Find a Book
Narrow down the collection by subject, category, or length. The finder matches your interests to the books in the catalog, so you can see which titles fit your preferred topic and scope.
Do more with this book catalog
This library holds one hundred public-domain works that trace the shape of modern history. The books are grouped into four categories: Modern Nations, World Events, Revolutions, and Social History. Together they offer a broad view of conflicts, political shifts, and everyday life from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The tools on this page are meant to help you find your way through the collection. You can search by subject, compare books side by side, or estimate how long a book might take to read. Each tool draws on the same catalog data, so the results stay consistent whether you are browsing or planning your next title.
100
books in this catalog
4
catalog categories
100
books with reading-time data
Made for this collection
Ways the catalog data becomes useful
Compare Books
See two or more works side by side. Compare word count, reading time, sections, and sentence length to understand how each book is structured before you start reading.
Estimate Reading Time
Get a practical estimate of how long a book will take to read. The estimate is based on the book's word count and an average reading speed, so you can plan your time realistically.
Using the GONUY Modern History Library Tools Together
The GONUY Modern History Library brings together one hundred public-domain works spanning four categories, from Revolutions to Social History. With so many titles, the practical question is where to begin. The library provides three working tools—Book Finder, Compare Books, and Reading Tracker—each designed for a different stage of your encounter with a book. Deciding which tool fits your immediate need can be as important as choosing the book itself.
Start with Book Finder when you are still browsing
Book Finder is the entry point for most readers. It lets you filter the catalog by category, length, reading time, chapter rhythm, sentence flow, subjects, and even whether a book is a hidden gem. For instance, if you are drawn to the Revolutions category, you will find only ten titles there, including The Revolutions of Portugal — Themes and Context. That small set rewards a careful look, and Finder helps you narrow it down without scrolling through all one hundred books.
Finder is most useful when you have a vague sense of what you want—say, a personal narrative from the First World War—but no specific title in mind. You can combine a subject like "World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives" with a commitment level that fits your schedule. The tool does not penalize you for leaving criteria open, so you can start broad and tighten as you go.
Move to Compare Books when you are down to two or three titles
Once Finder has surfaced a handful of candidates, Compare Books lets you place them side by side. You can select up to three titles and see word count, estimated reading time, text sections, sentence flow, and chapter rhythm. These are descriptive metrics, not quality judgments, but they reveal real differences in how a book is organized. A title with many short sections may feel more broken-up than one with fewer, longer chapters, even if their word counts are similar.
Compare is especially helpful when you are torn between a long, immersive history and a shorter, quicker read. For example, you might compare a 27,000-word Marine Corps pamphlet with a 186,000-word campaign history. The numbers give you a concrete sense of the commitment each demands, which is more reliable than guessing from the title alone.
Use Reading Tracker after you have chosen a book
Reading Tracker is for the reading itself. It records your progress in pages, with a current page, total pages, and a daily goal. If the catalog does not have a fixed page count, the tool estimates one by dividing the word count by 250 words per page. You can override that estimate with the page count from your own edition or reading app. The tracker then projects your remaining time and finish date based on your daily goal. It stores your history in the browser, so no account is needed—just open the library and pick up where you left off.
A practical sequence for a new reader
A typical path through the library might look like this: start in Finder, filter by category and a comfortable reading time, and note a few titles that match. Open Compare Books to see how those titles differ in structure and length. Once you decide, open Reading Tracker, set a daily page goal, and begin. The tools are separate, but they work best in sequence.
The library's median book is about 41,000 words, which at 250 words per page is roughly 164 pages. That gives you a reference point: many titles are shorter than you might expect, and even the longer ones become manageable when broken into daily goals.
Because the tools do not rate literary quality, they leave the judgment to you. What they offer is clarity about the practical dimensions of each book—how long it is, how it is structured, and how long it will take to finish.