1400 entries taken from over 100 diaries make up this selection of the best of four centuries of British diaries The writers are princesses and prisoners, soldiers and solicitors, antiquaries and actors, musicians, painters and playwrights They write about anything from international events and public ceremonies to their own private joys, griefs and aspirations A diary can be a confessional or a record of indiscretions but it must 'glow with the immediacy of action'