While I Remember

Stephen McKennaProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 542K words
Chapters: 55

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. While I Remember by Stephen McKenna. Author: McKenna, Stephen, 1888-1967. Language: English. Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe. Release Date: Jul 4, 2014

Editor's review

While I Remember is a memoir by the British author Stephen McKenna, catalogued under the history of the British Empire and Europe and released as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. McKenna was active in the early twentieth century, and his writing bears a distinct mark of its time; the book links the social and historical moments he lived through from a personal perspective, offering readers a window onto modern British change. As a public-domain eBook, its value lies not only in the text itself but in its significance as a product of the early eBook movement—Project Gutenberg, driven by Michael Hart from 1971 onward, has allowed such works to circulate at low cost and on a wide scale. The book suits readers interested in British history, the memoir genre, and the public-domain eBook ecosystem, and is well suited to casual reading on a commute or for fact-checking. Note that the narrative carries the author's personal standpoint and the limitations of its era; readers should read it critically alongside historical sources rather than treat it as an authoritative history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in modern British history and the memoir genre
Readers of history and letters curious about early twentieth-century British society
Readers following Project Gutenberg and the development of public-domain eBooks
Students and researchers seeking English public-domain sources for supplementary reading

Not a good fit for

Serious researchers seeking a systematic, authoritative history of Britain
General readers who prefer contemporary pacing and strong plot
Readers with limited English who need a Chinese translation

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and preface to grasp the time span and thematic threads of the author's recollections.
Read alongside a chronology of major events in modern British history to distinguish personal narrative from historical fact.
Use it as light reading before bed or on the commute, one or two chapters at a time.
After reading, compile the people and events mentioned into your own reading notes.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a complete historical work?

No. It is a personal memoir with a subjective perspective and the limitations of its era; it is best read as a supplementary source and as literature rather than as a systematic history.

Why is this book released free by Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg was founded by Michael Hart in 1971 to provide public-domain eBooks. The author, McKenna, died in 1967, so the work has entered the public domain and is freely available.

What level of English is needed to read this book?

The original is early twentieth-century English prose, with period features in syntax and vocabulary; a solid intermediate reading level is recommended, with a dictionary and background sources as needed.

Comments

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About the author

Stephen McKenna Author · British · 1888–1967

Stephen McKenna (1888–1967) was a British novelist born into an Irish-descended family in England. He graduated from Christ Church, Oxford, and wrote forty-seven novels over the course of his life, most of which depict the manners and social world of the British upper classes. His best-known work is Sonia: Between Two Worlds, and his other novels include Sonia Married, The Education of Eric Lane and The Secret Victory. Beyond fiction, he also wrote the memoir While I Remember, as well as works with fantastical elements such as The Sixth Sense and The Oldest God. Publicly available information about his life and writing remains limited, and existing accounts focus chiefly on the themes and style of his works. McKenna died in 1967.