60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Heck of a Biography, February 15, 2003
I buy a lot of books from Amazon[.com] and, because I am so busy reading them, I do not often review them. This biography of Samuel Pepys was just terrific, so I had to say something about it.
I am a history buff and suppose anyone buying this book would have to be. Samuel Pepys, as it turns out, was a lot more than just a diarist. He was, in effect, what we would call Secretary of the Navy during the Restoration.
Raised as a Puritan, he successfully made the switch to a Stuart supporter when The Restoration became inevitable after Oliver Cromwell died and his son just did not measure up to the job.
We are taken into the world of an ambitious man clawing his way up to the top of the greasy pole. He knows how it is done--and how to make money from bribes (and convince yourself that you are not doing anything immoral at the same time). The way things were done in 17th century was a bit different than it is in the modern US--and perhaps a bit of the same.
The most riveting bit about Pepys life was an operation he underwent in 1658 for the removal of a bladder stone. It goes without saying that there was no anesthesia in those days. First they tied you down and then they cut and probed; there is an illustration of someone trussed up like a turkey with a probe inserted in--well, you have to see it.
Great pain and death was a daily companion for those living before anesthesia--and I am not even going to talk about tooth pain. Death, moreover, was all around. Children died from all sorts of diseases that are easily curable now. Any sort of fever could end in death--and, of course, there was bubonic plague, which killed off about 1/6 of London's population in a single year.
I found this book absolutely riveting. It is 378 pages of text (and oodles of pages of notes for the compulsive people like me who read them). I read it in 3 days.
If you are interested in English history you will love this book. Maybe one of these days I will even get around to reading Pepys' diaries.
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best bio ever written of Pepys, November 14, 2002
This one is and I've read them all. Tomalin chooses diary excerpts brilliantly, tying together a picture of the man in his own words that captures the spirit of the diary and other materials (letters and so on) perfectly. Then she wraps it all into the context of the fascinating times in which Pepys lived and gives us rich introductions to those who shared his life and world. This book is a MUST READ for anyone who likes Pepys. Anyone who doesn't know Pepys will run right out and buy the 11-volume version of the diary after reading this book.
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Literary Time Capsule, March 8, 2003
By A Customer
I bought this book as a follow-up after listened to the audio recording of Pepys Diary narrated (performed!) by Kenneth Branagh to get a more in depth knowledge of the historical times, characters and political forces of the day. I am no avid historian but great history can approach great literature in stature (my bias). This very well researched and thoroughly documented account of the life of Samuel Pepys spans the years prior to, during and subsequent to the diary years. Although the most compelling period is the diary years, the times prior to that disclose his upbringing and particularly his health and it's lasting imprint on this amazing character - no doubt contributing to his life long ambitious drive and living for the moment. You will never consider a kidney stone in the same light after reading this account!
As preivious reviewers here have noted, the diary was written largely in code. That and heavy editing by nervous publishers over the years have kept the complete story from full disclosure for nearly 300 hundred years. Initially the bawdy stories kept my rapt attention, but this research reveals it is much more than that - a very multi-layered and mullti-faceted sotry that for the history novice like me, puts a humanistic face on the 17th century.
Significant points that Tomalin reveals include that this secret diary is one of the best historical accounts that covers London's Restoration period as the King had tight control over "the press". The diary documents firsthand accounts of the plague, the great fire, the return of the king to the thrown, the many wars at sea with the Dutch, the political struggling between the Royals and the Common Wealth, the intense distrust between protestants and catholics and religious persecution. In addition there are firsthand reviews of various plays (including Shakespeare, Chaucer), comments on copious consumption (and burial) of wine and Parmesan cheese, personal hygiene standards as well as graphic descriptions of the system of justice during this time.
This is a time capsule worth reading and listening a few times.
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