About 26 minutes
M. P.'s in Session: From Mr. Punch's Parliamentary Portrait Gallery — Text and Context
Government
5,925 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #29560
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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 27 minutes
A Proclamation Declaring His Maiesties Pleasure Concerning the Dissoluing of the Present Conuention of Parliament — Inside the Classic
Government
6,027 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #45773About 34 minutes
Sioux Indian Courts An address delivered by Doane Robinson before the South Dakota Bar Association, at Pierre, South Dakota, January 21, 1909 — Story, Setting & Ideas
Government
7,647 recorded words. Selected by the catalog's stored reading-time estimate.
View Gutenberg source #26021Search the excerpts stored with this catalog
99 of 99 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: The 1991 CIA World Factbook — Inside the Classic
Information was provided by the Bureau of the Census, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Nuclear Agency, Department of State, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Maritime Administration, National Science Foundation (Polar Information Program), Navy Operational Intelligence Center, Office of Territorial and International Affairs, United States Board on Geographic Names, United States Coast Guard, and others. Comments and queries are welcome and may be addressed …
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Compare two books and their available excerpts
| Book | Recorded words | Estimated minutes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. P.'s in Session: From Mr. Punch's Parliamentary Portrait Gallery — Text and Context | 5,925 | 26 | Gutenberg #29560 |
| A Proclamation Declaring His Maiesties Pleasure Concerning the Dissoluing of the Present Conuention of Parliament — Inside the Classic | 6,027 | 27 | Gutenberg #45773 |
| Sioux Indian Courts An address delivered by Doane Robinson before the South Dakota Bar Association, at Pierre, South Dakota, January 21, 1909 — Story, Setting & Ideas | 7,647 | 34 | Gutenberg #26021 |
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: 2026-09-26. Coverage: 99 public books, 99 available source excerpts.
Do more with this book catalog
The UQAWE Political Thought Library brings together 99 public-domain works on government, international affairs, political thought, and democracy rights. Each title is accompanied by a set of interactive tools that help you find, compare, and plan your reading.
Browse the collection by category, or use the tools below to match books to your interests, compare similar texts, or estimate the time required to read them. The library is designed for students, researchers, and curious readers who want to engage with primary sources.
99
books in this catalog
4
catalog categories
99
books with reading-time data
Made for this collection
Ways the catalog data becomes useful
Finder
Narrow down the catalog by subject, category, length, or reading time. Tell us what you care about, and we'll suggest books that fit your preferences.
Compare
See how two or more books measure up in word count, reading time, sentence complexity, and subject coverage. Useful for deciding which edition or volume to start with.
Reading Planner
Estimate how long it will take to read any book in the catalog, based on its word count. Plan your sessions and track your progress.
Choosing Your Path Through the UQAWE Political Thought Library
The UQAWE Political Thought Library holds 99 works spanning four categories: Government, Political Thought, Democracy Rights, and International Affairs. With such a range, deciding where to begin can be as demanding as the reading itself. Three tools are available to help: Book Finder, Compare Books, and Reading Tracker. Each serves a distinct purpose, and they work best when used in sequence.
The tools are not a rating system. They measure what is measurable in the catalog—length, time, structure, and subjects—so you can match a book to your own circumstances. The choice of what to read, and what to make of it, remains yours.
Start with Book Finder to Sort the Field
Book Finder narrows the 99 titles by criteria that matter before you commit: category, word-count length, estimated reading time, chapter rhythm, sentence flow, subjects, and a preference for popular or hidden-gem titles. If you know you want a biography of a president, for instance, you might select the Government category and the subject "Presidents -- United States -- Biography" to surface works like Martin Van Buren — Context and Discussion (id 279).
The tool does not penalize you for leaving criteria unspecified. A no-preference choice simply means that particular filter is not applied. This is useful when you have a rough idea but are open to surprises.
Use Compare Books to Weigh Specific Candidates
Once Book Finder has produced a shortlist of two or three candidates, Compare Books lays their numbers side by side. You can see word count, estimated reading time, text sections, sentence flow, chapter rhythm, subjects, and page information when available. This is where the catalog's variety becomes tangible.
For example, a 130,900-word biography like Martin Van Buren — Context and Discussion (id 279) and a 6,027-word royal proclamation from 1621 sit at opposite ends of the commitment spectrum. Comparing them directly shows not just a difference in length, but in the texture of the reading experience—one unfolds over hundreds of pages, the other in a single sitting.
Plan Your Progress with Reading Tracker
After you have chosen a book, Reading Tracker helps you sustain the effort. It records your current page, total pages, and a daily page goal. The default goal is 20 pages per day, which you can adjust. Progress is stored in your browser, so no account is needed. The tracker calculates estimated remaining time and finish days based on your pace, keeping the end in sight.
A Sequence That Works
A practical approach is to start with Book Finder to filter by your constraints, then move to Compare Books to examine two or three finalists side by side. Once you decide, Reading Tracker turns that decision into a manageable plan.
The tools are designed to complement each other. Finder answers "What fits?" Compare answers "How do these differ?" Tracker answers "How will I get through this?" Together, they address the full arc of reading a long political text.