la partie la moins importante. Nos amis missionnaires qui sont venus nous parler en témoins d’un réveil — vu et vécu — ont, intentionnellement, omis de nous en décrire ce côté spectaculaire, craignant par-dessus tout d’obscurcir, par de telles descriptions, le message qu’ils avaient sur le cœur de nous apporter.

Notons, en second lieu, que le réveil ne concerne pas d’abord les inconvertis, mais le peuple de Dieu lui-même. Réveil signifie simplement retour à la vie nouvelle, ce qui sous-entend qu’il y a déjà eu vie. Les inconvertis n’ont pas besoin d’être « réveillés », car il n’y a pas de vie en eux qui puisse être renouvelée, réveillée. Ils ont tout simplement besoin de la Vie. Ce sont donc les chrétiens qui doivent être « réveillés », car il y a eu chez eux un recul, une diminution de vie spirituelle ; ils se sont endormis. Aussi, les « candidats au Réveil » sont ceux qui veulent bien confesser ce recul, cette diminution de vie. Dieu pourra réveiller dans la mesure où les péchés seront confessés d’une manière claire et précise. Lorsque de telles choses se passeront parmi les chrétiens, Dieu pourra alors travailler parmi les perdus avec une force nouvelle, et son œuvre de grâce sera visible pour tous. Une des devises d’Evan Roberts, lors du réveil du Pays de Galles, était : Courbe l’Eglise et sauve le peuple. Les deux dépendent l’un de l’autre. Le monde a perdu sa foi, parce que l’Eglise a perdu son feu.

Encore un mot pour le lecteur ! S’il veut être béni, qu’il lise ces pages, le cœur rempli d’une grande soif ; qu’il soit insatisfait de l’Eglise en général, et de lui-même..., mais surtout de lui-même. Il faut qu’il accepte que Dieu commence l’œuvre dans son propre cœur et non dans celui de son prochain, et ensuite qu’il place toute sa confiance en Dieu pour qu’il agisse. S’il est serviteur de Dieu, la nécessité du réveil est des plus urgentes pour lui, et nous souhaitons qu’il en soit profondément convaincu. C’est dans la mesure où il reconnaîtra sa propre misère et acceptera d’être béni, que le Seigneur répandra la bénédiction sur son troupeau. Oh ! qu’il comprenne avant tout qu’il doit être le premier à s’humilier devant la croix. S’il n’y a pas de conviction de péché parmi ses auditeurs, qu’il se laisse d’abord convaincre et briser lui-même. Le peuple de Ninive s’est repenti au moment où son roi, quittant son trône, s’est humilié sous le sac et la cendre.

Cependant, que le lecteur qui ne travaille pas directement au service de Dieu ne soit pas tenté d’attendre que l’œuvre de brisement commence chez son pasteur ou l’ancien de son assemblée. Non ! Dieu veut commencer son œuvre en vous. Il veut la commencer par vous et avec vous.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 458 KB)

Read More

En Danger

Johann Christoph Arnold

Chaque parent souhaite que son enfant soit heureux et réussisse sa vie. Comment alors le protéger des mauvaises influences et lui offrir des bases solides pour construire son avenir ?

Fort de sa propre expérience et de multiples témoignages receuillis, Johann Christoph Arnold dévoile les éléments essentiels d’une bonne éducation. Selon lui, le plus grand mal dans ce monde et la plus grande menace pesant sur nos enfants est l’indifference. Dès lors, nous les aimons et les servons au mieux si nous leur accordons de l’attention et du temps. C’est bien plus important que le confort matériel et les cadeaux extravagents.

Cette attitude, simple en apparence, se révèle délicate en pratique. Elle est en complète contradition avec le mode de vie occidental et nécessite donc une réelle remise en question de nos habitudes. L’auteur encourage les parents à s’engager pour leurs enfants et donne des pistes pous créer autour d’eux une atmosphère d’innocence et d’acceptation, socle d’un épanouissement mutuel et d’une protection efficace.

En ce livre il s’agit de la mort, entendu, mais l’essence de son message c’est la vie. Tout comme un nouveau-né nous enseigne de lutter pour vivre, il en est de même des malades et des personnes âgées. Comme le nouveau-né se débat pour respirer! Sa détermination de vivre semble plus grande que son petit corps. Il en est de même pour la lutte pour la vie, qui accompagne si souvent notre dernière heure. Petit à petit la sève vitale s’écoule; la flamme vacille, et le mourant doit concentrer toute son énergie: respirer! Le sens profond de cette double lutte—au commencement de la vie, et à sa fin—reflète la lutte entre Satan, le prince des ténèbres et de la mort, et Dieu, Créateur et dispensateur de vie.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 638 KB)

Acheter une copie imprimée de ce livre

Je vous dis un mystère

Johann Christoph Arnold

Avez-vous peur de mourir? Vous êtes-vous tourmenté à propos de vieillir, de devenir un fardeau pour vos enfants? Vous demandez-vous comment vous pourrez survivre votre épouse, si elle allait mourir, ou votre père, votre mère, ou votre enfant? Est-ce que quelqu’un d’aimé est en train de faire face à la maladie, ou la mort? Que ce soit consciemment ou inconsciemment, chacun doit inévitablement faire face à ces questions, à un moment ou l’autre.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 638 KB)

Le Defi de la pureté

Johann Christoph Arnold

Tabou à certaines époques, la sexualité est aujourd’hui banalisée à l’extreme, devenant le simple exutoire à un besoin naturel. Les forces économiques, scientifique, culturelles, sociales et commerciales ont fait d’elle un objet, entraînant un bouleversement profond de la structure familiale et des pratiques sexuelles dans nos societés occidentales qui, lorsqu’elles ne l’ont pas ridiculisée, ont rélégué la réflexion éthique sur le sujet au second plan, voire l’ont totalement évacuée.

Conscient d’être sur de nombreux points à contre-courant de la « sagesse » actuelle, mais sans se contenter de blâmer la société pour ses influences corruptrices, J.C. Arnold montre comment Jésus-Christ, source de l’amour, apporte une pureté qui libère et permet de vivre une vie nouvelle, dans laquelle le soutien des autres chrétiens est fondamental.

En effet, pour l’auteur, Église et vie de pureté sont indissociables. C’est à partir de cette conviction qu’il fait appel au courage et à l’autodiscipline des chrétiens pour qu’ils relèvent le défi de la pureté dans les domaines liés à la sexualité comme les fréquentations et le mariage, le célibat ou les enfants.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 1.1 MB)

Cliquer pour télécharger la Guide d'étude (PDF, 386 KB)

Acheter une copie imprimée du livre

Le Disciple

J. Heinrich Arnold

`Le disciple’ est un livre dur. Dès le début de sa lecture, je fus frappé par les paroles d’Heinrich Arnold comme d’une épée à double tranchant, m’appelant à choisir entre la vérité et le mensonge, le salut et le péché, la lumière et les ténèbres, entre Dieu et le démon. Tout d’abord, je n’étais pas sûr de vouloir être interpellé d’une manière aussi directe, et je découvris une certaine résistance en moi-même. Je voulais que la bonne nouvelle de l’évangile soit aimable, consolante et réconfortante, offrant la paix intérieure et l’harmonie.

Mais Arnold me rappelle que la paix de l’évangile n’est pas la même chose que la paix du monde, que la consolation de l’évangile est tout autre chose que la consolation du monde, que la douceur de l’évangile n’a rien à voir avec l’attitude libérale du monde. L’évangile exige un choix, un choix radical, un choix qui n’est pas toujours apprécié, soutenu ni glorifié. Toutefois, l’ouvrage d’Arnold n’est aucunement sévère, inflexible, fanatique ou hypocrite. Ce livre, au contraire, est plein d’amour, un amour dur mais vrai, le même amour qui s’écoule du cœur brisé de Jésus.

Ce qui rend les paroles d’Arnold tellement salutaires, est le fait qu’elles ne proviennent pas d’une idée, d’une idéologie ni d’une théorie, mais d’une connaissance intime de Jésus Christ. C’est Jésus, le Christ, qui est au centre de toutes les suggestions, de tous les conseils qu’il nous donne, et de toute la sollicitude exprimée dans ces réflexions. C’est vraiment un livre centré sur le Christ.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 862 KB)

Une formation d'après Jésus

Christoph Blumharddt

Ce qu'il nous faut aujourd'hui, ce n'est pas une confession de Jésus-Christ, mais sa personne. Dans les Évangiles, nous ne trouvons aucune « confession » qui se rapporte à lui, mais il est au centre, lui, et lui seul. Tant de choses se sont interposées entre lui et les hommes ! maintenant il faut qu'il reprenne ses droits.

