Selections from The Diary of Samuel Pepys
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Narrated by:
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Michael Maloney
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By:
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Samuel Pepys
About this listen
The Diary of Samuel Pepys is perhaps the most well known collection of reminiscences. He maintained it, in secrecy, from 1660, the year of the Restoration, until 1669 when fear of blindness prevented his daily labours. Though it covers less than a decade, it offers a lively and detailed insight into a period and a personality, for he noted events in both public and private life. Famous passages include descriptions of The Plague and the Great Fire of London.
Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2005 Naxos AudioBooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
Pepys's candid diaries are important for what they tell us about life in Restoration London, and delightful reading, for the author had a lively mind, a keen eye, and a strong personality. Abridger Pearson Phillips has chosen the excerpts well for this volume. With admirable vigor, narrator Michael Maloney tries to give a sense of Pepys's development over the tumultuous decade that the secret journals cover. He seems somewhat distracted, as if struggling with the seventeenth-century diction.
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When first published in 1759, Candide became an instant best seller and is now regarded as one of the key texts of the Enlightenment. Voltaire’s preoccupations with evil and with various kinds of human folly and intolerance found a perfect vehicle in this philosophical tale. A master storyteller, he combined often wildly entertaining action with profoundly serious sense, parodying the traditional chivalric and oriental tales with which his public was more familiar.
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Guaranteed to keep you smiling if not LOL
- By Robert on 08-09-12
By: Voltaire
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A Diary from Dixie
- By: Mary Chesnut
- Narrated by: Mary Baker
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the original diary of the wife of Confederate General James Chesnut, Jr., who was an aide to President Jefferson Davis. It is a fascinating narrative of all the years of the American Civil War. It focuses on the daily lives and hardships of all who suffered through the war, from ordinary people to the Confederacy's generals and political elite. Mary Chesnut's prose has lost none of its provocative bite through the ages.
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Must read—unique view of Antebellum, bellum & post bellum Southern life
- By harsh critic on 05-31-18
By: Mary Chesnut
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Joseph Andrews
- By: Henry Fielding
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In one of the first novels in the English language, we follow the picaresque adventures of Joseph Andrews, a virtuous young man who is keen to maintain his innocence despite being coerced by nearly every woman he encounters.
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Action and Ideas
- By John on 01-27-20
By: Henry Fielding
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Tales from Shakespeare
- By: Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb is a retelling of 20 of Shakespeare’s most beloved stories. Within the pages of this book, the 19th-century authors bring to life the Shakespearean plots and characters of another age in an easy-to-understand prose of a newer generation.
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A classic
- By Jacque Eddy on 10-07-19
By: Charles Lamb, and others
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Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.
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Perfect pair
- By Philip on 03-25-08
By: Charles Dickens
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Don Quixote (Adapted for Modern Listeners)
- By: Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
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Quixotic is a word that the dictionary defines as "extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary...." and that is a fitting definition, indeed, for this charming retelling of Don Quixote, the 17t- century Spanish classic by Miguel de Cervantes, now updated for the modern listener. The gallant and fragile Quixote will touch listeners, as will his faithful squire Sancho Panza and the tragically beautiful heroine of the gentle Don’s chivalries, the fair Dulcinea.
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Great way in
- By pxriver on 07-12-18
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
- By: Frederick Douglass
- Narrated by: Walter Covell
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Frederick Douglass was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. He was called both "The Sage of Anacostia" and "The Lion of Anacostia" and is one of the most prominent figures in African-American history and United States history.
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Great Book!
- By Mama C on 03-05-11
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Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House
- Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House
- By: Elizabeth Keckley
- Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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A former slave who became a successful dressmaker with her own business, became the dresser, dressmaker and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln during Abraham Lincoln's presidential adminstration. Behind the Scenes tells the story of the rise of Elizabeth Keckley from abused slave to independent business woman to friend of the First Lady of the land during the Civil War.
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No Southern Accent
- By GMR on 08-13-14
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Don Quixote
- By: John Ormsby - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 36 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The most influential work of the entire Spanish literary canon and a founding work of modern Western literature, Don Quixote is also one of the greatest works ever written. Hugely entertaining but also moving at times, this episodic novel is built on the fantasy life of one Alonso Quixano, who lives with his niece and housekeeper in La Mancha. Quixano, obsessed by tales of knight errantry, renames himself ‘Don Quixote’ and with his faithful servant Sancho Panza, goes on a series of quests.
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More than funny
- By Colin on 08-21-11
By: John Ormsby - translator, and others
What listeners say about Selections from The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Alexander
- 02-07-06
A wonderful selection
Beautifully read - listened to it at a normal speed, no way to rev this one up! The diary entries are complete but only a selection of entries is presented. Afterwards googled Pepys and found several sites dedicated to him.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Sparkly
- 08-20-11
Delightful.
What a marvelous treasure. I have seen Pepys quoted in history books over the years, and finally decided to read the original. I couldn't be more pleased. Pepys (pronounced, delightfully, "peeps"), a noteworthy figure in English history for a variety of accomplishments, had an eye for detail that brings the era alive. The plague, the war with the Dutch, the nature of domestic and professional life, the fire of 1666 - his descriptions are riveting, and without equal as primary historical material.
The beauty of Pepys' diary is that he was writing for his own purposes, so it is utterly unedited for public consumption. He was a neurotic skirt chaser, but very compassionate towards his wife. The account of his wife and father burying the gold in the back garden is hilarious. Bravo to the narrator for bringing a vivid personality to this thoroughly enjoyable book.
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5 people found this helpful
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- E. J. Potchen
- 04-08-15
Well done reading a famous diary
A brief extraction from the diary of Samuel Pepys. This includes the story of the London fire and some extracts revealing his well known connections with royalty and some of his love affairs.
This is rendition is interesting and quite entertaining.
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- Tess_W
- 05-21-21
abnormal reading speed
The reader read so fast that I had to turn reading speed to 85% to understand him.
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