Worth a gander is the blog of a very interesting fellow living in Westminster, London, describing his daily experiences of music, women, pubs and clubs, the usual stuff. Only this blog is concerned with events that took place 343 years ago.
Now, the blog has apparently been going since 2003, but I’ve only just stumbled across it. You’ve probably heard of the diaries of Samuel Pepys, the renowned seventeenth century diarist. Beginning his diary at a critical point in the history of Britain (1660), Pepys left perhaps the most important primary source for the English Restoration period.
What makes Pypes so interesting outside of academia is the way that he recorded his daily life for almost ten years with remarkable honesty. No doubt this was made easier with the assumption that his thoughts would not become available for open discussion! Yet he recorded the women that he pursued, his friends, his enemies, and his public and private dealings. As with all great diaries, he reveals his jealousies, insecurities, trivial concerns, and his fractious relationship with his wife.
It also stands as an essential account of London in the 1660s. From very close, he offers a personal account of the restoration of the monarchy, the Great Plague of London of 1665, the Great Fire of London of 1666, and the arrival of the Dutch fleet and other events of the Second Anglo-Dutch War 1665–7. The union of his observations on politics and national events, alongside the very candid record of everyday life is almost beyond compare.
So please have a look at the diary of Samuel Pepys.
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Good times.