The Diary of Samuel Pepys
The BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.33
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kris Marshall
-
Katherine Jakeways
-
Full Cast
About this listen
Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways star as Mr & Mrs Pepys in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the world famous diaries.
Samuel Pepys was 26 when he decided to start keeping a diary, in January 1660. For the next 10 years he faithfully recorded the day's events and confessed his innermost thoughts. That diary has since become one of our most important, and fascinating, historical documents. Pepys gave us eyewitness accounts of some of the great events of the 17th century, including the Great Fire of London and the Second Dutch War. He also told us what people ate and wore, what they did for fun, the tricks they played on each other, what they expected of marriage, and even how they conducted love affairs. He described London - the frozen river Thames, the rising crime rate and the poverty - and recorded the details of his own life: his wife, rivals, lovers and friends, his work for the Navy, his drinking and social life.
Over 350 years may have passed since Pepys first put pen to paper, but the man and his preoccupations feel surprisingly familiar. In this major BBC Radio dramatisation of the journals, the sights and sounds of his world are vividly conjured. This collection comprises all 10 radio series plus a special Saturday Drama centring on the Great Fire of London.
©2014 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2014 BBC Studios Distribution LtdListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Life of Samuel Johnson
- By: James Boswell
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 51 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charming, vibrant, witty and edifying, The Life of Samuel Johnson is a work of great obsession and boundless reverence. The literary critic Samuel Johnson was 54 when he first encountered Boswell; the friendship that developed spawned one of the greatest biographies in the history of world literature. The book is full of humorous anecdote and rich characterization, and paints a vivid picture of 18th-century London, peopled by prominent personalities of the time.
-
-
Wonderful!
- By Tad Davis on 02-02-18
By: James Boswell
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
The Decameron
- By: Giovanni Boccaccio
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Gunnar Cauthery, Alison Pettitt, and others
- Length: 28 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Decameron is one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, tell a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative. This celebration of physical and sexual vitality is Boccaccio's answer to the sublime other-worldliness of Dante's Divine Comedy.
-
-
Not Up to the Usual Naxos Standard
- By John on 11-15-17
-
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1
- By: Edward Gibbon
- Narrated by: Philip Madoc, Neville Jason
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is one of the greatest texts in the English language. In magisterial prose, Gibbon charts the gradual collapse of the Roman rule form Augustus (23 BC - AD 14) to the first of the barbarian kings, Odoacer (476- 490 AD). It is a remarkable account, with the extravagant corruption and depravity of emperors such as Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus contrasted by the towering work of Constantine, Julian, and other remarkable men.
-
-
Beautifully written and narrated
- By Theresa on 05-05-04
By: Edward Gibbon
-
The Anatomy of Melancholy
- By: Robert Burton
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 56 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1621, and hardly ever out of print since, it is a huge, varied, idiosyncratic, entertaining and learned survey of the experience of melancholy, seen from just about every possible angle that could be imagined. The Anatomy of Melancholy, presented here with all the original quotations in English, is, at last, available on audiobook in its entirety.
-
-
Nam Et Doctis Hisce Erroribus Versatus Sum
- By Darwin8u on 05-26-20
By: Robert Burton
-
Swan Song
- By: Robert R. McCammon
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 34 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Facing down an unprecedented malevolent enemy, the government responds with a nuclear attack. America as it was is gone forever, and now every citizen - from the President of the United States to the homeless on the streets of New York City - will fight for survival. In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth's last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity.
-
-
Simply an Amazing Story
- By Amanda H. on 06-21-12
-
The Life of Samuel Johnson
- By: James Boswell
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 51 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charming, vibrant, witty and edifying, The Life of Samuel Johnson is a work of great obsession and boundless reverence. The literary critic Samuel Johnson was 54 when he first encountered Boswell; the friendship that developed spawned one of the greatest biographies in the history of world literature. The book is full of humorous anecdote and rich characterization, and paints a vivid picture of 18th-century London, peopled by prominent personalities of the time.
-
-
Wonderful!
- By Tad Davis on 02-02-18
By: James Boswell
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
The Decameron
- By: Giovanni Boccaccio
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Gunnar Cauthery, Alison Pettitt, and others
- Length: 28 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Decameron is one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, tell a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative. This celebration of physical and sexual vitality is Boccaccio's answer to the sublime other-worldliness of Dante's Divine Comedy.
