Beginning with Ancient Egypt, this hefty, fully illustrated volume features more than 80 historical and literary diaries including familiar scribes such as Samuel Pepys, Virginia Woolf and Anne Frank, as well as explorers, scientists and naturalists like Charles Darwin and John Muir, and artists such as Frida Kahlo and Leonardo da Vinci.

There are images from the pages of the journals, sketchbooks and notebooks as well as pictures of the writers and key extracts and examples of the things they were observing and highlighting.

The entries give glimpses of sailing the seas, building pyramids, fighting in battles, as well as how writers and artists planned their works, and how scientists developed their theories. There are additional fact boxes giving biographical information and the historical and cultural context in which they were writing.

It's a beautiful book to pore over, and to inspire future investigation!