When Charles II came to the throne in 1660 England had had enough of Cromwell and the rule of the Saints, though the ensuing period was scarcely a golden age and in 1666 most of London was burnt to ashes in the Great Fire. Liza Picard makes considerable use of Pepys and other diarists, but her own research has been remarkable and she tells us what food people ate, the clothes they wore, the furniture they owned (Charles brought in Continental designs which made for extra comfort), the remarkable number of cats and dogs in London, marriage and mating rituals, the state of the Church of England and religion in general (to come to terms with the remnants of Puritanism, a new Prayer Book was introduced). Water was often unsafe for drinking, so ale was the common drink, and foreigners were unfavourably impressed by the amount of time the "common people" spent in alehouses and taverns. An excellent book to dip into, rather than to swallow whole.
By Brian Fallon