« Vous venez d'en bas », dit le Sauveur ; vous êtes des produits de l'histoire, historiquement sur terre ; « Moi, je viens d'en haut », je ne suis pas une personnalité historique, je ne dépends de rien : ni d'un père, ni d'une mère, ni d'un temple, d'un peuple ou d'une coutume ; rien ne m'a préparé que Dieu lui-même. Et maintenant, il nous dit : Suivez-moi ! Celui qui me confesse, - moi qui suis en dehors de l'histoire, - celui qui vit parmi vous sans attache, qui, en dehors de votre piété et de votre justice, prend les ordres de Dieu seul, celui-là, je puis le reconnaître devant mon Père céleste. Les autres, ceux qui ne se soucient que des produits de l'histoire, sortis de la famille, de l'État, de la nation, de l'Eglise, ceux-là ne me confessent pas et je ne puis pas non plus les confesser.

Le christianisme souffre parce qu'il confesse trop peu son maître et trop les sociétés, les nationalités, les produits de l'histoire. C'est ce qui explique l'opposition qui fermente aujourd'hui contre le christianisme, tempête qui gronde maintenant contre les institutions établies. Si les enfants de Dieu se taisent, il faudra que les pierres crient. Il faut qu'il y ait des secousses pour que Jésus-Christ puisse faire irruption quelque part dans le monde - lui, cet être libre, ce simple homme de Dieu, ce Fils de l'homme. Il nous apportera d'en haut des coutumes divines : il nous fera naître, nous aussi, d'en haut sur cette terre.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 350 KB)

Vers un réalisme chrétien

Pierre Scherding

Pour que le libre retour à Dieu devienne possible à toute l'humanité, il faut qu'il y ait des hommes qui le demandent ardemment dans leurs prières. Les disciples de Jésus doivent se rendre compte des maux qui résultent de ce que Dieu ne règne pas encore uniquement, surtout pour ceux qui vivent dans l'insouciance et l'aveuglement et deviennent ainsi la proie des puissances menteuses dont ils ne peuvent se délivrer eux-mêmes, car ils ne sentent pas les liens qui les enchaînent et ne cherchent pas à les briser.

La victoire toujours plus rapide sur tous les pouvoirs opposés à Dieu, jusqu'à ce qu'il règne seul sur toute la création, doit être pour nous tous un constant sujet de prière. Mais il y en a peu qui prient comme ils le devraient. Pour la plupart, l'avancement du règne de Dieu va de soi et ne dépend pas de leur foi ni de leurs prières, et ils vivent à cet égard dans une, tranquille insouciance. Mais nous devons, pour ainsi dire, ressentir la douleur du Père céleste qui voit une foule de ses enfants vivre loin de lui, sans que ses mains puissent les atteindre pour les rassembler dans son Royaume. Pour que ce Royaume croisse, il faut que beaucoup d'âmes croient en Jésus et naissent par la foi à la lumière. Nous pouvons y contribuer, et nous le devons, en joignant l'action à la prière. Ce n'est pas à des anges, c'est à des hommes que l'ordre a été donné de prêcher l'Evangile à toute créature. Il est donc de notre devoir de travailler à répandre toujours plus loin la connaissance de l'Evangile. Le Sauveur a dit : « Quand je serai élevé au-dessus de la terre, je les attirerai tous à moi », mais il faut que par nos prières et notre foi active, nous concourions à la réalisation de sa parole.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 478 KB)

La Révolution de Dieu

Eberhard Arnold

Il n’y a peut-être jamais eu un temps comme le nôtre, où nous soyons tellement conscients que Dieu ne règne pas encore avec sa justice et son amour. Nous le voyons en nous-mêmes, et dans les évènements courants. Nous le voyons au sort des désespérés, des milliers de chômeurs. Nous le voyons dans le partage injuste des biens, malgré la fécondité de la terre et la générosité de ses offrandes. Alors que des travaux absolument indispensables devraient être accomplis en vue d’aider l’humanité, tout est contrecarré et détruit par l’injustice de l’ordre établi. Nous sommes au milieu d’une civilisation décadente. Une civilisation n’est pas autre chose que la mise en ordre de la nature par l’homme. Et ce travail est devenu le désordre qui crie son injustice au ciel.

Les multiples manifestations du temps nous avertissent de ce qui va se passer. Toutefois il ne se passe jamais rien dans l’histoire qui n’advienne pas de Dieu. Nous voulons le supplier qu’il accomplisse Son histoire, l’histoire de Sa justice. Et lorsque Dieu accomplit Son histoire, nous avons toutes les raisons de trembler. Car, en vue des circonstances actuelles, le courroux de Dieu doit premièrement renverser et détruire par son jugement toute l’injustice et l’indifférence, toute l’hostilité et la brutalité, qui règnent dans le monde. Le courroux de Dieu en tant que jour du jugement doit commencer Son histoire. Seulement après ce jugement est-il permis à l’aube de la joie, de l’amour, de la grâce, et de la justice de paraître.

Mais si nous demandons à Dieu d’intervenir, il nous faut mettre notre cœur à nu devant lui pour que son éclair nous frappe car nous sommes tous coupables. Il n’y a personne qui ne soit pas coupable de l’état injuste du monde actuel.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 402 KB)

Pourquoi pardonner

Johann Christoph Arnold

La plupart de nous n’aurons jamais à confronter un meurtrier, ou un viol. Mais nous sommes tous confrontés, journellement, avec le besoin de pardonner à notre partenaire, notre enfant, notre ami, ou collègue – peut-être une douzaine de fois par jour. Et, ce devoir n’est pas moins important. Dans son poème, “Un Arbre Empoisonné,” (A Poison Tree), William Blake décrit comment le plus léger ressentiment puisse fleurir et porter des fruits empoisonnés.

Les petites rancunes de la vie sont les graines de cet arbre de Blake. Si elles tombent en terrain fertile, elles vont grandir, et si on les soigne, elles continuent à vivre. Elles semblent petites, insignifiantes, on les remarque à peine, mais il faut quand même les surmonter. Blake nous montre combien ce peut être facile: il nous faut confronter notre rage immédiatement et la déraciner, avant qu’elle grandisse.

Il est moins difficile de pardonner à un étranger, que ce n’est de pardonner à une personne que nous connaissons bien, et en qui nous avons confiance. Voilà pourquoi il est si difficile de surmonter la trahison d’amis chers ou de collègues. Ils connaissent nos pensées, nos faiblesses, nos bizarreries – et s’ils nous font un mauvais service, la tête nous tourne.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 1.3 MB)

La Priere du Royaume

Jean-Christophe Blumhardt

La victoire toujours plus rapide sur tous les pouvoirs opposés à Dieu, jusqu’à ce qu’il règne seul sur toute la création, doit être pour nous tous un constant sujet de prière. Mais il y en a peu qui prient comme ils le devraient. Pour la plupart, l’avancement du règne de Dieu va de soi et ne dépend pas de leur foi ni de leurs prières, et ils vivent à cet égard dans une, tranquille insouciance. Mais nous devons, pour ainsi dire, ressentir la douleur du Père céleste qui voit une foule de ses enfants vivre loin de lui, sans que ses mains puissent les atteindre pour les rassembler dans son Royaume.

Pour que ce Royaume croisse, il faut que beaucoup d’âmes croient en Jésus et naissent par la foi à la lumière. Nous pouvons y contribuer, et nous le devons, en joignant l’action à la prière. Ce n’est pas à des anges, c’est à des hommes que l’ordre a été donné de prêcher l’Evangile à toute créature. Il est donc de notre devoir de travailler à répandre toujours plus loin la connaissance de l’Evangile. Le Sauveur a dit : « Quand je serai élevé au-dessus de la terre, je les attirerai tous à moi », mais il faut que par nos prières et notre foi active, nous concourions à la réalisation de sa parole.

L’avènement complet du règne de Dieu aura lieu finalement par le retour du Christ et la révélation de la gloire des enfants de Dieu, objet de l’attente de toute la création (Romains 8.19). Puissions-nous nous écrier de tout notre cœur, avec un zèle et une ferveur plus qu’habituels : « Que ton règne vienne ! » La prière des élus qui crient jour et nuit sera exaucée à la fin et l’œuvre du Sauveur trouvera son achèvement. Quelle joie sera la nôtre, d’avoir contribué pour notre part, de toute notre âme, par notre zèle et notre abnégation, à la venue du règne de Dieu qui apaisera l’attente de toutes les créatures !

