Chapter 1 of The Battle of the Books, and other Short is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Battle of the Books, and other Short is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES. BY JONATHAN SWIFT. CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_. 1886. INTRODUCTION.
Chapter 1 of The Battle of the Books, and other Short is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading “THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.”
the act of beginning something new
From this reading “INTRODUCTION.”
red late-ripening apple; primarily eaten raw
From this reading “BY JONATHAN SWIFT.”
small in range or scope
From this reading “CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.”
a resort town in east central Florida
plural of “piece” — a separate part of a whole
From this reading “THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.”
moving very fast
From this reading “BY JONATHAN SWIFT.”
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading “CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1886.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading BY JONATHAN SWIFT.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.
the act of beginning something new
From this reading INTRODUCTION.
red late-ripening apple; primarily eaten raw
From this reading BY JONATHAN SWIFT.
small in range or scope
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.
a resort town in east central Florida
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.
plural of “piece” — a separate part of a whole
From this reading THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.
moving very fast
From this reading BY JONATHAN SWIFT.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES.
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_.
Chapter 1 of The Battle of the Books, and other Short by Jonathan Swift holds 100 sentences, grouped into 20 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 100 sentences of The Battle of the Books, and other Short, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Battle of the Books, and other Short by Jonathan Swift exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 100 sentences, grouped into 20 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Battle of the Books, and other Short by Jonathan Swift on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1237 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #623 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #623, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 103 minutes of reading across 248 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Battle of the Books, and other Short section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The Battle of the Books, and other Short to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Battle of the Books, and other Short, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
