London Revisited: Pepys, Plague and Fire

The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 brought a flurry of changes to London life. Women were allowed to appear on stage for the first time, the Royal Society was founded and the West End, with its squares, parks and fashionable ‘season’, was born. But the social whirl stopped abruptly in 1665 with the arrival of plague, which was followed in 1666 by the catastrophic Great Fire of London. To talk about these events and the new city that emerged from the ashes, Rosemary is again joined by Vanessa Harding, emerita professor of London history at Birkbeck. They look at the invaluable observations of Samuel Pepys, the continental ambitions of Christopher Wren and the emergence of political parties from the succession crisis of the 1680s.

Reading by Duncan Wilkins

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Further reading in the LRB:

Margaret Anne Doody on Aphra Behn: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep801⁠

Deborah Friedell on Samuel Pepys: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep802⁠

Simon Schaffer on Christopher Wren: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep803⁠

James Shapiro on plague writing: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep804⁠

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