Diary of Samuel Pepys (Modern Library) - Hardcover

"Pepys led a full, varied and voraciously-enjoyed life and clearly took pleasure in setting it all down in plain words. Unlike most frantically busy men, he had remarkable powers of observation."
--Paul Johnson
"The bald truth about oneself, what we are all too timid to admit when we are not too dull to see it, that was what Pepys saw clearly and set down unsparingly."
--Robert Louis Stevenson
"Alexander conquered the world; but Pepys, with a keener, more selfish understanding of life, conquered a world for every sense."
--Charles Whibley

Diary entries by the tailor's son who rose up through the royal ranks describe his experiences in London from 1660 to 1669, and explore the political and cultural scene during the Restoration, the Plague, and the Great Fire of London.