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=D. Analysis (500-650 words) Tips]=

Many historians argue that the Diary of Samuel Pepys is the most important source for any historian studying the Restoration and has been described as "History, on the whole reliable history" (P263 UE) This is because it is one of only a handful of primary sources from this time period and depicts not only some of the most important events of the 1660s but also how they lived. One of the most useful account Pepys made was on the 2nd September, when the Great Fire of London broke out, which he described as an "infinite great fire" (p450 CP). He was also involved in the attempts to contain the fire along with King Charles II, who was coordinating the operation. One this particular day it tells of how they did not have enough people to pull down the houses necessary to halt the progress of the fire, "Lord Mayor [said]... 'People will not obey me; I have been pulling down houses, but the fire overtakes us faster than we can do it' ." (P156 AP) This tells a historian how the officials reacted, but another aspect that Pepys documented was the way that the people of London reacted to this catastrophe, many of them gathered together their valuables and moved them to a safer part of London and it took Pepys himself the best part of three days to move all his possessions just north of the River Thames to "Bednall-Green" which is now part of London Borough of Tower Hamlets (http://www.townhallhotel.com/history-legends.html). People's reactions to various events are seldom captured in official documentation, but it is something that Pepys always notes, such as when the Dutch completed the attack on Medway in 1667, he, along with many other members of the court, "feared what disorders [England] may fall into." (P570 CP). As well as capturing this, he shows their lifestyles too, regularly noting items of clothing that are in fashion and emphasizing the cost of keeping up with the fashion, this is shown in 1663 when he chose to "labour to get more [money]...for want of clothes." This shows the importance of keep up to date with the trends for a man of statue such as Pepys.

On the other hand, the diary is not the perfect source that many historians make it out to be. The most obvious flaw with the diary is the fact that Pepys only kept it between 1660 to 1669 while the Restoration period ended in 1685 with the death of Charles II (P945 UE). So as a result the final fifteen years of this period is not included and it was during this time that King Charles and Parliament clashed the most. Therefore it does not include some of the most important aspects of Charles's reign, that being who would succeed him as well as Titus Oates supposed 'Popish Plot,' which saw Pepys briefly imprisoned (P36 UE). Of course, what it does cover during the years of 1660 to 1669 are very important, but what Pepys writes does not always tell the whole story. The most notable example is that Pepys hardly ever mentions beggars and the poverty that was around in Restoration London (P215 AP). This means that certain aspects of Restoration English society are not documented by Pepys, meaning that it does not always give the whole picture.