Great Diaries traces the history of the diary from ancient times to the present day, bringing together more than 80 historical and literary diaries, artists' sketchbooks, explorers' journals, and scientists' notebooks. Find out how writers and artists planned their masterpieces, and how scientists developed their groundbreaking theories. Great Diaries takes you into the pages of the world's greatest diaries and notebooks, including those of Samuel Pepys, Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf, and Anne Frank, and shows you what they looked like. Stunning images of the original notebooks and manuscripts are complemented by key extracts and close-ups of important details. Essential reading for everyone who is passionate about history and literature, Great Diaries provides an intimate insight into the lives and thoughts of some of the most interesting people of the last 2,000 years.