The Shorter Pepys
by Samuel Pepys
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Generations of readers have found Pepys' diaries one of the best ways to vicariously experience the tumultuous world of seventeenth century London, the time of Restoration, the Plague, and the Great Fire. The short Pepys recreates this world for readers daunted by the complete multi-volume set of diaries. Containing about one-third of the original, the abridgment is full enough to give us just the essence but the detail of Pepys' daily life.Tags
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Member Reviews
What an adventure! Samuel Pepys kept a detailed diary of his life from 1660-1669. It is considered a seminal work of history during this period which encompassed wars with the Dutch, the Restoration of Charles II, the Great Fire, and the Plague. Pepys was a clerk in the Navy office and hence I felt the diary was focused on Naval history, but not overly much. Pepys was a scoundrel who ripped off the Navy for his living and had many mistresses. There are amusing sections, especially the part of burying his Parmesan cheese for preservation during the great fire. I read the abridged version, by Robert Latham, Fellow and Pepys Librarian at Magdalene College, Cambridge, which was still 1,096 pages.
If an edition doesn’t mention his neighbour’s cellar flooding with turds that overflow into his cellar, then swap it for a better version!
This is the one to read for pleasure, unless you are an upper-level or grad history student. The good stuff left in, the superfluous taken out, a great editing job. Still a BIG book but you can open it anywhere and be fascinated. I keep it in the BR, this is another one I would take on vacation or pick up when I have run out of library books.
Highly readable first-hand history.
Enjoying both the content and the narration by Kenneth Branagh.
Lighter version of the classic Pepys Diaries.
Enjoying both the content and the narration by Kenneth Branagh.
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363+ Works 6,805 Members
Samuel Pepys was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man. By his hard work and his talent for administration, he rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II. The detailed private diary Pepys show more kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published in the 19th century, and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War and the Great Fire of London. Pepys's diary has become a national monument. The diary was written in one of the many standard forms of shorthand used in Pepys's time, in this case called Tachygraphy; devised by Thomas Shelton. At the end of May 1669, he reluctantly concluded that, for the sake of his eyes, he should completely stop writing and, from then on, only dictate to his clerks which meant he could no longer keep his diary. In total, Pepys wrote for approximately nine years. This collection of both personal and political accounts is an important timepiece that illustartes life in 17th Century England. When Pepys died on May 26, 1703, he had no children and left his entire estate to his nephew, John Jackson. His estate included over 3,000 volumes in his collection of books. All of these were indexed and catalogued; they form one of the most important surviving private laibraries of the 17th century. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 17th century
- People/Characters
- Samuel Pepys
- Important places
- London, England, UK
- Important events
- Great Fire of London (1666); Great Plague of London (1665); Raid on the Medway (1667)
- Disambiguation notice
- Selection from the several diaries. Combine elsewhere for a selection from the (main) diary.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys: A Selection (Penguin Classics) was first published as The Shorter Pepys (London : Bell & Hyman... (show all), 1985).
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 941.06 — History & geography History of Europe British Isles Historical periods of British Isles 1603-1714, House of Stuart and Commonwealth periods
- LCC
- DA447 .P4 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Great Britain History of Great Britain England History By period Modern, 1485- Later Stuarts
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 706
- Popularity
- 40,525
- Reviews
- 10
- Rating
- (4.09)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 8