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF 498 KB)

Eberhard Arnold

Sa vie et son témoignage

Eberhard Arnold admettait la nécessité de la conversion personnelle, mais il déclarait que l'éthique de Jésus, tout en reconnaissant le pouvoir de l'État, désignait le Royaume de Dieu comme tout à fait différent. Le chrétien prend constamment une position corrective à l'intérieur de l'État, provoquant un réveil de la conscience et renforçant la volonté de justice. Il doit être le levain, c'est-à-dire un corps étranger dans le sens d'une valeur supérieure. Mais tant que l'État emploie la force, le chrétien doit refuser de coopérer. Il ne peut donc être ni soldat, ni bourreau, ni préfet de police. Nous sommes tenus de témoigner par la parole et par nos actes, que la parole de Dieu est inaliénable. L'exigence est toujours absolue: "Il faut obéir à Dieu plutôt qu'aux hommes". Nous nous considérons ici-bas comme un correctif de la norme.

Il fallait donc chercher des chemins nouveaux. Nous répondîmes à un appel de nos amis du "Nouveau Travail", un groupe de socialistes religieux, et à une injonction de retourner à l'Église primitive qui nous parvint de Schlüchtern. Tout d'abord nous organisâmes avec quelques amis une conférence pendant les journées de Pentecôte à Schlüchtern. Environ 200 personnes, jeunes pour la plupart, vinrent de toutes les régions de l'Allemagne, avec le désir ardent de trouver une réponse à la question brûlante: "que devons-nous faire?" Comment trouver la véritable humanité, la vraie liberté, une vie de réel dévouement? Influencés par ce que nous avions vu au Habertshof, une colonie de la Jeunesse libre allemande (Freideutsche Jugend), nous eûmes la certitude que notre voie devait être celle d'une vie en communauté fraternelle. Nous le savions bien: la propriété privée est une des causes néfastes de la guerre, et en général de la vie erronée des hommes.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 200 KB)

La communauté fraternelle

Andreas Ehrenpreis

Nous voyons beaucoup de signes qui montrent clairement la voie qui mène à l'amour véritable et à la communauté. Mais il est tout à fait injuste de nous accuser de faire de la vie communautaire une affaire d'obligation. Absolument pas. C'est un Autre qui nous l'exige et qui nous y contraint ; mais ni Lui, ni nous ne voulons forcer qui que ce soit. Jamais ! Quiconque n'est pas motivé par l'amour et par un appel intérieur ne devrait pas l'entreprendre. Il s'agit d'un désir urgent pour la vie et la joie éternelles, et c'est une crainte de la colère de Dieu qui nous incite et qui nous pousse à Lui obéir. C'est là la source de la vie communautaire. Cela ne vient pas de nous hommes. Ce n'est pas notre invention. Cela ne peut être notre entreprise. Beaucoup d'entre nous avaient un travail et des biens et une forte volonté-propre. Nous appréciions ces choses. Nous nous sentions à l'aise dans notre environnement. Mais notre amour pour Christ et pour les pauvres nous a conduit à faire ce que nous faisons et confessons aujourd'hui. Nous avons donc expérimenté la vérité de l'expression : « Si vous voulez l'un, vous devez abandonner l'autre. » Nous avons reconnu la vérité que personne ne peut suivre deux maîtres. Nous ne pouvons pas appartenir à Mammon et à Dieu en même temps1.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 259 KB)

Acheter une copie imprimée de ce livre

Pourquoi nous vivons en communauté

Eberhard Arnold

Chaque révolution, chaque mouvement de caractère idéaliste et réformateur nous ramène à cette conclusion: Croire au bien et vouloir la communauté n’aboutit à rien de vivant, si on n’y ajoute pas le clair témoignage de l’action et la parole de la vérité. En Dieu l’action et la parole forment un tout indissociable. Il y a tant de choses pourries dans la situation actuelle que nous n’avons qu’un seul moyen de lutte. Ce moyen de lutte de l’Esprit, c’est le travail constructif de la communauté dans l’amour. Nous ne connaissons pas d’amour sentimental, pas d’amour sans travail. Mais nous ne connaissons pas non plus de dévouement dans le travail pratique qui ne démontre pas l’entente et l’harmonie que l’esprit crée entre les travailleurs. L’amour du travail, le travail de l’amour, voilà l’effet de l’esprit. L’amour de l’Esprit, c’est le travail.

Quand les hommes s’unissent librement pour travailler ensemble, rejetant toute ambition et toute prétention personnelle, ils montrent le chemin de l’unité totale de tous les hommes, celle qui se manifeste dans l’amour de Dieu et la Pourquoi nous vivons en communauté puissance de son règne imminent. La volonté dirigée vers le royaume de la paix universelle, et l’esprit dépouillé de convoitise et assoiffé de travail fraternel viennent de Dieu. Le travail devenant esprit et l’esprit devenant travail, tel est le caractère fondamental de l’avenir de paix qui vient à nous en Christ. Le travail qui devient joie d’agir pour le bien de tous, la joie de sentir la présence vivante de tous les camarades de travail, voilà la seule possibilité de vivre en communauté. Une telle joie est seulement possible là où même pendant le travail le plus rude, les hommes vivent tournés vers l’éternité, sachant que tout ce qui est physique et terrestre est promis à l’avenir de Dieu.

Télécharger ebook gratuit (PDF, 458 KB)

Psychology libary ebooks German

2010-02-06T03:01:00.000-08:00

Die Ersten Christen

Am Anfang war die Liebe

Eberhard Arnold

Wie waren sie wirklich die Christen der ersten Jahrhunderte bevor die christliche Kirche zur Institution wurde? Was dachten, fühlten und taten sie?
Eine Antwort darauf geben die ausgewählten Textstücke dieses Sammelbandes. Eberhard Arnold hat alle wesentlichen Originaldokumente der ersten Jahrhunderte durchgesehen, die wichtigsten Teile übersetzt und nach inhaltlichen Schwerpunkten neugeordnet. Vom persönlichen Brief bis zum staatlichen Gerichtsprotokoll, von der Bischofpredigt bis zu den Apostelworten reicht die Bandbreite. Origen, Tertullian, Polycarp, Clemens von Alexandria, Justin, Irenaeus kommen genauso zu Wort wie die ausgesprochenen Feinde und Gegner dieser ersten Christenheit.
In diesen Schriften lebt der ursprüngliche, dynamische Glaube der Urchristen. Die klare Direktheit dieser Schriften ist eine aufrüttelnde Herausforderung für eine eingeschlafene Christenheit.

Ebook gratis downloaden (PDF, 1.2 MB)

Innenland

Ein Wegweiser in die Seele der Bibel und in den Kampf um die Wirklichkeit

Eberhard Arnold

Innenland, das wichtigste Buch von Eberhard Arnold, hatte bereits eine Geschichte, als es 1936 ein Jahr nach seinem unerwarteten Tod erschien. In deutscher Sprache waren diese Schriften jahrzehntelang beinahe unzugänglich, da nur noch Restexemplare der 1936er Ausgabe vorlagen. Von 1994 bis 1996 veröffentlichte der Brendow Verlag eine überarbeitete Neuerscheinung in 5 Einzelbänden, die dieser E-Buch Ausgabe zu Grunde liegen. Mit der Herausgabe als E-Buch soll dieses herausfordernde Werk erneut allen denen zugänglich gemacht werden, die nach Veränderung suchen. An dieser Stelle möchten wir auf die umfangreiche Zusammenstellung der Lesezeichen (bookmarks) hinweisen. Diese geben einen Hinweis auf die universale Bedeutung dieses Buches.

Aus der Einführung zur ersten Ausgabe 1936:

Das hier vorliegende Buch will in der heutigen politischen, sozialen und wirtschaftlichen Erregung zur religiösen Entscheidung aufrufen. Es sucht die Herzen aller derer, die Gott und sein letztes Reich nicht vergessen und verlieren wollen. Es will im Einklang mit den Ereignissen der Zeitgeschichte darauf hinweisen, daß das Heranrücken des Gerichtes Gottes unser Herz treffen will, daß der lebendig machende Geist unser Innerstes bewegen will.

Hier klicken für Innenland (PDF, 1.3 MB)

Crash

Erlebnisse - vor und nach dem Absturz

Johann Christoph Arnold

Gehören Sie auch zur gestressten, ausgepowerten Generation, die jung, dynamisch und erfolgreich nach dem letzten Kitzel jagt, bevor sie in einer Sinnkrise untergeht?

Trotz cleverer Vermögensanlagen, geregelter Arbeit und materiellem Wohlstand herrscht vielerorts Angst. Stress treibt den Schweiß auf die Stirn, Abhängigkeiten, Verpflichtungen und unerfüllte Wünsche verursachen Panik und Depression. Die Einsamkeit gibt dann den Rest. Crash.

