The best diaries are those whose authors who were writing solely to their inner self, rather than with one eye turned to posterity or publication. That's why Tony Benn and Alan Clarke's diaries are so compelling, whilst those of most other politicians are considerably less readable. Of course Pepys was the OG (as the kids say) "warts and all" narrator, although I've only ever read collections of extracts from them. I pity future historians having to wade through "The collected emails of Kier Starmer".
Now that the guys who I wrote about in my books are all dead, a diary is the closest thing to a good personal interview left. Fortunately for me, that generation wrote diaries, and letters, even though during the war it was against the rules for those in the military to do so.
I did keep a diary for several years while the children were growing up and then stopped, just writing a summary of each year which I no longer do. I asked them recently if I should destroy them as they may contain disobliging remarks about former boy friends, but they said no. I suspect there is also a lot about petty disputes at work but probably quite a bit about contemporary events.
The best diaries are those whose authors who were writing solely to their inner self, rather than with one eye turned to posterity or publication. That's why Tony Benn and Alan Clarke's diaries are so compelling, whilst those of most other politicians are considerably less readable. Of course Pepys was the OG (as the kids say) "warts and all" narrator, although I've only ever read collections of extracts from them. I pity future historians having to wade through "The collected emails of Kier Starmer".
It's true that receiving a handwritten letter nowadays is in itself a historic event.
Now that the guys who I wrote about in my books are all dead, a diary is the closest thing to a good personal interview left. Fortunately for me, that generation wrote diaries, and letters, even though during the war it was against the rules for those in the military to do so.
I did keep a diary for several years while the children were growing up and then stopped, just writing a summary of each year which I no longer do. I asked them recently if I should destroy them as they may contain disobliging remarks about former boy friends, but they said no. I suspect there is also a lot about petty disputes at work but probably quite a bit about contemporary events.