In 1660 Samuel Pepys, an increasingly-important 26 year-old civil servant in London, began writing his diary. He stopped a decade later. Pepys begins his diary at a crucial point in Britain's history. In September 1658, Oliver Cromwell died, passing the title of Protector (king in all but name) to his son Richard. Pepys' employer, Edward Mountagu was closely associated with the Cromwells' reign and the 1656-7 attempt to make Oliver king (Oliver refused...