-
-
Not Up to the Usual Naxos Standard
- By John on 11-15-17
-
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1
- By: Edward Gibbon
- Narrated by: Philip Madoc, Neville Jason
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is one of the greatest texts in the English language. In magisterial prose, Gibbon charts the gradual collapse of the Roman rule form Augustus (23 BC - AD 14) to the first of the barbarian kings, Odoacer (476- 490 AD). It is a remarkable account, with the extravagant corruption and depravity of emperors such as Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus contrasted by the towering work of Constantine, Julian, and other remarkable men.
-
-
Beautifully written and narrated
- By Theresa on 05-05-04
By: Edward Gibbon
-
The Anatomy of Melancholy
- By: Robert Burton
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 56 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1621, and hardly ever out of print since, it is a huge, varied, idiosyncratic, entertaining and learned survey of the experience of melancholy, seen from just about every possible angle that could be imagined. The Anatomy of Melancholy, presented here with all the original quotations in English, is, at last, available on audiobook in its entirety.
-
-
Nam Et Doctis Hisce Erroribus Versatus Sum
- By Darwin8u on 05-26-20
By: Robert Burton
-
Swan Song
- By: Robert R. McCammon
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 34 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Facing down an unprecedented malevolent enemy, the government responds with a nuclear attack. America as it was is gone forever, and now every citizen - from the President of the United States to the homeless on the streets of New York City - will fight for survival. In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth's last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity.
-
-
Simply an Amazing Story
- By Amanda H. on 06-21-12
-
The Blazing World
- A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
- By: Jonathan Healey
- Narrated by: Oliver Hembrough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics.
-
-
Been looking for this book for a long time
- By cmurrell on 07-30-23
By: Jonathan Healey
-
The Story of My Life, Volume 1
- By: Giacomo Casanova
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 47 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Story of My Life is the explosive and exhilarating autobiography by the infamous libertine Giacomo Casanova. Intense and scandalous, Casanova's extraordinary adventures take the listener on an incredible voyage across 18th-century Europe - from France to Russia, Poland to Spain and Turkey to Germany, with Venice at their heart. He falls madly in love, has wild flings and delirious orgies, and encounters some of the most brilliant figures of his time, including Catherine the Great, Louis XV and Benjamin Franklin. He holds a verbal dual with Voltaire and finds himself hauled before the court multiple times.
-
-
Extraordinarily interesting
- By Ed Pegg Jr on 10-19-19
By: Giacomo Casanova
-
The Club
- Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1763, the painter Joshua Reynolds proposed to his friend Samuel Johnson that they invite a few friends to join them every Friday at the Turk's Head Tavern in London to dine, drink, and talk until midnight. Eventually, the group came to include among its members Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, and James Boswell. It was known simply as "the Club". In this captivating audiobook, Leo Damrosch brings alive a brilliant, competitive, and eccentric cast of characters.
-
-
Wonderful survey
- By Tad Davis on 05-10-19
By: Leo Damrosch
-
The Green Mile
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At Cold Mountain Penitentiary, the convicted killers on E Block await their turn to walk the Green Mile and keep a date with the electric chair. Paul Edgecombe has seen his share of oddities in his years working as a guard on the Mile, but he's never met anyone like John Coffey.
-
-
An excellent narrator and an excellent story.
- By Bryan J. Peterson on 03-21-10
By: Stephen King
-
Tristram Shandy
- By: Laurence Sterne
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laurence Sterne’s most famous novel is a biting satire of literary conventions and contemporary 18th-century values. Renowned for its parody of established narrative techniques, Tristram Shandyis commonly regarded as the forerunner of avant-garde fiction. Tristram’s characteristic digressions on a whole range of unlikely subjects (including battle strategy and noses!) are endlessly surprising and make this one of Britain’s greatest comic achievements.
-
-
Like discovering Frank Zappa in 250 years
- By Darwin8u on 01-02-14
By: Laurence Sterne
-
The Faerie Queene
- By: Edmund Spenser
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 33 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This remarkable poem, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, was Spenser's finest achievement. The first epic poem in modern English, The Faerie Queene combines dramatic narratives of chivalrous adventure with exquisite and picturesque episodes of pageantry. At the same time, Spenser is expounding a deeply-felt allegory of the eternal struggle between Truth and Error....
