Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys achieved fame as a naval administrator, a friend and colleague of the powerful and learned, a figure of substance. But for nearly ten years he kept a private diary in which he recorded, with unparalleled openness and sensitivity to the turbulent world around him, exactly what it was like to be a young man in Restoration London. This diary lies at the heart of Claire Tomalin's biography. Yet the use she makes of it - and of other hitherto unexamined material - is startlingly fresh and original. Within and beyond the narrative of Pepys's extraordinary career, she explores his inner life - his relations with women, his fears and ambitions, his political shifts, his agonies and his delights.

First sentence: He was born in London, above the shop, just off Fleet Street, in Salisbury Court, where his father John Peps ran a tailoring business, one of many serving the lawyers living in the area.

Year

2002

Language

English

Publisher

Vintage

Editions

8

Pages

528

ISBN

9780375725531

Data source: Wikidata