Books Should Be Free Website

Booksshouldbefree.com is an large online library which has a very varied catalog of books in both digital text and audio formats. For the most part the audio books are read by amateurs who contribute their time and efforts freely. As a result the quality of the reading voice and audio varies considerably...having said that the quality is generally more than acceptable, although some are lacking in polish.

Each audio book offered generally has links to the digital text version in multiple formats. The Audio can be listened to directly within page plus various download options for different devices.

The pictures of the book covers may not be the same as the original used when the book was distributed in hard copy.

There is no listener/reader review section available on the booksshouldbefree site, so if you find one that you think would be of interest to members of the Sanctum Zone please use this thread or create a new one in this sub forum with your comments plus rating for audio quality and a link to the listing etc.

The Project Gutenberg is another great resource for free eBooks

By: Frederick Douglass 1818-1895
webpage

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a memoir and treatise on abolition written by famous orator and ex-slave, Frederick Douglass. It is generally held to be the most famous of a number of narratives written by former slaves during the same period. In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th Century in the United States.

Summary by Jeanette

Audio is pretty good and the reader is easy to listen to. Link Title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Well worth listening to or reading. Frederick describes his life growing up and how he learn to read as well as events he experienced in his later life.

Wikipedia entry

Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, c. February 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing. He stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders' arguments that slaves did not have the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Many Northerners also found it hard to believe that such a great orator had been a slave.

cheers froggy!

check out theaudiobookbay.com

The Commentaries on the Laws of England are an influential 18th century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765-1769.

The Commentaries were long regarded as the leading work on the development of English law and played a role in the development of the American legal system. They were in fact the first methodical treatise on the common law suitable for a lay readership since at least the Middle Ages. The common law of England has relied on precedent more than statute and codifications and has been far less amenable than the civil law, developed from the Roman law, to the needs of a treatise. The Commentaries were influential largely because they were in fact readable, and because they met a need. The work is as much an apologia for the legal system of the time as it is an explanation; even when the law was obscure, Blackstone sought to make it seem rational, just, and inevitable that things should be how they were. (Summary from Wikipedia.)

Audio Quality Good, Various readers all of whom are easy to listen to although I haven't listened to the whole book. Don't be put off by the computer voice reading the preface. Link Title: Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765). The written text version is available from Project Gutenberg Here.

If you're interested in the British Legal system and Constitution then this book is well worth a listen. It's probably of interest to people living in ex-colonial territories as much of their legal frameworks seem to draw on the British system.

batou wrote:
Cheers Batou. I will add it here it could also go in feathers thread for useful websites.

One nice thing about Booksshouldbefree.com is that they have some obscure books which you may not find easily else where.

Here is one example...

This is the official report, published nearly 11 months after the first and only atomic bombings in history (to date), of a group of military physicians and engineers who accompanied the initial contingent of U.S. soldiers into the destroyed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The report presents a clinical description of the devastation, loss of life and continued suffering of the survivors that resulted from the world’s first and only atomic bombings. The appendix is an eyewitness account, contrasting vividly with the dispassionate sang-froid of the report itself, written by a German Jesuit priest who survived the blast at Hiroshima, and whose order assisted in rescue efforts following the catastrophic attack. This recording was completed on the 63rd anniversary of the events. (Summary by Dennis Sayers).

The Audio Quality is good with clear delivery by the reader. Listen to the audio book online

This book covers a very detailed account of the events following the bombing or Japan with Atomic weapons. This is quite an analytical look at the situation on the ground shortly after the bombing. It's not overly technical and provides some detail on the effects of the bomb and the fallout in relation to the people and the buildings etc. This book isn't gory in its approach. The target selections of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are briefly discussed as well as some other details relating to the planing. The two waves of the blast effect are also explained.

G'day Frog.

Awesome post mate, thank you.

I haven't visited Project Gutenberg for ages, so it's a great reminder for me to go and have a further look to see what has been added to it. I've bookmarked Book Should Be Free (the name is something that I totally agree with )and will spend some time going through what they have for download.