Short Nonfiction Collection Vol. 031


Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include the Faust Legend, Stephen Crane, Sundials and the Statue of Liberty.

Magna Moralia
Magna Moralia (Ancient Greek: ΗΟΙΚΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΩΝ, English: Great Ethics) discusses topics including friendship, virtue, happiness and God. It is disputed whether Aristotle wrote Magna Moralia. This author concludes that it is absurd to suggest that God contemplates only God but does not propose an alternative activity for God.

Bush Debate

In 1892, two of Australia's best poets came up with a scheme to make some money. They arranged to have an argument in the Weekly Bulletin, and since they were being paid by the word, this let them fire back and forth, being sent beer money with each salvo. A couple of other poets also joined in, and their work is seminal to the development of the Bush ethos in Australia.
The first eight files are the original form of the poems, and the second eight are later republications by the authors, in their own collections.

Secret of the Silver Car
Before he went to join the Armed Forces in World War I France, Anthony Trent had a successfull secret 'career' as a master criminal in the USA, never caught by the police (see 'Anthony Trent, Master Criminal'). The war has just ended - but now Anthony Trent seriously fears exposure. While in the trenches, an explosion buried him alive, along with an English soldier. Thinking they would never get out alive, Anthony revealed his identity to the other soldier - just before they were rescued and separated. After recovering from his injuries, all Anthony can think about is finding the English soldier - to thank him for saving his life, but also to know whether the man will betray his big secr...
In the Arctic Seas
In 1857, Lady Jane Franklin, the wife of Sir John Franklin, who went missing with his entire crew during his 1845 expedition to discover the Northwest Passage, commissioned Captain Francis McClintock to investigate what had happened to the expedition, and purchased for him the small steam yacht known as the 'Fox'. This is McClintock's own account of the two year voyage of the 'Fox'. Following an initially unsuccessful attempt to cross the Davis Strait, the 'Fox' was forced to spend the first winter trapped in the sea-ice off the coast of Greenland. After the next year's thaw, McClintock eventually reached the islands of the Canadian Arctic, where an extensive search finally revealed the g...
At the Club
LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of At the Club by Richard Hovey. This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 3, 2013.Richard Hovey was an American poet. Graduating from Dartmouth College in 1885, he is known in part for penning the school Alma Mater, Men of Dartmouth. He collaborated with Canadian poet Bliss Carman on three volumes of "tramp" verse: Songs from Vagabondia (1894), More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), and Last Songs from Vagabondia (1900), the last being published after Hovey's death.
First on the Moon
The four men had been scrutinized, watched, investigated, and intensively trained for more than a year. They were the best men to be found for that first, all-important flight to the Moon--the pioneer manned rocket that would give either the East or the West control over the Earth.

Yet when the race started, Adam Crag found that he had a saboteur among his crew ... a traitor! Such a man could give the Reds possession of Luna, and thereby dominate the world it circled.

Any one of the other three could be the hidden enemy, and if he didn't discover the agent soon--even while they were roaring on rocket jets through outer space--then Adam Crag, his expedition, and his country w...
Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National Park


James Willard Schultz, or Apikuni, (1859 – 1947) was a noted author, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfoot Indians. Schultz is most noted for his prolific stories about Blackfoot life and his contributions to the naming of prominent features in Glacier National Park.

Blue Cat of Castle Town
"The mother cat had been quite upset when she first saw the blue kitten. She had looked fearfully then toward the river. For, like all cats, she had heard that a blue kitten could learn the river's song. Any kitten has a hard enough time to find a home for himself. For every kitten must find a hearth to fit his song. But a kitten who listens to the river and learns the river's song has the hardest time of all. Not only must the kitten who sings the river's song find a hearth to fit that song, but he must teach the keeper of that hearth to sing the same song. The river's song is very old. And mortals who have ears to hear and hearts to sing are fewer than few."
Wild Wales

Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery is a travel book by the English Victorian gentleman writer George Borrow (1803–1881), first published in 1862 and now a classic travel text on Wales and the Welsh. The book recounts Borrow's experiences, insights and personal encounters whilst touring Wales alone on foot after a family holiday in Llangollen in 1854. Although contemporary critics dismissed its whimsical tone, it quickly became popular with readers as a travel book and more importantly as a very lively account of the literary, social and geographical history of Wales. Borrow’s engaging character comes across especially in his meetings with various itinerants – mostly native...