The Diary of Samuel Pepys

Excerpts

By: Samuel Pepys

Narrated by: Alexander Spencer

Samuel Pepys's meticulous chronicles of life in 17th-century England are an exacting record of a unique historical era. Pepys lived through one of the most colorful periods of British history. He witnessed - and recorded detailed accounts of - the execution of Charles I, a civil war, the Restoration, a plague, and the Great Fire of London. His entries also record the minutiae of everyday life - scandals, intrigues, infidelities and vulgarities - presenting a comprehensive portrait of a fascinating era.

Public Domain (P)1991 Recorded Books

Despite the Fuzzy Audio . . .

I have been curious about Samuel Pepys for some years now so I got this book to find out what all the fuss was about. The audio quality is unfortunate; format 2 is the best that can be downloaded. The sound is so fuzzy that I can hardly understand the narration when I play the disks in my car (where I listen to nearly all of my Audible books as I make the daily commute to work). What I can hear, however, makes me hungry for more. The content is rich, detailed and full of references to people, events and literature contemporary to the 1660s but not so well known in 2007(naturally enough:it's a daily diary which can hardly be expected to spell out those things which were well-known or obvious to the writer). Consider this book as an appetizer. If it whets your appetite, as it has mine, you'll probably want to go to the nearest public library for one of the unabridged volumes - but make sure it's annotated!

Fascinating essential reading

I wanted to listen to some version of this for sometime. While this is abridged it definitely gave me a flavor for the diary. I appreciated the introduction that explains some of the background. The narrator was excellent as well.

Historically interesting

The reader was great. I learned some things about 17th century London. But Pepys himself is a disagreeable character.