-
-
High Fantasy from the Renaissance
- By Jabba on 10-03-15
By: Edmund Spenser
-
Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady, Volume 1
- By: Samuel Richardson
- Narrated by: Samuel West, Lucy Scott, Roger May, and others
- Length: 33 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A milestone in the history of the novel, Samuel Richardson’s epistolary and elaborate Clarissa follows the life of a chaste young woman desperate to protect her virtue. When beautiful Clarissa Harlowe is forced to marry the rich but repulsive Mr. Solmes, she refuses, much to her family’s chagrin. She escapes their persecution with the help of Mr. Lovelace, a dashing and seductive rake, but soon finds herself in a far worse dilemma. Terrifying and enlightening, Clarissa weaves a tapestry of narrative experimentation into a gripping morality tale of good versus evil.
-
-
Gripping Novel & Performance
- By Harold on 07-29-18
-
Virgins
- An Outlander Short
- By: Diana Gabaldon
- Narrated by: Allan Scott-Douglas
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mourning the death of his father and gravely injured at the hands of the English, Jamie Fraser finds himself running with a band of mercenaries in the French countryside, where he reconnects with his old friend, Ian Murray. Both are nursing wounds, both have good reason to stay out of Scotland, and both are still virgins despite several opportunities to remedy that deplorable situation with ladies of easy virtue.
-
-
Don't expect an in depth story
- By ELZIE B HICKERSON on 10-30-16
By: Diana Gabaldon
-
The Book Thief
- By: Markus Zusak
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's just a small story really, about, among other things, a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist: books.
-
-
Glad I took a chance.
- By Robert on 08-20-11
By: Markus Zusak
-
11-22-63
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Craig Wasson
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
-
-
I Owe Stephen King An Apology
- By Kelly - Write Well Academy on 04-16-12
By: Stephen King
-
Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
-
-
Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
-
Swann's Way
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 21 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Swann’s Way is the first of seven volumes in Remembrance of Things Past. It sets the scene with the narrator’s memories being famously provoked by the taste of that little cake, the madeleine, accompanied by a cup of lime-flowered tea. It is an unmatched portrait of fin-de-siècle France.
-
-
Not a book one reads but inhabits & floats through
- By Darwin8u on 02-24-13
By: Marcel Proust
Related to this topic
-
Barry Lyndon
- By: William Makepeace Thackeray
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like Tom Jones before him, Barry Lyndon is one of the most lively and roguish characters in English literature. He may now be best known through the colorful Stanley Kubrick film released in 1975, but it is Thackeray who, in true 19th-century style, shows him best.
-
-
A masterful reading
- By BB on 06-14-14
-
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
- By: Benvenuto Cellini
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Master Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and writer Benvenuto Cellini is best remembered for his magnificent autobiography. In this work, which was actually begun in 1558 but not published until 1730, Cellini beautifully chronicles his flamboyant times. He tells of his adventures in Italy and France, and his relations with popes, kings, and fellow artists.
-
-
The problem is with Cellini himself.
- By Leslie Ross on 06-07-10
-
The Warden
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Nigel Hawthorne
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the world of the Victorian professional and landed classes, the story centres on Mr Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to it.
-
-
a delight
- By Janet on 12-22-08
By: Anthony Trollope
-
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
- By: Samuel Richardson
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett, Full Cast
- Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Samuel Richardson's epistolary novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, published in 1740, tells the story of a young woman's resistance to the desires of her predatory master. Pamela is determined to protect her virginity and remain a paragon of virtue; however, the heroine's moral principles only strengthen the resolve of Mr. B and Pamela soon finds herself imprisoned against her will. The young woman's affection for her captor gradually grows and she becomes aware of a love that combines eros and agape.
-
-
The one, the only, Pamela!
- By Eve Howard on 09-07-17
-
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
- By: Samuel Johnson, James Boswell
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull, Alexander Spencer
- Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1773, 63-year-old literary giant Samuel Johnson joined James Boswell, a 32-year-old Scottish lawyer, on an historic horseback expedition across the Scottish Highlands to the Western Islands. The unlikely duo's travelogue records their fascinating conversations and encounters with great wit and incredible detail. Johnson, one of the 18th century's most celebrated writers, provided an elegant and stately account of everything from Loch Ness's medicinal waters to Scotland's puzzling lack of trees.
