The Plot against Pepys. James Long and Ben Long. Faber and Faber. [pounds sterling]17.99. xiv + 322 pages. ISBN 978-0-571-22713-6. The imprisonment of Pepys on charges of treason levied by his enemies in the Commons in 1679 has long fascinated biographers and historians. The authors, father and

son, paint the background to all this and describe in detail the hysteria that gripped the country during the Popish Plot of 1678 and the years following. By using Pepys' manuscripts in Magdalene College Cambridge, the authors have put together a narrative of these events, a description of the charges against Pepys and his defence and a look at the maelstrom of political manoeuvrings, involving planned coups, that was swirling round at the time. Pepys was the innocent victim of all this and his story, and the story of this period are well told in this nicely written history. (E.B.)