A True Witness

Restoration Revisited

Pepys’ diary provides invaluable insight into the Restoration period, with first-hand accounts of the coronation of Charles II, the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. The detailed and personal journal entries have helped in developing an understanding of these events and the effect they had on people at the time. Every entry was made in shorthand, suggesting that Pepys intended his diary to be for his own pleasure alone. This explains the revealing and honest nature of what he chose to write down.