The dark side of Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys is well-known for his brilliantly evocative diary, which gives an unsurpassed insight into daily life in Restoration London. However, it turns out Pepys also had a sinister side. Something that has been overlooked or ignored in his diaries for centuries, is that Pepys was a self-confessed sexual predator and abuser of women. Biographer Guy de la Bédoyère explains all to David Musgrove.

(Ad) Guy de la Bédoyère is the author of The Confessions of Samuel Pepys: His Private Revelations (Abacus, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confessions-Samuel-Pepys-Private-Revelations/dp/034914740X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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