TOMALIN, CLAIRE / SAMUEL PEPYS — Samuel Pepys. The Unequalled Self

Penguin Books 2003 First Penguin ed. xxxix + 499 p. 3 sections of b/w illustrations(plates), notes, bibliography, index. SOFTCOVER: (Orig. paperback with decor. front cover. AS NEW) Samuel Pepys achieved fame as a naval administrator, a friend and colleague of the powerful and learned, a figure of substance. But for nearly ten years he kept a private diary in which he recorded, with unparalleled openness and sensitivity to the turbulent world around him, exactly what it was like to be a young man in Restoration London. This diary lies at the heart of Claire Tomalin's biography. Yet the use she makes of it - and of other hitherto unexamined material - is startlingly fresh and original. Within and beyond the narrative of Pepys' extraordinary career, she explores his inner life - his relations with women, his fears and ambitions, his political shifts, his agonies and his delights.