Die Typen, die in diesem Buch zu Wort kommen, erfuhren am Tiefpunkt ihres Lebens, dass es doch noch eine Hoffnung für sie gibt.

Hier klicken für Crash (PDF, 495 KB)

Der Fall Rachoff

Eine wahre Geschichte

Karl Josef Friedrich

Im Gegensatz zu den russischen Heldensagen hat sich diese Geschichte tatsächlich zugetragen. Trotzdem scheint sie völlig unglaublich, denn welcher Jugendliche liest schon einen Obdachlosen auf und pflegt ihn im eigenen Elternhaus, erobert die Bühne, enthüllt Mumien, gründet ein Waisenhaus, legt Alkoholiker trocken, landet im Knast, bekehrt die Wärter, erklärt sich an allem unschuldig und behauptet, dass nur Jesus am Werk gewesen sei? Seine Entscheidung, eine vielversprechende Laufbahn als Handelskaufmann und die Übernahme des erfolgreichen Geschäfts seines Vaters in den Wind zu schlagen, und sich stattdessen mit dem Abschaum der Gesellschaft abzugeben, verbannte ihn letztlich nicht nur in die Gefangenschaft, sondern machte ihn auch zum erfolgreichsten Revolutionär Russlands.

Hier klicken für Der Fall Rachoff (PDF, 329 KB)

Die Revolution Gottes

Fundamente einer neuen Gesellschaft

Eberhard Arnold

Im Zeitalter der Globalisierung und des Terrorismus stehen wir vor neuen Herausforderungen und Problemen. Da die verschiedenen Wege der Religionen, der politischen Parteien und der fortschrittlichen Bewegungen an einem toten Punkt angelangt sind, muss sich jetzt eine neue Gesellschaftsform die Bahn brechen. Die Revolutionen und Reformen vergangener Jahre haben gezeigt, dass man die Menschen nicht verändern kann. Doch wie könnte unsere Welt aussehen, wenn jeder erst einmal bei sich selbst beginnt?

Am Rande der Katastrophe

Man hat den erschreckenden Eindruck, daß wir vor einer Gerichtskatastrophe stehen. Wenn diese Katastrophe nicht eintreten sollte, so ist sie doch so nahe gerückt, daß sie nur durch ein unmittelbares Eingreifen Gottes verhindert werden kann.

Mit Maschinen, Autos und Flugzeugen wird fast unendlich Erstaunliches geleistet, vor allem in der Bewältigung des Raumes und der Zeit. Jedoch werden Tausende und Abertausende dadurch getötet. In den Großstädten wird Gewaltiges erreicht, aber die meisten großstädtischen Familien sterben in der dritten oder vierten Generation aus. Das Unheimlichste an dieser Zivilisation sind die drei gewaltigen Organisationen der Staaten, der Armeen und des Kapitalismus. Diese drei Organisationen sind das Beste, was der Erdgeist hervorgebracht hat. Wir können nicht genug über den gewaltigen Aufbau staunen, der auf diesen Gebieten mit einer gefallenen Schöpfung geleistet wurde. Aber dies alles endet im Tod. Wie groß ist diese gewaltige Macht! Wie unbedingt erscheint ihre Geltung!

Vermögen & Unvermögen

Mammon ist die Herrschaft des Geldes über die Menschen. Weil wir selbst unter der Herrschaft dieses Geldgeistes stehen, fehlt uns die Kraft, gegen die Herrschaft dieses Geistes zu revolutionieren. Abhängigkeit des Lebens von den äußeren Einkünften und Geldverhältnissen ist das Wesen des Mammons.

Weil wir selbst völlig abhängig sind von den Einkünften unserer äußeren Existenz, weil unser persönliches Leben gebrochen ist in unserem eigenen Mammonismus, deshalb haben wir keine Möglichkeit, den Hebel anzusetzen und die Sklavenherrschaft des Mammon aus den Angeln zu heben. Und doch können wir es erkennen, dass das Geld der eigentliche Feind Gottes ist.

Ebook gratis downloaden (PDF, 849 KB)

Gegen den Strom

mein Leben in Gemeinschaft

Emmy Arnold

Die Erinnerungen von Emmy Arnold sind weitaus mehr als die Geschichte eines einzelnen Lebens. Die Weggenossin des in der heutigen Kirchengeschichte unvergleichbar markanten und nur zu wenig bekannten Dr. Eberhard Arnold schreibt weder ihren eigenen Lebenslauf noch den Lebenslauf ihres Mannes. Da ist kaum etwas von einem “ich”, sondern fast nahmslos von einem “wir” zu lesen. Und das beinhaltet eine Gemeinschaft von Menschen, die sich auf den Bergprediger eingelassen haben. Da ist nichts vereinzelt, trennbar oder persönlich interessant.

Hier klicken für Gegen den Strom (PDF, 889 KB)

Leben in der Nachfolge

Johann Heinrich Arnold

Vorwort von Henri J. Nouwen

Arnold’s Worte sind weder scharf noch unnachgiebig, weder fanatisch noch selbstgerecht. Im Gegenteil, sie sind voller Liebe - strenger, aber wahrer Liebe.

Hier klicken für Leben in der Nachfolge (PDF, 975 KB)

Salz und Licht

Über die Bergpredigt

Eberhard Arnold

Die Bergpredigt Jesu ist wohl zweifellos der revolutionärste Aufruf aller Zeiten und ähnelt in ihrem Charakter eher einer Anstiftung zur Verschwörung, als einer Predigt. Schließlich kamen diese Worte auch von keiner Kanzel, sondern sie wurden in der freien Natur und fern von allem Rummel verkündet. Das, was über die Jahrhunderte in Vergessenheit geraten ist, aber worüber sich die Zuhörer damals völlig im Klaren waren, sind die Konsequenzen, die ein solcher Lebensweg mit sich bringt. Wer sich dieser Neuordnung aller persönlichen und gesellschaftlichen Lebensbereiche vorbehaltlos öffnet, der riskiert nicht nur Vermögen und Besitz, sondern auch Kopf und Kragen.

Eines ist jedem Leser versprochen, dem sich die Bedeutung dieser Worte eröffnet: ichts wird mehr so sein, wie es einmal war!

Hier klicken für Salz und Licht (PDF, 629 KB)

Sex, Gott und Ehe

Johann Christoph Arnold

Vorwort von Mutter Teresa

Das Buch enthält einen Schatz an Einsichten und Erfahrungen, gesammelt in dem Ringen einer Lebensgemeinschaft um völlige Offenheit und Ehrlichkeit. Sex, Gott und Ehe ruft zur Entscheidung und provoziert, doch seine Botschaft ist gleichzeitig eine Botschaft der Hoffnung; tiefer als üblich führt es in die Themen ein: Es geht an die Wurzel unserer Verbindung zu Gott und beschreibt die Kraft, mit der diese sich auf alle unsere Beziehungen zueinander auswirkt.

Die Aussage ist klar, eindeutig und erfrischend: Nur Beständigkeit, Hingabe und gegenseitige Achtung können uns zu festen, dauernden Beziehungen führen. In starkem Kontrast zu dem heute herrschenden Geist wird die biblische Botschaft belebt, die Antworten auf das gegenwärtige sexuelle Chaos hat – nicht in großen sozialen Programmen, sondern in der Herausforderung an jeden einzelnen.

Hier klicken für Sex, Gott und Ehe (PDF, 791 KB)

Vergebung leben, Freiheit erfahren

Johann Christoph Arnold

Geschichten von Menschen, die in ihrem Leben Schreckliches erdulden mussten und trotzdem den Weg zu Versöhnung und Vergebung fanden. “Haben wir Unrecht erlitten, eröffnen sich zwei Möglichkeiten, damit umzugehen: entweder wir suchen Rache oder wir können vergeben. Wenn wir Vergeltung wählen, wird unser Leben vom Zorn verzehrt. Doch Vergebung macht uns frei weiter zu leben.”

Gordons Tochter Marie wurde von einer durch Terroristen gelegten Bombe getötet. Jared wurde jahrelang wegen seiner dunklen Hautfarbe diskriminiert. Josef wurde als Jude in Deutschland grausam verfolgt und später in Israel selber zum Verfolger. Chris wurde von einem Feind seines Vaters entführt und schwer misshandelt …

Johann C. Arnold erzählt in seinem Buch Geschichten von Menschen, die Fürchterliches erleben mussten. Sie alle hatten Grund zu hassen. Doch sie erfahren: Auf dem Weg der Rache und Vergeltung finden sie nicht ins Leben zurück. Keine Strafe der Welt wird ihnen den Seelenfrieden zurückbringen, nach dem sie suchen. Erst der Weg der Vergebung und der Versöhnung nimmt die Last der Vergangenheit von ihren Schultern und befreit sie zum Leben.

