The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Volume I: 1660-1663

Growing up in the Midwest, I pronounced Samuel's name the way it looked to me: Peppy's, as if it were the name of a small-town diner with soft ice-cream. At that time in that place, the only editions of the Diary that were available hung out in the read-but-don't-remove collections of universities,......more

I unabashedly one this book. Pepys writes and I'm transported to London in the 1660s. At first it was a bit confusing with all the people and his nicknames for them but the name regster helped quite a lot with that^^ I cannot wait to read more about my favourite clerk and his life. He's speaking his......more

I really liked the book though Samuel himself sometimes horrified me. The times he lived in and his attitudes toward women, children and pets were unpleasant to say the least. But this book offered tremendous insight into the hearts and minds of people who really lived in the 1600s. It is so complet......more

Fantastic- the next best thing to actual time travel. I highly recommend the audiobook read by Leighton Pugh. An excellent performance that also helps with some of the challenges inherent to reading such an old and and dense manuscript. Another trick for this one is to read along on Pepysdiary.com.......more

And so, to bed. Knowing that it took 185 years to decipher the 5 different codes that Samuel Pepys used to write the diary, one shouldn’t be surprised that he includes his bowel movements at times, and a good deal of his out of marriage affections, including his drunken kisses to any maiden, young d......more