The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete

Kept in shorthand between 1660 and 1669, this diary is one of the fullest firsthand records of English life we possess. A rising naval administrator in Restoration London, Pepys set down everything with startling candor: cabinet gossip and theater visits, his marriage and his affairs, meals, money, and moods. He was an eyewitness to great events, among them the coronation of Charles II, the Great Plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of London the following year, which he describes with unforgettable immediacy. He also records the petty vanities and quarrels he never dreamed anyone would read. The result is history that feels alive and a complete portrait of a personality. This free PDF and EPUB edition gathers the diary in full.