Rating: 
Summary: This tape is addictive!
Review: My wife & I listened to this during 2 hour commutes between city & country & became completely addicted. We were no longer driving the Taconic Parkway but totally immersed in the politics & bawdiness & squalor of daily life in 17th century London from the viewpoint of a very frank & funny & right-in-the-middle-of-it-all Mr. Pepys. From romps in bed with maids & other mens' wives to the plague & fire that virtually destroyed London, nothing is left out. Kenneth Branagh is magnificent (as usual) capturing the moods, rhythms & character of this incredible diary. When we finished the tape, we played the whole thing over again, enjoying it just as much the second time around! Highest recommendation!!!
Rating:
Summary: This tape is addictive!
Review: My wife & I listened to this during 2 hour commutes between city & country & became completely addicted. We were no longer driving the Taconic Parkway but totally immersed in the politics & bawdiness & squalor of daily life in 17th century London from the viewpoint of a very frank & funny & right-in-the-middle-of-it-all Mr. Pepys. From romps in bed with maids & other mens' wives to the plague & fire that virtually destroyed London, nothing is left out. Kenneth Branagh is magnificent (as usual) capturing the moods, rhythms & character of this incredible diary. When we finished the tape, we played the whole thing over again, enjoying it just as much the second time around! Highest recommendation!!!
Rating: 
Summary: brilliant but short
Review: The actual diary is huge, a very long read, so it's impractical to have the whole thing read by someone for a taped version. Understandable. Kenneth Branagh is a brilliant choice for reading the diary, though it was hard for me to believe it might have been the authentic voice of Pepys. And I know, that isn't the point - just something that crosses my mind when I listen. But the excerpts they choose to have read is great, keeps things moving forward, and soon you'll find yourself absolutely addicted. Listening to Pepys' personal life, London's public life, the political intrigues, the gossip-ish flavor of the sexual escapades - all of it is the next best thing to a time machine. Wanna travel back three hundred years in time for a few hours? Then listen to this tape. I just wish it had been longer...
Rating:
Summary: CALLING ALL HISTORY BUFFS...
Review: This is a remarkably entertaining audio book for those who wish to have a birds-eye view of life in seventeenth century London. Samuel Pepys began keeping an extensive diary in 1660, which he religiously kept for nine years. He finally stopped writing it in 1669 due to his failing eyesight. Samuel Pepys personally lived through the restoration of the Crown to Charles Stuart after the fall of Cromwell, the Plague, and the Great Fire of London. So, it is remarkable to be able to hear Samuel Pepys' vibrant, eye witness narrative of these historical events. Read by the great British actor, Kevin Branagh, whose beautifully nuanced reading of this abridgement is one that the discerning listener will find compelling, the diary of Samuel Pepys is one book that history buffs of the period will surely love. In his diary, Samuel Pepys recorded not only events that had historical significance but also those day to day details of his own life that shed light upon the way that people actually lived and worked in seventeenth century Restoration London. The diary chronicles all those mundane little details about which life is made. His meetings with friends and colleagues, his desire for social and professional advancement, his treatment of his servants, his spats with his wife, and his brief extra-marital affairs and bawdy romps, all this and more is contained in his diary. In detailing his affairs of the heart, he often used a code which appears to be a combination of English, Spanish, Latin, and possibly French. It was understandable to me, as it would be to anyone with some knowledge of these languages, and, consequently, understandable as to why he would write it in code. He obviously would not want his wife to know what he was up to! His is a unique voice that should be heard by all those who would wish to know more about seventeenth century life in Restoration London. Suffused with period detail and written in the linguistic style of the day, this book is a must for all those history buffs who are interested in Restoration England. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: terrific
Review: This is the perfect accompaniment to Claire Tomalin's equally terrific new biography, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self.
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