Hier klicken für Vergebung leben, Freiheit erfahren (PDF, 436 KB)

Psychology libary ebooks Hebrew

2010-02-06T02:55:00.000-08:00

החיפוש שלי

Josef Ben-Eliezer

יוסף בן-אליעזר גם באנדרלמוסיה גדולה זו רבים בני אדם תמימים וטהורי נפש התועים נבוכים ונדהמים ממראה עיניהם ושואלים בכאב ובצער: “מאין יבוא עזרנו? מי לנו מורה, מופת ודוגמה בחייו ובהליכותיו ונלך בעקבותיו? גם צעירים וגם מבוגרים מחפשים את אור האמת תוך כיסופים טמירים וספקנות מתלבטת. נתן חופשי

ספר חינם (PDF, 1 MB

مسيرتي في البحث

يوسف بن ايليزر

قصة حقيقة لرجل لم يعرف الكلل ولا اليأس في ظمأه وبحثه عن الحياة

الأخوية رغم ظلم المجتمعات والتهجّر ورغم إنجرافاته بالتيارات الوطنية والسياسية المختلفة في داخل وخارج إسرائيل. علماً أن خلفيته اليهودية لم تــُثـنـِه عن شغفه للحياة الأخوية مع كل من العرب الفلسطينيين والألمان وكل البشر. كان متيقـناً في قرارة ضميره وفي صميم قلبه من وجود جواباً شافياً, رغم حُلكة الدنيا أحياناً, حتى جاءه الأمل أخيراً, فما هو هذا الأمل, ياترى؟…

اضغط لتحميل الكتب

الصحوة

فردريك زندل

عندما وافق بلومهارت – وهو قسيس من القرن التاسع عشر من منطقة

الغابة السوداء الألمانية – على مساعدة ورعاية إمرأة متعذبة من أبناء رعيته، إنفلت الجحيم بأكمله، وبكل ما تعنيه الكلمة. غير أن ذلك كان مجرد بداية لأحداث مأساوية تلته. وكتاب المؤلف زندل، والمطروح هنا لأول مرة بالعربية، يعطينا لمحة عن المعركة الأبدية ما بين قوى الخير وقوى الشر في الحياة اليومية لناس عاديين. وعلاوة على ذلك، فإنه يذكرنا بأن تلك القوى مازالت تحيط بنا اليوم، سواءاً كنا متيقظين لها أم لم نكن. وفي خريف عام 1841، أخذ بلومهارت ينجرّ الى معركة روحية، والتي كان يسميها دائماً في بقية أيام حياته بـ "القتال". في البداية حاول تجنبها والإبتعاد عنها، ولكن سرعان ما تبين له إستحالة بقاءه خارج اللعبة
وكانت ديتوس جوتليبن، وهي شابة من عائلة متدينة في مدينة موتلينجن الألمانية، والتي كانت سابقاً من أفضل طالبات القسيس بارت، كانت ديتوس تعتبر إمرأة تخاف الله في كنيستها في القرية. وفي نفس الوقت كانت معروفة أيضاً ومنذ صغرها بأنها كانت تعاني من معاودة إعتلال عصبي وأمراض غيرها، بضمنها نوبات شبيهة بالصرع ليس لها أي تفسير
وحاول بلومهارت الإبتعاد عنها مشمئزاً من تصرفاتها الغريبة. وكان يذهب إليها حين يتم إستدعائه عند أشد نوباتها، إلا أنه كان يغادر على مضض، إعتقاداً منه بأن حالتها لا تخص عمله كقسيس. أما طبيب القرية، الدكتور سبيث Späth ، فكان يجادله بإستمرار قائلاً أن مرض جوتليبن كان خارج مدى معرفته الطبية، أن لم تكن أعراضه من عمل قوى خارقة للطبيعة. وعلى هذا الأساس وافق بلومهارت أخيراً على مراقبة ومتابعة أحوال المرأة. ولم يمضِ وقتاً طويلاً حتى صار في خضم صراع جوتليبن، ولم يقدر أحد على إيقافه. وقد خجل من أمر واحد وهو فكرة الإذعان والإستسلام لقوى الظلام للتأثير عليها وتعذيبها. وأكثر من هذا كان يشفق عليها. إلا أنه علم شيئاً قليلاً من أنه قد أنجرّ الى رحلة مجهولة من أكثر الأنواع غرابة وشذوذاً وقد دخل في معركة حامية الوطيس الى درجة أنها كانت تتطلب وضع كل طاقاته وجهوده للسنتين القادمتين من حياته. ويخبرنا كتاب "الصحوة" عن سير الأحداث معهم ومع غيرهم

اضغط لتحميل الكتب

في إنتظارِهِ فِعْلٌ

كريستوف بلومهارت

إن زماننا هو زمن البحث المكثف. فقسم منا مقتنع بما تقدمه كنائسنا أو

معابدنا بالإضافة الى مجتمعاتنا. أما من هو صادق فسيقرّ بالحال من أن حياتنا بالحقيقة ممزقة – بإتجاهات دينية متباينة من جهة، وبمعيشة يومية خالية من الروح من جهة أخرى. فنحن في أمس الحاجة الى شئ آخر، وبحاجة الى إيمان مصحوب بقوة قادرة على تغييرنا وتغيير عالمنا.
وبوضوح شديد على تركيز الرؤية، تقطع كلمات بلومهارت الفوضى والضوضاء الذين يتميز بهما وجود حياتنا العصرية جداً. وهو يقدم رؤية ملموسة تلهم حتى أكثر الناس الخائبي الأمل. وتوقد حرارة حماسه لهفتنا على العيش من أجل هدف.

"في إنتظاره فعل" لا يتضمن لاهوتاً نظرياً – إنه صريح وأرضي وواقعي للغاية. فتعكس هذه المقالات السبعة عشر الواقع الحي للمسيح الذي يستحوذ النفوس. وهي تقدم نظرة جديدة الى الحياة الروحية في توقع متوهج لملكوت اللـه ليقتحم هذا العالم. فهذا الملكوت لا يقتصر على الحياة الآخرة فحسب بل له مفعوله اليوم.
ويخبرنا بلومهارت عن كيفية عيش المستقبل الإلهي الذي وعدنا به المسيح الآن وفي يومنا هذا، بأسلوب بحيث يتم التغلب على كل من الموت والبؤس البشري. فقد لمس في حياته وفي كل يوم أعمال اللـه الخلاصية والشافية. فالشياطين كانت تُطرد، والمرضى تُشفى، والخطاة يتوبون. "في إنتظاره فعل" يحطم جدران الديانة المسيحية المؤسساتية. وبعد أن كان قسيساً وسياسياً صار مؤهلاً ليقول: "إن الدولة والكنيسة لا تعتبران تربة خصبة لإيقاد نيران اللـه". فجميع المؤسسات البشرية تقف عثرة في طريق ملكوت اللـه. "ليس هناك أخطر من الديانة: لأنها هي التي تجعلنا وثنيين... واللـه لا يهتم قيد شعرة بدياناتنا."

اضغط لتحميل الكتب

البحث عن السلام

قصص من الحياة

جوهان كريستوف ارنولد

يبين لنا كريستوف في هذا الكتاب قصصاً حقيقية لكثيرين ممن تغلبوا على

أكبر عقبات الحياة. وهو يرتكز في كتابه على أن الإشتياق للسلام كامن في أعماق كل إنسان. وهو لا يحاول تقديم جواباً شافياً لجميع مشكلات الحياة. ولكن بالنسبة للمستعدين للذهاب أبعد من "الوصفات" السريعة، فإنه يقدم خطوات واقعية تدفع نحو الأمام من أجل إيجاد الراحة والفرح والرضى في الحياة. اضغط لتحميل الكت

التحرر من الأفكار الخاطئة

يوهان هاينريتش آرنولد

يشتمل كتاب ” التحرر من الأفكار الخاطئة ” على رؤية واضحة للصراع

الحساس والعام بلغة بسيطة حتى يفهمها الجميع، والأهم من هذا أنه يتمسك بوعد الحياة الجديدة للقراء الذين تعاق صلواتهم بسبب أنانيتهم أو خطاياهم المستترة أو مشاعر الذنب أو الخوف، مما يحرمهم من محبة اللـه ومحبة أقربائهم بقلب حر. وهكذا، في عالم يلفه الظلام القادر على إصابة المرء بالإكتئاب يحمل هذا الكتاب رسالة فرح ورجاء. اضغط لتحميل الكت

فن الغفران المفقود

قصص شفاء من سرطان المرارة

يوهان كريستوف آرنولد

أن الغفران هو الطريق للسلام والسعادة، وهو السر الذي إن لم نسعى

لاكتشافه ظل خفياً عنا. ليس الهدف من هذا الكتاب أن يكون بمثابة مرشد عملي للغفران لأنه من المستحيل أن تخبر شخص كيف يجب أن يغفر، ولكني آمل أن يساعد في توضيح السبب وراء الحاجة إلى الغفران.

