The Story of Yone Noguchi (1914) is a memoir by Yone Noguchi. Both a leading modernist poet in English and Japanese and a dedicated literary critic who advocated for the cross-pollination of national poetries, Yone Noguchi lived an extraordinary life. In clear prose and with a confidence earned through decades of dedication to literature, he tells his own story and reflects on his unique experiences while illuminating the influential people and places...

Tales of the Punjab (1894) is a collection of stories translated and collected by Flora Annie Steel. Collected while Steel lived with her husband in the north of the Indian subcontinent, Tales of the Punjab was a successful introduction to legends and stories from the Punjab region for children and adults back home in England. Published while India remained under the control of the British Empire, Steel's collection puts a decidedly Western twist...

The Technique of the Mystery Story (1914) is a book by Carolyn Wells. Before she began writing her Detective Fleming Stone series of mystery novels, Carolyn Wells was a published poet, accomplished children's author, and professional jingle writer. In the middle of her career, she heard a mystery story by Anna Katharine Green and was instantly hooked. Through years of practice and attention to the craft, she earned a reputation as a leading fiction...

Twenty (1918) is a poetry collection by Stella Benson. Largely recognized for her work as an activist in the women's suffrage movement and for her popular novels, Benson was also an accomplished poet. Twenty, her debut volume, is a collection indebted to symbolism in which Benson reflects on her experiences as a young woman in a rapidly changing world.

Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula (1909) is a collection of hulas and essays by Nathaniel B. Emerson. Translating previously unwritten songs, interviewing native Hawaiians, and consulting the works of indigenous historians, Emerson provides an entertaining and authoritative look at one of Hawaii's most cherished traditions. "For an account of the first hula we may look to the story of Pele. On one occasion that goddess begged...

When a reverend disapproves of his daughter's suitor, he manipulates the church in an effort to discourage their union and find a more favorable partner. It is a drastic decision that effects those inside and outside of the congregation. Rev. William Barlow is the leader of a Low Church, where his curate is a pompous young man named Henry Sandford. Despite his brash persona, Henry and Barlow's daughter, Dorothy, have fallen in love. Barlow disapproves...

The Voice of a People: Speeches from Black America (2021) is a collection of speeches from some of the leading African American intellectuals, artists, activists, and organizers of the past three centuries. While many of their names-such as Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Frederick Douglass-will be familiar to most readers, some-such as Jermain Wesley Loguen, Randall Albert Carter, and Samuel H. Davis-are less well known, but no less important...

What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? (1852) is a novella by Frederick Douglass. Having escaped from slavery in the South at a young age, Frederick Douglass became a prominent orator and autobiographer who spearheaded the American abolitionist movement in the mid-nineteenth century. In this famous speech, published widely in pamphlet form after it was given to a meeting of the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society on July 5th, 1852, Douglass exposes...

William Shakespeare (1864) is an experimental biography by Victor Hugo. Written while the poet was living in exile on the island of Guernsey, William Shakespeare was doomed to fail at its conception. Condemned by critics who expected Hugo to focus on the works of the Elizabethan playwright, William Shakespeare is in reality a sweeping biography of literature itself, a touching tribute to the spirit of creativity which defines humanity's life on earth...

Originally published in two volumes between 1923 and 1925, Africa for Africans, Or, The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey is a compilation of letters, speeches and essays by one of the Fathers of Pan-Africanism. Hailed by Martin Luther King Jr. as, "the first man of color...to make the Negro feel like he was somebody," Garvey was a polarizing yet influential figure whose legacy continues to be felt today. These philosophies, collected by his...