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Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self (Hardcover)

by Claire Tomalin (Author) "He was born in London, above the shop, just off Fleet Street, in Salisbury Court, where his father John Pepys ran a tailoring business, one..." (more)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (Nov 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0375411437
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375411434
  • Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 17.9 x 4.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 858,739 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Claire Tomalin was born to write a biography of Samuel Pepys. Her previously acclaimed biographies of Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft have defined her as a scrupulous biographer who establishes a unique empathy with her subjects. In Pepys Tomalin has found her perfect subject, a man who is "both the most ordinary and the most extraordinary writer you will ever meet".

Pepys wrote his diary throughout the 1660s, "a period as intellectually thrilling as it was dangerous and bloody", and Tomalin's book vividly brings to life the tumultuous world of 17-century London, where Pepys grew up. Pepys' life spanned the execution of one king and the restoration of another, and Tomalin elegantly recreates both Pepys' public and private lives. From his early days in London and then Cambridge, Tomalin pieces together the crucial years when "the private Samuel Pepys began to develop and yearn". She chronicles his rise through the bureaucracy of the restored king, Charles II, to his position as energetic reformer of the navy and successful husband to his vivacious, mercurial wife Elizabeth. But the book also deals with Pepy's personal tragedies, his struggle to secure patronage as a commoner, his frank and hilarious extra-marital exploits, and the cataclysmic Fire of London in 1666.

This is a fine biography of an extraordinary man who "found the energy and commitment to create a new literary form" while also coming across as a generous, likeable, flawed human being. Tomalin's admiration for her subject is infectious, and will ensure that her biography becomes the standard reference for anyone interested in both Pepys's life and his art.--Jerry Brotton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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He was born in London, above the shop, just off Fleet Street, in Salisbury Court, where his father John Pepys ran a tailoring business, one of many serving the lawyers living in the area. Read the first page
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4.7 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a fascinating look at the first "modern" man, 5 Jan 2003
By Mr. A. C. Gilbert "thegilb" (Chatel sur Rolle, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self (Hardcover)
This book is beautifully written, an excellent example of biographical history, and with quite a character as the subject! I could almost feel myself following Pepys through the London of the late 17th century, as the frankness and detached nature of his diary, beautifully intertwined with the happenings of the time by Clare Tomalin, made the timespan between his period and ours appear far shorter than 300-plus years.
The combined effect of Pepys' musings and (wheeler-)dealings, and Tomalin's seamless contextualisation, brings Pepys' life and times alive. I cringed with pain as his bladder stone was removed in a barbaric operation, I could almost feel his avarice as he began to rake in kickbacks from the naval contracts he was authorised to approve, and I'm sure anyone would understand his near-euphorical egotism as plague spared him while all around old friends dropped like flies.
Aside from the gripping story of his life, Tomalin also makes valid and interesting arguments to explain the extraordinary events of the period in which Pepys lived (specifically the decline of the Republic and the restoration of the monarchy), and describes how the uniqueness of the diary allows us to identify with Pepys in a way that we could never have identified with anyone before him; firstly because his writing style was revolutionary, giving us a window onto his life with detachment and honesty, and secondly because during the period in which he lived, changes came into being which sowed the seeds for modern Britain and modern society as a whole.
I thoroughly recommend the book, which would also make an excellent gift.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Haven’t read it? You’re missing on mighty merriment!, 8 Dec 2003
This review is from: Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self (Audio Cassette)
Blurbs on the back of the book are there to sell the product. Often they are exaggerated. With Tomalin, readers will find a rare and welcome exception: they are accurate. The book is divided into three parts: pre-Diary, Diary and post-diary periods of Pepys’s life. In the first and the third parts, the narrative is more or less chronological, tracing the life of the great Diarist. The second is more thematic, necessarily so given the (daunting) wealth of information through Pepys’s own words and amount of different things (drinking and dining, chasing women, reforming the Navy, the Great Fire, the plague). What emerges is not a staid chronological sequence of his life, but his whole personality that is so full of life. Tomalin’s great achievement is to combine the irresistible character of Pepys with portraits of other people – family, friends and foes – whose presence enriches the book enormously. By reading this book, readers enjoy not only an excellent biography of Samuel Pepys but a great panoramic view of politics – from the Commonwealth period through the Restoration to the Glorious Revolution – and how Londoners lived in the second half of the seventeenth century. It is a thoroughly informative book and moreover enormously fun to read.
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45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Biography as it should be, 12 Jun 2003
By Simon Southwell (Bristol, U.K.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self (Hardcover)
Having read Pepys' diaries several years ago, without prior knowledge about the man or the context of his life, I found the going quite hard, but still intriguing. I wish I had had this biography to hand at that time as it fills in that context superbly. A majority of the book is given over to the diary years, as one would expect given the wealth of information from Pepys, but it also fills in the blanks for rest of his life, allowing a better understanding of the man, his humble roots, and the influence he came to have on the shaping the modern British Navy, advising and rubbing shoulders with Kings and their noblemen at an interesting time politically in the British Isles. There's much in here that I didn't know, with many historical references, but still reads extremely well. Claire Tomalin also has much empathy with the women in Pepys' life, of whom he himself wrote little, and seems to have researched these characters extensively, and their stories are illuminating about women of that time and status.

One doesn't need to have read the diaries to enjoy this biography, and indeed I would recommend reading this before tackling Pepys himself. A book that's both entertaining and educating. Worthy of the accolades and awards that it has attracted. Having read this, I'll be reading the diaries once again with much more knowledge and understanding.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written biography of a fascinating man
I have been meaning to read Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self for a while now and was pleased to get the opportunity to sit down and pay attention. Read more
Published 9 days ago by L. Weale

3.0 out of 5 stars Competent, comprehensive, but rather dull compared to the real diary
Interesting in parts but so much less revealing than the diary itself, this biography is divided into sections covering issues or aspects of Pepys' life, which entails quite a bit... Read more
Published 14 days ago by E. Shaw

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply a great read
I'll keep it short - others have written in more detail about the strengths of this book. It's just a great read - I found it a real page-turner, well written, very well... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ella Guru

5.0 out of 5 stars Tomalin is the tops
Spendid book, as always on Amazon at a very good price, and it came very quickly, my husband is something of a Pepys and Tomalin fan and this was a pressie for him, he loved it... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. J. P. Penny

5.0 out of 5 stars True to Himself
I read this book some time ago, consequently the finer details escape me. However, what remains vivid is the sense that Ms Tomalin's book evinces of a remarkable man from our... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2008 by Michael J. Hunt

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Fascinating Man
This is another fascinating historical biography that reads more like a novel than a stuffy factual book. Virtually everyone knows the name of Samuel Pepys. Read more
Published on 17 July 2006 by J. Chippindale

3.0 out of 5 stars Am I the only one who can't like Pepys?
Firstly this is an excellent biography as the reviews and prizes show, but I had a serious problem empathising with Pepys. Read more
Published on 23 May 2006 by Roman Clodia

5.0 out of 5 stars I feel like I've been there myself
despite a perfectly good education, I have always found history a bit remote and difficult to get involved in, something I ought to know about but don't. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2005 by Martha M

5.0 out of 5 stars Samuel Pepys
I first heard of Samuel Pepys in 84 Charing Cross Road, I proceeded to read a selection from his diary and then I just wanted to know more. Read more
Published on 25 May 2005 by F. Quinn

5.0 out of 5 stars Morality and debauchery
Pepys leaps from the page in this equisite exposition of the historian's craft. Taking the rich vein of source material that is Pepys's diary is always going to invite comparison... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2005 by Ian David Curry

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