الغفران أمر ممكن وهذا هو ما تُظهره قصص هذا الكتاب حيث تعلم الناس أن يغفروا حتى في أصعب الظروف. أتمنى أن أساعدك للوصول إلى باب الغفران بسردي لتلك القصص، وبمجرد أن تصل إلى الباب، تكون أنت الشخص الوحيد الذي يمكنك أن تفتحه.

اضغط لتحميل الكتب

Psychology libary ebooksSpanish

2010-02-06T02:43:00.000-08:00

La revolución de Dios

La justicia, la comunidad y el reino venidero

Eberhard Arnold

Arnold testifica a la voluntad intransigente de Dios, que nos llama a vivir ahora mismo de acuerdo con el futuro reino de paz. Según Arnold, esta llamada demanda mucho más que simplemente creer y orar. Dice que esperar fielmente al reino significa “creer firmemente en la llegada de ese día y trabajar fielmente hacia esta meta.” Tal fidelidad nos obliga a estar siempre luchando y cambiando. Las semillas de la injusticia, división, impureza y todo tipo de maldad se encuentran en todos nuestros corazones. Así que la expurgación de todas estas —“la supresión del egoísmo, del amor propio, de la obstinación y del orgullo”— tiene que preceder al nacimiento del nuevo orden de Dios.

Al empezar este libro, prepárate para una revolución personal, una transformación que demuestra tu buena “disposición en las trivialidades de la vida cotidiana,” pero que “no conoce fronteras, menos aún aquella que separaría lo espiritual de lo material.” No lo leas con cautela, sino con esperanza, dispuesto a abrazar cualquier trastorno que te lleve. Ábrete el corazón para que algo completamente distinto y nuevo pueda entrar.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 589 KB)

Extractado de La revolución de Dios

¿Qué es la libertad?

Las primeras tentativas de viajar por el aire consistían en el manejo de un globo cautivo. Un globo lleno de gas estaba sujetado al suelo por medio de un cable de acero. Con esto simbolizamos la ley moral, principios humanos y férrea compulsión. Allí no cabe ninguna voluntad propia. Tal actitud es legalista, y no tiene cabida en la Iglesia del Espíritu.

Luego se asumió el riesgo de dejar que el globo lleno de gas se elevara libremente. Fue abandonado a los vientos y las tempestades en lo alto de la atmósfera. Así como muchas veces se usa la expresión “libre voluntad” en forma ingenua y sin pensar, así también se llamó a este vehículo un globo “libre”. ¿Pero acaso lo era? ¿Podía llamarse libre una tripulación llevada por encima del océano a la merced de sus temporales y echados de su aeronave para ahogarse, cuando no sobre un desierto, donde se estrellan y mueren de calor? Lo que se había llamado libertad era en realidad una inestabilidad muy peligrosa.

Imagínese a un joven paseando por las calles de una gran ciudad. Está rodeado de brillante publicidad. Cines, cabarets, teatros de variedades y bodegas lo tientan. Mujeres lo abordan. Una excitada muchedumbre política trata de incitarlo a una matanza. Impureza, violencia, mentira y falsedad lo rodean como vientos soplando de todos los lados. Su corazón se va oscureciendo. El aspecto verdadero de las cosas va velándose ante sus ojos. Finalmente sucumbe al gran engaño de una vida corrupta y fuera de control. Si de repente este joven decidiera dejarse llevar por uno de estos vientos, ¿conseguiría alguna libertad por eso? ¿Fue acaso su libre voluntad la que lo determinó? Bien puede ser que él mismo diga que sí, y aunque tal vez más tarde lo sienta, a lo mejor sigue pensando que hizo lo que había querido hacer. Muy posiblemente. Por cierto que estaba libre de cometer mal. Pero no estaba libre de hacer el bien, cuando más adelante lo que hizo le causaría remordimientos. Sin duda actuó según su voluntad, pero no era una voluntad libre. Estaba tan subyugado y sometido como lo era el globo libre flotando sobre el océano o el desierto.

El avión moderno puede ilustrarnos lo que es verdadera libertad guiada por el Espíritu. El piloto vuela su avión en la dirección que quiere él, sople el viento de dondequiera. Todo lo que había pensado, todo lo que había inspirado su corazón será ejecutado con este vuelo. La humanidad ha tenido ya por miles de años la habilidad de timonear sus naves con determinado propósito. Cuando Cristo se encuentra en la nave, el Espíritu Santo es el timonel. El anciano Lo representa al timón. Y cuando toda la tripulación y todos los pasajeros buscan únicamente a ser guiados por el Espíritu Santo, estarán todos verdaderamente libres.

10 de septiembre de 1934

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 589 KB)

En busca de paz

Apuntes y conversaciones en el camino

Johann Christoph Arnold

“La paz no es para el cobarde o el ensimismado; no es para quien se contenta con una vida tranquila. La paz significa vivir honradamente ante Dios, ante nuestra propia conciencia y ante los demás; trae obligaciones y deberes, pues exige obras de amor.” ~ De las páginas de este libro

Dice Arnold, cuyos libros tienen gran éxito, que la razón por que mucha gente no tiene paz es que la buscan en lugares donde nunca la encontrarán. En medio de una cultura que nos bombardea con recetas espirituales para ensalzarnos a nosotros mismos, Arnold nos expone a su cándida discusión de la paz verdadera y sus ingredientes — que gozan de escasa popularidad — a saber: sacrificio, obediencia, humildad. Para quienes están hartos de la papilla espiritual servida hoy día en las vidrieras de tantas librerías, En busca de paz resultará comida fuerte y sana.

Comentarios

Mairead Maguire

Irlandesa laureada del Premio Nobel

En busca de paz nos inspira a buscar la paz en el propio corazón. Tantas veces el orgullo nos impide admitir nuestra envidia y ambición, nuestro anhelo de poder…Este libro nos ofrece la esperanza que – por la gracia de Dios y en obediencia a su voluntad – podamos hallar la entereza, felicidad y armonía que forman parte del plan divino para toda la humanidad.

John C. Dwyer

St. Bernard’s Institute

En busca de paz es una obra profundamente humana; cristiana en su esencia, que cita liberalmente fuentes no cristianas. Evita un lenguaje exageradamente religioso, es realista y trata todos los problemas de la vida moderna. Con su vitalidad y dinamismo, es fuente inagotable de pensamientos dignos de reflexión. Este libro merece un lugar entre las obras clásicas.

John Michael Talbot

Autor

Maravilloso y convincente…Este libro tiene un mensaje para gente de cualquier convicción religiosa y, más aún, para creyentes así como no creyentes.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 712 KB)

En peligro

tu hijo en un mundo hostil

Johann Christoph Arnold

No pierdas el ánimo–¡puedes salvarlo! Nos lo asegura el autor de este libro, padre de ocho hijos y numerosos nietos. Los consejos de Arnold son prácticos más bien que teóricos. En peligro aborda temas educativos de actualidad, a saber, el uso de drogas como el Ritalín, las pruebas estandarizadas, los niños “difíciles”, el espíritu competitivo y la importancia del juego infantil.

Este libro es para ti, madre, padre o maestro, y otros preocupados por la suerte de los niños. No quiere abrumarte con nuevos consejos sino orientarte de acuerdo con tu sabiduría innata.

Comentarios

Jonathan Kozol

Autor

Hermoso… Admiro la reverencia por los niños que tiene Arnold.

Houston Chronicle

Arnold nos abre los ojos; sus palabras sencillas van derecho al corazón.

Publishers Weekly

Escrito con ternura…y en valiente defensa de los niños en todo el mundo.

Manuel Soto-Viera, MD

Puertorriqueño, pediatra del desarrollo

El atropello y maltrato de los niños son taras humanas a escala mundial, y muy difundidas entre los hispanoparlantes por más que se diga de nuestro apego a la familia. Este libro de Arnold llega muy a tiempo a nuestras manos.

Rdo. Raúl Suárez

Centro Martin Luther King Jr., La Habana

Esta indagación profunda y apasionada en el mundo de la crianza infantil nos llama a rechazar, mediante el amor, las relaciones sociales violentas y degradadas. Es un alerta y un camino.

