Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500518149 ISBN 13: 9780500518144

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2015

Synopsis

This book, published to coincide with a major exhibition at the National Maritime Museum to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London, centres on Samuel Pepys (1633 1703), the famous diarist and the greatest administrator of the Stuart Age. Not only a passionate diarist, Pepys was also a prolific correspondent who lived through and wrote about all the key events and leading individuals of his time: the Restoration of Charles II, the Great Plague, the Fire of London, the raid of the Dutch fleet in the river Medway, the King’s mistresses. Through a series of essays by leading experts, this publication reveals the rich diversity of his career and interests – from the theatre, to advances in science and development of the Royal Navy. His life was so utterly entwined with the extraordinary period he lived through – he was even a witness to the beheading of Charles I – that the book becomes a portrait of the age. Each chapter has two or three essays followed by discussion of specific objects and paintings.

About this title

About the Author

Margarette Lincoln was Deputy Director at Royal Museums Greenwich from 2007 to 2015. She is also the author of British Pirates and Society, 1680–1730, Naval Wives and Mistresses and Representing the Royal Navy: British Sea Power, 1750–1815.

From the Back Cover

Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) lived through one of the most exciting and troubled times in British history. He saw the people rise up in the name of liberty and execute their king. During the plague of 1665 he endured months of terror when friends and neighbours fell prey to an epidemic disease for which there was no cure, and the following year he witnessed the Great Fire of London. Towards the end of his life Pepys - and the country - suffered further upheaval when his patron, the Catholic James II, was ousted by the Protestant William III and Queen Mary in the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688. This book, published to coincide with a major exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, explores the public and personal worlds of Pepys, not only a famous diarist whose description of the Fire of London is unequalled, but also an energetic and talented man who rose from modest beginnings to become the greatest naval administrator of the age. With an introduction by Claire Tomalin, Pepys's award-winning biographer, engaging essays on a range of key topics, and illustrated throughout with a rich variety of paintings, engravings and objects, Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution provides a fascinating portrait of the later Stuart Age through the life of someone uniquely placed to experience its triumphs and disasters.

Edition details

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500518149
• ISBN 13: 9780500518144
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Lincoln Margarette