-
-
Tasty, but abridged
- By Tad Davis on 08-22-13
By: Samuel Johnson, and others
-
Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Swift is best remembered today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the satiric fantasy that quickly became a classic and has remained in print for nearly three centuries. Yet Swift also wrote many other influential works, was a major political and religious figure in his time, and became a national hero, beloved for his fierce protest against English exploitation of his native Ireland. What is really known today about the enigmatic man behind these accomplishments? Can the facts of his life be separated from the fictions?
-
-
JOHNATHAN SWIFT AND POWER OF THE PEN
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 09-30-14
By: Leo Damrosch
-
Barry Lyndon
- By: William Makepeace Thackeray
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like Tom Jones before him, Barry Lyndon is one of the most lively and roguish characters in English literature. He may now be best known through the colorful Stanley Kubrick film released in 1975, but it is Thackeray who, in true 19th-century style, shows him best.
-
-
A masterful reading
- By BB on 06-14-14
-
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
- By: Benvenuto Cellini
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Master Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and writer Benvenuto Cellini is best remembered for his magnificent autobiography. In this work, which was actually begun in 1558 but not published until 1730, Cellini beautifully chronicles his flamboyant times. He tells of his adventures in Italy and France, and his relations with popes, kings, and fellow artists.
-
-
The problem is with Cellini himself.
- By Leslie Ross on 06-07-10
-
The Warden
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Nigel Hawthorne
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the world of the Victorian professional and landed classes, the story centres on Mr Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to it.
-
-
a delight
- By Janet on 12-22-08
By: Anthony Trollope
-
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
- By: Samuel Richardson
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett, Full Cast
- Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Samuel Richardson's epistolary novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, published in 1740, tells the story of a young woman's resistance to the desires of her predatory master. Pamela is determined to protect her virginity and remain a paragon of virtue; however, the heroine's moral principles only strengthen the resolve of Mr. B and Pamela soon finds herself imprisoned against her will. The young woman's affection for her captor gradually grows and she becomes aware of a love that combines eros and agape.
-
-
The one, the only, Pamela!
- By Eve Howard on 09-07-17
-
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
- By: Samuel Johnson, James Boswell
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull, Alexander Spencer
- Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1773, 63-year-old literary giant Samuel Johnson joined James Boswell, a 32-year-old Scottish lawyer, on an historic horseback expedition across the Scottish Highlands to the Western Islands. The unlikely duo's travelogue records their fascinating conversations and encounters with great wit and incredible detail. Johnson, one of the 18th century's most celebrated writers, provided an elegant and stately account of everything from Loch Ness's medicinal waters to Scotland's puzzling lack of trees.
-
-
Tasty, but abridged
- By Tad Davis on 08-22-13
By: Samuel Johnson, and others
-
Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Swift is best remembered today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the satiric fantasy that quickly became a classic and has remained in print for nearly three centuries. Yet Swift also wrote many other influential works, was a major political and religious figure in his time, and became a national hero, beloved for his fierce protest against English exploitation of his native Ireland. What is really known today about the enigmatic man behind these accomplishments? Can the facts of his life be separated from the fictions?
-
-
JOHNATHAN SWIFT AND POWER OF THE PEN
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 09-30-14
By: Leo Damrosch
-
The Way of All Flesh
- By: Samuel Butler
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This brilliant satirical novel, tracing the life and loves of Ernest Pontifex, has continued in popularity since its original publication in 1903. Every generation finds in The Way of All Flesh a reaffirmation of youth's rightful struggle against the tyranny of harsh parents and its admirable will for freedom of personal expression.
-
-
classic satire- would make Jon Stewart laugh
- By Connie on 06-04-08
By: Samuel Butler
-
The Story of My Life, Volume 1
- By: Giacomo Casanova
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 47 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Story of My Life is the explosive and exhilarating autobiography by the infamous libertine Giacomo Casanova. Intense and scandalous, Casanova's extraordinary adventures take the listener on an incredible voyage across 18th-century Europe - from France to Russia, Poland to Spain and Turkey to Germany, with Venice at their heart. He falls madly in love, has wild flings and delirious orgies, and encounters some of the most brilliant figures of his time, including Catherine the Great, Louis XV and Benjamin Franklin. He holds a verbal dual with Voltaire and finds himself hauled before the court multiple times.
-
-
Extraordinarily interesting
- By Ed Pegg Jr on 10-19-19
By: Giacomo Casanova
-
Joseph Andrews
- The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams
- By: Henry Fielding
- Narrated by: Rufus Sewell
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Riotous, sexy and groundbreaking, Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews: The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams, published in 1742, was one of the first English novels. Fielding was melding and parodying the two major forces battling for control of the fiction market at the time - the mock heroic, neoclassical tradition as practiced by Pope and Swift and the popular and populist fiction of the new novelists such as Defoe and Richardson.