Library Journal

En ésta como en otras obras suyas, Arnold sale en defensa de una sociedad urbana que no solo aprecia a los niños sino que les permite ser niños…En peligro es un libro cuya lectura servirá de inspiración a muchas personas, no sólo a madres y padres.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 477 KB)

Enseñanzas del Maestro

Una inspirada obra maestra del pensamiento religioso

Sadhu Sundar Singh

Llorado a su muerte por millones de personas, Sundar Singh (1889-1929), ha sido redescubierto en los albores del siglo XXI. Aunque conocido en los tiempos de su vida como el más famoso converso de India al Cristianismo, esta reputación no es enteramente precisa porque Sundar nunca aceptó las convenciones sino que gravitó hacia la austera originalidad de sus enseñanzas.Abandonó la comodidad de su casa a los dieciséis años para vivir como un sadhu, como un hombre santo errante, llevando la vida de un mendigo, y su intensa bhakti (devoción); sus místicos encuentros con Jesús, y sus sencillas y profundas parábolas, pronto se convirtieron en temas de leyenda. Nadie que le encontrara -incluidas las miles de personas que acudían para escucharle en cada una de sus visitas a Europa, a Oriente y a Estados Unidos- permanecía indiferente ante este moderno San Francisco.

A pesar de ser tremendamente popular en India y en Europa durante el tiempo de su vida, los escritos de Sundar Singh no han estado disponibles para los lectores de habla española en todo el mundo. Ahora, con Enseñanzas del maestro, una colección de anécdotas, dichos, parábolas y meditaciones, su espíritu llega vivo a las nuevas generaciones. Expresadas en las diversas lenguas indias, sus enseñanzas exploran la esencia de los Evangelios con frescura inusual y ofrecen perspicaces perspectivas de gran profundidad, y gran valor, a todo aquel que busca seriamente la verdad.

Comentarios

Friedrich Heiler

En India, Sundar Singh es el discípulo de Cristo ideal: un predicador itinerante de pies descalzos que lleva un ardiente amor en su corazón. En él, el cristianismo y el hinduismo se encuentran y la fe cristiana avanza, no como algo foráneo, sino como una flor que florece en un tallo indio.

Robert Ellsberg

El sadhu Sundar Singh es uno de los más fascinantes y enigmáticos guías espirituales del siglo XX. Enraizado en el peculiar estilo hindú, su sabiduría cristiana desafía a los lectores occidentales a ir más allá de las ideas teológicas y a saborear los Evangelios por sí mismos.

Richard J. Foster

El dramático encuentro del sadhu Sundar Singh con el Cristo viviente, su rechazo a revestir su fe con el boato occidental, y su absoluta devoción a seguir el camino de Jesús, hacen convincente su lectura. Recomiendo altamente este libro.

Jetti A. Oliver

Penetrante, relevante y fácil de leer. Una obra maestra del pensamiento.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 521 KB

La violencia del amor

Una selección del pensamiento de Monseñor Romero

Óscar Romero

Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero dio su vida “por la Iglesia y por el pueblo de su querida patria”, El Salvador; éstas son las palabras del Papa Juan Pablo II. Su muerte por la bala de un asesino, el 24 de marzo de 1980, culminó una vida dedicada al servicio de sus hermanos como sacerdote y obispo. Intrépido defensor de los pobres y desamparados, alcanzó renombre mundial durante sus tres años como arzobispo de San Salvador. Las universidades de Georgetown y Lovaina le confirieron títulos honoris causa, y miembros del parlamento de Gran Bretaña lo nombraron candidato para el Premio Nobel por la Paz. Al mismo tiempo se ganó la difamación y el odio de miembros de la oligarquía salvadoreña—manifestados en persistentes ataques en los medios de comunicación—que inevitablemente terminaron en su martirio.

Jamás hemos predicado violencia.
Solamente la violencia del amor,
la que dejó a Cristo clavado en una cruz,
la que se hace cada uno para vencer sus egoísmos
y para que no haya desigualdades
tan crueles entre nosotros.
Esa violencia no es la de la espada,
la del odio.
Es la violencia del amor,
la de la fraternidad,
la que quiere convertir las armas
en hoces para el trabajo.
~Oscar Romero

Semana tras semana, durante tres años, la voz de Monseñor Romero resonó por todo El Salvador, condenando asesinatos y torturas y exhortando al pueblo a trabajar por la paz y el perdón y por una sociedad más justa. A través de la emisora arquidiocesana (cuando no sufrió interferencia en la transmisión ni excesivo daño por atentados con dinamita) el país entero estaba pendiente de sus palabras. Sin falta, los domingos por la mañana su voz resonaba por la radio; se escuchaba en todas partes, sobre todo en los barrios pobres y las aldeas campesinas.

Comentarios

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Del prólogo

El encuentro con el sencillo lenguaje de Monseñor Romero fue para mí el encuentro con un hombre de Dios cuya humildad y valentía llaman a la conversión, al compromiso, a la acción.

Juan Bosch, O.P.

Facultad de Teología “San Vicente Ferrer”, Valencia

El lector tiene una joya en sus manos. Las homilías de Mons. Oscar Romero son ya parte del legado espiritual de una Iglesia que predica el Reino y que apuesta por los pobres y desheredados de la tierra.

Rdo. Raúl Suárez

Centro Memorial “Dr. Martín Luther King, Jr.”, La Habana

Romero ha sido llamado el Santo de América, pero eso no es todo. Es el profeta que, con su palabra encendida, despierta la conciencia ética de la Iglesia; es el sacerdote que le hablaba a Dios de su pueblo; aún más, es el subversivo del amor.

Dolores Huerta

Cofundadora, United Farm Workers of America

Monseñor Romero nos exhorta a crear una sociedad justa, sin opresión y pobreza. Este libro colma el corazón; nos guía y anima a “ser”, no sólo “tener”; a seguir sin vacilar el ejemplo de Jesucristo —amor, sacrificio, perdón y solidaridad. Su mensaje es una fuente de inspiración muy oportuna que renueva la esperanza en medio de un mundo caótico.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 667 KB)

No tengas miedo

Como superar el temor a la muerte

Johann Christoph Arnold

¿Tienes miedo a morir? ¿Conoces a alguien que lo tenga? ¿Te has preguntado alguna vez cómo sobreviviría a la pérdida de alguien a quien amas? De una forma consciente o no, toda expresión de vida se ve afectada tarde o temprano por la muerte y, en consecuencia, toda persona tiene que enfrentarse con estas cuestiones en uno u otro momento de su vida. Precisamente por eso he escrito este libro.

No podemos evitar la muerte. Se cierne como una sombra sobre las vidas de todos. Ahora vivimos más tiempo de lo que vivieron nuestros abuelos, estamos mejor alimentados, perdemos a menos recién nacidos, las vacunas nos protegen de epidemias otrora tan temidas, los hospitales dotados de alta tecnología salvan a pacientes necesitados de un nuevo riñón o de otro corazón, pero seguimos siendo mortales. Y aunque hayamos tenido tanto éxito en protegernos de las plagas que diezmaron a generaciones anteriores, tampoco nos faltan nuestras propias plagas, desde el suicidio, el aborto, el divorcio y la adicción a las drogas, hasta el racismo, la pobreza, la violencia y el militarismo. Según ha dicho Juan Pablo II, vivimos en una cultura de la muerte.

También es una cultura del temor. Por temor a la vejez, ocultamos a nuestros ancianos en residencias geriátricas. Por temor a la delincuencia, nos protegemos con armas y puertas blindadas. Por temor a la gente que no tiene nuestro mismo aspecto o que no gana tanto como nosotros, nos instalamos a vivir en zonas residenciales «protegidas». Por temor a otras naciones, imponemos sanciones y lanzamos bombas. Ahora, empezamos incluso a sentir miedo por nuestra propia descendencia, convertimos las escuelas en prisiones virtuales y nuestras prisiones en campos de concentración y en morgues. A todas éstas se pueden añadir varias ansiedades más, que impulsan a millones de personas hacia la distracción, al menos en el momento de escribir esto: el terrorismo, la guerra biológica y los aviones que caen del cielo. Tal como demuestran las historias aquí narradas, en Dios se encuentra consuelo y fortaleza, incluso para el alma más angustia.

