This is a marvellous anthology of diary entries, arranged by date rather than by theme. This means that there are some delightfully arbitrary juxtapositions and some very poignant ones. It led me to discover a number of wonderful diarists, including Frances Partridge, Barbara Pym, Denton Welch and Fanny Burney. I also became very fond of Elias Ashmole, who provides regular doleful bulletins on the state of his fundament. ( )