Description

The Diary of Samuel Pepys (1660-1669) offers the most immediate portrait of Restoration London, interlacing Navy Board labors with a city reborn under Charles II. In brisk shorthand entries, Pepys chronicles the Plague, the Fire, the Anglo-Dutch War, the theatre's revival, music, prices, and domestic economies. Its style fuses ledger precision, gossip, and self-scrutiny, positioning the work between chronicle, memorandum, and early modern confession. Pepys (1633-1703), a tailor's son educated at St Paul's and Magdalene College, rose by Edward Montagu's patronage to become Clerk of the Acts and later Secretary to the Admiralty, eventually presiding over the Royal Society. A meticulous organizer and bibliophile, he used the Diary to audit time, money, health, and conscience; failing eyesight in 1669 forced him to cease. Scholars of Restoration culture, urban and maritime history, and life writing will find this work indispensable; general readers will relish its candor and texture. It offers a rare convergence of public policy and private desire, revealing how institutions and selves take shape amid crisis. Read it for immediacy, amplitude, and an unforgettable, flawed narrator.

Quickie Classics summarizes timeless works with precision, preserving the author's voice and keeping the prose clear, fast, and readable—distilled, never diluted. Enriched Edition extras: Introduction · Synopsis · Historical Context · Author Biography · Brief Analysis · 4 Reflection Q&As · Editorial Footnotes.