About 38 minutes
The Story of the Kearsarge and Alabama — Inside the Classic
Modern Nations
8,609 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #26783
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Start with a reading choice
Three of the shortest recorded reading commitments in this catalog. Times are estimates, not quality ratings.
About 41 minutes
War Dogs of the World War — Text and Context
Modern Nations
9,267 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #52934About 43 minutes
Reminiscences of two years with the colored troops Personal Narratives of events in the War of the Rebellion, being papers read before the Rhode Island Soldiers and — Inside the Classic
Social History
9,820 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #26747Search the excerpts stored with this catalog
91 of 91 catalog books have a stored excerpt with a Gutenberg source record. Search covers these excerpts only, up to 6,000 characters per book. A missing match does not mean the phrase is absent from the full work.
Read a catalog excerpt example: Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army — Volume 2 — Background and Themes
ORGANIZING SCOUTS--MISS REBECCA WRIGHT--IMPORTANT INFORMATION--DECIDE TO MOVE ON NEWTOWN--MEETING GENERAL GRANT--ORGANIZATION OF THE UNION ARMY--OPENING OF THE BATTLE OF THE OPEQUON--DEATH OF GENERAL RUSSELL --A TURNING MOVEMENT--A SUCCESSFUL CAVALRY CHARGE--VICTORY--THREE LOYAL GIRLS--APPOINTED A BRIGADIER-GENERAL IN THE REGULAR ARMY --REMARKS ON THE BATTLE. While occupying the ground between Clifton and Berryville, referred to in the last chapter of the preceding volume, I felt the need of an…
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Compare two books and their available excerpts
| Book | Recorded words | Estimated minutes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Story of the Kearsarge and Alabama — Inside the Classic | 8,609 | 38 | Gutenberg #26783 |
| War Dogs of the World War — Text and Context | 9,267 | 41 | Gutenberg #52934 |
| Reminiscences of two years with the colored troops Personal Narratives of events in the War of the Rebellion, being papers read before the Rhode Island Soldiers and — Inside the Classic | 9,820 | 43 | Gutenberg #26747 |
How these choices and excerpts are prepared
Choices use stored catalog measurements. Estimates vary with reading speed. A shared category is a catalog label, not a claim that two books have the same argument or literary quality.
Search reads excerpt text stored with this catalog and links to its associated Gutenberg record. The connection is stored in the site database; this tool does not recheck that every excerpt is word-for-word identical to that external record. Excerpt search does not cover every chapter and does not verify historical publication dates.
Catalog snapshot checked: 2026-09-25. Coverage: 91 public books, 91 available source excerpts.
Do more with this book catalog
The UNUFA Modern History Library brings together 91 carefully selected public-domain works on the political, military, and social upheavals that shaped the modern world. Spanning four categories—World Events, Modern Nations, Revolutions, and Social History—this collection offers firsthand accounts, unit histories, diplomatic analyses, and personal memoirs from the American Civil War through the World Wars.
Each title is presented with detailed bibliographic data, including word counts, reading times, and textual structure, so you can gauge the scope and depth of a work before you begin. The library also provides three interactive tools—the Book Finder, the Book Compare, and the Reading Planner—designed to help you navigate the collection efficiently and find books that match your interests and available reading time.
91
books in this catalog
4
catalog categories
91
books with reading-time data
Made for this collection
Ways the catalog data becomes useful
Book Finder
Filter the library by category, length, or time commitment. Match your interests to the catalog's subject options and see which books fit your preferences.
Book Compare
Place two titles side by side to weigh their reading times, section counts, and subject coverage. See which one aligns with your current focus.
Reading Planner
Estimate how long a book will take to finish based on your own reading pace. Plan your next historical reading project with realistic timeframes.
Three Tools for a Ninety-One-Book Library
The UNUFA Modern History Library holds ninety-one public-domain works, from Civil War memoirs to World War I regimental histories. With four categories and a median word count near 66,500, the collection rewards a little planning before you commit an evening to one volume. Three tools sit at the center of that planning: Book Finder, Compare Books, and Reading Tracker.
Each tool serves a different stage of reading. Finder narrows the catalog by the criteria you care about; Compare Books sets two or three titles side by side so you can weigh their demands; Reading Tracker turns a chosen book into a page-by-page plan. Used together, they move you from a vague interest in, say, the Great War to a specific title with a realistic schedule.
Start with Finder, Then Compare
Book Finder works best when you have a rough sense of what you want—a category, a length range, or a subject. For instance, selecting 'Modern Nations' and a medium word count can surface titles like Eighteen months in the war zone — Edition Insights, a British hospital narrative from 1918 that runs about 55,000 words. That is a solid starting point, but Finder alone does not tell you whether the book's sentence flow or chapter structure suits your mood.
This is where Compare Books earns its place. After Finder gives you two or three candidates, Compare lets you inspect their text sections, average sentence lengths, and estimated reading times side by side. You might discover that a shorter book has a higher sentence-flow metric, which could make it feel denser than its page count suggests.
Commit with the Tracker
Once you have chosen a book, Reading Tracker converts its word count into a page estimate using a default of 250 words per page. For a title like Eighteen months in the war zone, that yields roughly 221 pages. Setting a daily goal of 20 pages—the interface default—means you can finish in about eleven days, a useful reality check before you start.
The tracker also lets you adjust the total pages to match your own edition, so the plan remains accurate whether you read on a screen or in print. Progress is stored locally in your browser, so no account is needed to keep a record across sessions.
When to Use Each Tool
If you are just browsing, start with Finder and let the category counts guide you. If you are torn between two titles, skip straight to Compare. If you have already picked a book and want to know how to fit it into a week, open Reading Tracker. None of the tools judge literary quality; they are here to help you match a book to your available time and reading style.
The library is small enough that you can quickly move through all three tools in a single visit. A typical path: use Finder to isolate a few candidates, Compare to choose one, then Tracker to set a pace. That sequence turns a daunting shelf of war histories into a manageable next read.