Está claro que cuando una persona muere, la eternidad llama a su puerta. Pero ¿llama también a la puerta de cada uno de nosotros, en cada ocasión? Eso no es nada difícil de imaginar si somos ancianos o nos sentimos enfermos, pero ya resulta mucho más difícil de concebir para aquellos de nosotros que disfrutamos de buena salud o que nos encontramos en lo mejor de nuestra vida. Entonces es mucho más probable que veamos la muerte como algo negativo y que la alejemos de nuestro pensamiento como un recordatorio indeseable de que no todo sueño de vida duradera y feliz se hace realidad. Pero aunque alejemos ese pensamiento de nuestra mente, al levantarnos cada mañana nunca podemos saber si nos quedan todavía décadas de vida o únicamente días.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 603 KB)

Porqué vivimos en comunidad

Eberhard Arnold

Cada uno actualmente se parece buscar para a comunidad en una forma u otra – si en la forma en el país confiadas, de alimentaciones de relaciones y en el trabajo, redes de la ayuda, grupos pequeños, iglesias de la casa – Cyberspace uniforme. Pero la mención “comunidad” y mucha gente va literalmente espacio en blanco. Demandan que no son lista por la comisión que tal término implica, o energía de la carencia la suficiente, regalos, o tiempo. Es justa no “en donde están.” ¿O es?

Esta nueva traducción de un manifiesto consagrado agrega una voz fresca, de acoplamiento a la discusión vital de qué comunidad verdadera está todo alrededor: el amor, la alegría, la unidad, y la gran “aventura de la fe” compartieron con otros a lo largo de la manera.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 110 KB)

Setenta veces siete

reconciliación en nuestra sociedad

Johann Christoph Arnold

Setenta veces siete es una colección de historias auténticas de hombres y mujeres como usted y yo, gente afectada por el racismo, la infidelidad matrimonial, la represión política, la brutalidad policial, el sufrimiento de la guerra, la muerte violenta de un ser querido. No se trata de una discusión abstracta o teórica. Al leer estos relatos, entramos en la vida de personas que han sufrido y han sabido perdonar (y de las que no han perdonado), de personas que descubrieron que el perdón tiene el poder de sanar aún las más profundas heridas (y de las que continúan en búsqueda de reconciliación).

Johann Christoph Arnold es pastor y consejero conocido por su aptitud para presentar los más importantes temas de orden espiritual en forma accesible aún para lectores no religiosos. Se han vendido más de 300.000 ejemplares de sus obras en inglés; además están disponibles en varios otros idiomas.

Han contribuido a esta nueva versión (traducido del original inglés), entre otros, Paul Chávez (hijo de César Chávez), el Obispo Samuel Ruíz García de Chiapas, el periodista Roberto Rodríguez, y el cura palestino Elías Chacour.

Comentarios

Piri Thomas

Autor de Por estas calles bravas

La prisión más cruel es la prisión de la mente y del espíritu. En verdad, hay una gran potencia en perdonar a otros, igual como hay potencia en perdonarse a uno mismo.

Nelson Mandela

Un mensaje muy necesario no sólo para el África del Sur, sino para el mundo entero.

Judson M. Procyk

Arzobispo metropolitano de Pittsburgh

Ejemplos refrescantes, dramáticos y enternecedores que demuestran el poder del perdón.

Dr. Ediberto López

Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico

Demuestra que el oprimido no haría más que colaborar con su opresor si dejara que el recuerdo de sus sufrimientos determine el resto de su vida. El perdón es un poder humanizador. Gracias por esta joya espiritual.

Philip Yancey

Autor, El Jesús que nunca conocí

Los mandamientos de Jesús, que perdonemos unos a otros, parecen idealistas y poco prácticos hasta que uno lee estas historias.

Madeleine L’Engle

Autora de Una arruga en el tiempo

En estas historias conmovedoras nos vemos reflejados a nosotros mismos, cosa que nos ayuda a perdonar. Es un libro que el mundo necesita.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 635 KB)

Un llamado a la pureza

Prólogo de la Madre Teresa

Johann Christoph Arnold

Nuevo y refrescante tratamiento de viejos temas: sexualidad, amor y matrimonio. Trasciende los problemas comunes y va a la raíz misma. Lo que define y transforma todas las relaciones humanas es la relación que cada persona tiene con Dios.

Arnold trata del sufrimiento causado por el abuso de la intimidad sexual y la destrucción de los lazos familiares. Recalca la importancia de tener reverencia ante todo lo que atañe a la sexualidad, de examinar las consecuencias del divorcio, y otros temas pertinentes.

Cometarios

Peter Kreeft

Boston College

...me parece muy semejante a lo que hubiera dicho Jesucristo, de haber él escrito un libro sobre la sexualidad; con toda probabilidad habría resultado tan aceptable socialmente en su tiempo como lo fue él mismo.

Richard John Neuhaus

First Things

…exigente y tonificante…

John Cardenal O’Connor

Arzobispo de Nueva York

…exalta el don del verdadero amor…Es un mensaje de enorme importancia para nuestro tiempo.

J.I.Packer

Regent College

Una visión clara del ideal divino de lo que deben ser el matrimonio y la familia… Sencillo y breve, pero profundo, resulta ser uno de los mejores libros sobre el tema.

William Willimon

Duke University Chapel

…sencillo, elocuente… un implacable llamado a renovar nuestra dedicación.

Paul C. Vitz

Universidad de Nueva York

Hacerse el vocero de una vida de pureza sexual significa desafiar lo que bien podría ser el último tabú norteamericano. Este libro ofrece sabios consejos espirituales para poder llevar esa clase de vida.

Richard Rohr, O.F.M.

Centro de Acción y Contemplación

Puede que otros no lo digan en la misma forma, o con el mismo énfasis; yo, por mi parte, admiro y apoyo una fe puesta en práctica, como la que encuentro en las páginas de este libro.

Alice von Hildebrand

Hunter College

…un mensaje muy urgente hoy día…Cada educador y cada adolescente debería valerse de este libro.

Descargar libro gratis (PDF, 646 KB)

Psychology Libary ebooks Russian

2010-02-06T02:36:00.000-08:00

Ученичество

Генрих Арнольд

Ученичество — очень сильная книга. Когда я начал читать её, слова Генриха Арнольда пронзили меня, как обоюдоострый меч, призывая сделать выбор между истиной и ложью, спасением и грехом, самопожертвова нием и эгоизмом, светом и тьмой, Богом и диаволом. Сначала мне не очень хотелось стоять лицом к лицу перед столь бескомпромиссным выбором. Я предпочёл бы, чтобы спасительная весть Нового Завета была более лояльной, приятной, удобной и приносящей внутреннее успокоение и гармонию.

Но Арнольд напомнил мне, что Божий мир и покой отличаются от мирского, что благодать Евангелия не является тем же самым, что благодать этого мира, и что свобода Нового Завета совсем не то, что «вседозволен ность» современного человечества. Евангелие призывает к выбору, к радикальному выбору, который не всегда приятный, лёгкий и праздничный.

Однако, в словах Арнольда нет сурового фанатизма или самоправедности. Напротив, они дышат любовью. Сильной, настоящей любовью, той самой, которая изливается из сердца нашего Спасителя. Слова Арнольда обладают целительной силой потому, что они не основываются на какой-то идее, идеологии или теории, но на личном знании Иисуса Христа. Иисус Христос является центром его вдохновения, опыта и попечительства, выраженных в этой книге. Это действительно книга, сконцентрированная на Христе.

— Генри Новен

Скачать (PDF, 1.3 MB)

Мудрость

Саду Сундара Синга

Миллионы людей оплакали смерть Сундара Синга (1889-1929),который вновь должен быть явлен миру на заре 21 века. Хотя он известен как самый знаменитый индиец, обращённый в христианство, но Сундар Синг никогда не воспринимал религию как таковую, по существу, придавая особое значение совершенному изменению жизни, благодаря подлинному учению Христа. Если уж на то пошло, то определенно он был еретиком - непреклонным критиком условностей и возмутителем довольства.

В возрасте шестнадцати лет он оставил благополучие своего дома, чтобы жить как саду или странствующим святым мужем. Нищенская жизнь Сундара Синга и ревностное посвящение (бхакти), его мистические встречи с Иисусом, простые и весьма глубокие притчи способствовали возникновению легенд. Тысячи людей, которые слушали Сундара во время его двух визитов в Европу, были тронуты святым Франциском нашего времени.

Писания Сундара, обладая огромной популярностью в Индии и Европе, в течение его жизни, десятилетиями были недоступны для читателей англоязычного мира. Ныне же «Мудрость Саду» - сборник коротких рассказов, высказываний, притч и размышлений возродили его дух для нового поколения. Изложенные в своеобразной индийской манере, его учения с необычной оригинальностью исследуют сущность Евангелия, представляя серьёзным читателям его проникновенную глубину и значение.

Скачать (PDF, 288 KB)