-
-
A perfect reader for Henry Fielding
- By TiffanyD on 07-27-17
By: Henry Fielding
-
Candide (AudioGO Edition)
- By: Voltaire
- Narrated by: Jack Davenport
- Length: 3 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Guaranteed to keep you smiling if not LOL
- By Robert on 08-09-12
By: Voltaire
-
A Diary from Dixie
- By: Mary Chesnut
- Narrated by: Mary Baker
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Must read—unique view of Antebellum, bellum & post bellum Southern life
- By harsh critic on 05-31-18
By: Mary Chesnut
-
Joseph Andrews
- By: Henry Fielding
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Action and Ideas
- By John on 01-27-20
By: Henry Fielding
-
Tales from Shakespeare
- By: Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
A classic
- By Jacque Eddy on 10-07-19
By: Charles Lamb, and others
-
Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Perfect pair
- By Philip on 03-25-08
By: Charles Dickens
-
Don Quixote (Adapted for Modern Listeners)
- By: Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great way in
- By pxriver on 07-12-18
-
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
- By: Frederick Douglass
- Narrated by: Walter Covell
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great Book!
- By Mama C on 03-05-11
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
No Southern Accent
- By GMR on 08-13-14
-
Don Quixote
- By: John Ormsby - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 36 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
More than funny
- By Colin on 08-21-11
By: John Ormsby - translator, and others
What listeners say about The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- soamieh amini
- 09-14-16
I can listen to it again and again
I finished this amazing book few minutes ago with eyes full of tears. I really enjoyed it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Teadrinker
- 08-17-16
Wonderful Performance
It's really difficult to make a diary interesting even when it's over 300 years old, but this performance did the trick. Wonderful selections, narrating and ending. Answers a lot of questions, too, like how did syphilis spread through Europe so fast? I cried at the end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michigan
- 11-12-18
Diary of Samuel Pepys
One of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to, and I have listened to hundreds.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mark A. Desjardins
- 05-29-24
MASTERFUL PRODUCTION!!!! With Colin Frissel!!!!
I've listened to hundreds...likely thousands...of audio dramas over my lifetime.....from the 5 or 6 y.o. listening to vinyl dramatizations of the Classics of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells to my ''rediscovery'' of Old Time Radio in the '70's to books on tape.....8-tracks (egad!)........CDs and now streaming. This is WITHOUT DOUBT one of the finest productions that I have enjoyed over the decades. Don't miss the ''all-too-brief'' sequel which, though straying far from the diary as it brings you to Pepys' deathbed, is a wonderful addition to this incredible journey to the 17th century Restoration times.
Kris Marshall a.k.a. Colin Frissel has proven AGAIN that he can portray the God of Sex
WONDERFUL CAST
WONDERFUL production
WONDERFUL sound effects
Hattie Naylor is a GENIUS!!!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C.P.G.
- 01-12-16
Get Lost in Another Time
What did you love best about The Diary of Samuel Pepys?
I loved the acting. These are, by far, the best actors I've ever heard in a full cast performance. I also love the adaptation. The actual diary consists of 1st person journal entries. The mix of the narration of these entries and the full scenes is excellent.
What did you like best about this story?
There are so many things I liked about the story. I'd have to say, I was most moved by the personal relationships. Some of the characters were quite endearing. Humor was a huge part of the play. I found myself laughing out loud several times. I also loved the history that was so much of this story. I was transported to a long ago time and place.
Which scene was your favorite?
It's impossible for me to pick out a single scene as my favorite. There were so many wonderful moments. I particularly enjoyed any scene with Samuel and his house boy/servant, Will. I'd have to say, these were probably the funniest exchanges.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
As I said, there were many scenes that made me laugh, and a moment that nearly brought me to tears. The acting was so good, on par with the best British films and television, I found myself caring deeply for these people.
Any additional comments?
