Samuel Pepys

Claire Tomalin

From Shelf: The books we read in 2008

Focuses on the remarkable diaries of Pepys and brings his story vividly to life once more.

From the acclaimed author of Charles Dickens: A Life comes a celebrated biography that casts new light on the remarkable diaries of 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 diary which recorded, with unparalleled openness and sensitivity, exactly what it was like to be a young man in Restoration London.Within and beyond the narrative of his extraordinary career, Claire Tomalin explores Pepys' inner life - his relations with women, his fears and ambitions, his political shifts, his agonies and his delights.'A rich, thoughtful and deeply satisfying account' Evening Standard'Sex, drink, plague, fire, music, marital conflict, the fall of kings, corruption and courage in public life, wars, navies, public execution, incarceration in the Tower: Samuel Pepys's life is full of irresistible material' Guardian'In Claire Tomalin, Pepys has found the biographer he deserves. Her perceptive, level-headed book finally restores to the life of the diarist its weight and dignity' New Statesman