Samuel Pepys was the consummate Londoner. Claire Tomalin wrote an award-winning biography: "Samuel Pepys. The Unequalled Self." Random House, 2012. I got mine from Amazon. If you like London, this will give you a great look not only at Pepys, but at his world from around 1633 to 1703.
Pepys's diary is online at pepysdiary.com or samuelpepysdiary.com (try both, or google key words). Pepys was an upwardly mobile young civil servant during Civil War and Restoration days. He witnessed the beheading of Charles I (that was before the diary period) and during the period of his diary witnessed the Plague and the Great Fire of London. Through his work he saw and spoke with Charles II, James, Duke of York (later James II), Barbara Countess of Castlemaine, a renowned beauty and one of Charles II's mistresses...actors, actresses, musicians of the time...he knew everybody, and there are many vignettes...he witnessed the coronation procession when Charles II was restored...he saw executions-- hangings, drawings and quarterings...once in a while there is a snippet that gives you a real feel for how people talked. (A pox on her! Can she not walk hither?" And so forth. Some of it gets a little repetitious..."Up betimes and with my workmen...","Ate a bit of bread and cheese" "And so to bed." And sometimes you hear a lot about his health, like when he took his stockings off and thought that made him catch a cold....so it is not all drama and famous people, but it is a great journal of day-to-day life, and I believe it is considered one of the best diaries out there. The online diary posts a new entry daily, but you can go back and read the ones you missed. And there are a lot of posted comments which sometimes explain confusing words or whatever. You might want to take a look at the diary, Tomalin's biography, or both. (I'd recommend both.)