For anyone who particularly enjoys full cast audio performances, The Diary of Samuel Pepys is in my top five. In fact, it might even be my all-time favorite. It's hard to find fault with this production, but there is one glaring problem which caused me to deduct one overall rating star. Each of the 51 chapters is about 13 minutes long, and each one begins with a lone female voice singing a short, 20 second song. I wouldn't have minded if each time it had been a different song, but every 13 minutes I had to hear the same exact song. If that wasn't bad enough, any time there was singing by any of the characters, they too sang the same song. It's a shame the producers didn't take the time to edit out these 51 tedious chapter intros for the Audible and CD releases of this otherwise perfect audio play.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 01-01-15
Absolutely wonderful!! It's a Time machine ride!
Would you listen to The Diary of Samuel Pepys again? Why?
I've listened to this over and over and there is always something new to discover in the diary of this horrible crazy wonderful man.
What other book might you compare The Diary of Samuel Pepys to and why?
It's impossible to compare this to anything else because it is someones real life dramatized and made so real that you just have to hear what happens on the next day.
What about the narrators’s performance did you like?
The actors are magic and the end made me weep. I really felt like I had entered a world of a bygone age and I really got involved with the actors in that world.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Samuel Pepys reaction to the executions of those who fomented the Civil war is particularly moving even though it fills me with disgust at the same time it is interesting to see the reaction he has to it and how violence begets violence.
Any additional comments?
Read this Audiobook!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SophNevie
- 07-18-18
Must Listen!
A wonderful dramatic realization of the famous diaries. Pepys was a remarkable witness to key events in English history. He writes with enduring humor. His openness reveals a man very much of his time, flaws and all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J and B
- 05-14-17
Incredibly entertaining. I was sad it ended.
This was the most entertaining and informative book I've read in a long time. I listened to it while on my daily 3 mile walks and couldn't WAIT to get outside to walk so I could hear more about the insatiable Samuel and his wife. Each character was distinct and memorable. A fascinating journey into the 1660's!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mitchell Guthrie
- 06-09-15
Get inside the head of Samuel Pepys!
What made the experience of listening to The Diary of Samuel Pepys the most enjoyable?
The combination of dramatization and reading directly from the diary.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Sam's boy servant Will is hilarious, he plays the fool, but is smarter than he lets on. He tells chilling ghost stories and has opinions on current affairs such as war and politics that he makes known. He is part of the family and loves the Pepys, at one point he uses all the money he has to buy a diamond necklace for Mrs. Pepys. It must have taken him years to save for.
Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?
It has to be Sam as you feel like you are in his head listening to his consciousness talk directly to you as he experiences life.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
"Love in the time of the Black Death"
Any additional comments?
The book vividly brings upper middle class London to life in the 1660’s. The events that took place during that time shaped British history forever are told with intimate eye witness accounts, the restoration of the Monarchy, the exhumation of Oliver Cromwell and his “execution”, the great plague of 1665, the fire of London in 1666 amongst others. Samuel’s relationship with King Charles II and James Duke of York is a fascinating side story, both knew him personally and respected his work with the Navy. He describes his formal and informal meetings with them. During the great fire both the King and Duke are on the streets with Sam trying to figure out the best way to tackle and stop the spread of the fire. They are all concerned with the welfare of the people of London and willing to do physical work themselves to stop it. You learn about the character of all of them.
Sam’s diary was meant to be for his eyes only and he holds none of his feelings back, he does write some of his adulterous liaisons in French, but they are easy to interpret. He was a hardworking and intelligent man dedicated to his job, he loved drinking in the taverns and going to the theater, he also had compulsions to cheat on his wife that he acted on and yet still loved her dearly. One of my favorite sections towards the end in October 1668 is when Sam is finally caught cheating on his wife, it’s compelling domestic drama and it’s real, it really happen, you can picture yourself in the room “and after supper, to have my head combed by my wench Deb, which occasioned the greatest sorrow I knew in this world, for my wife, coming in the chamber suddenly; did find me embracing the girl with my hand under her petticoats; and indeed, I was with my hand in her cunny. I was at a wonderful loss upon it, and the girle also."
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julia
- 10-09-17
Stunning
This is perhaps one of the best radio dramas I have listened to on Audible. Don't even hesitate. Get it, and enjoy.
I hesitate to write a review of his life. I think it best for those listening to come to their own conclusions. The material is so rich, and there is so much to process emotionally that it has been many days now and I am still thinking about Pepys.
The only question I have about the production is that it seems the character of Will may have been a combination of two people, his boy, Will, and another man named Will who was his boy early on and later became an accountant in his own right. If anyone can verify this, it would be helpful. Been looking around online and can't seem to find clarity on this point.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful