He started the diary on 1 January 1660, which is unusual as the new year started on 25 March until 1752. He had a very eventful life in the years that he was not keeping his diary. Richard Ollard wrote "Pepys, a Biography" (1974), Sir Arthur Bryant wrote "The Man in the Making" (1933), "The Years of Peril" (1935), and "The Saviour of the Navy" (1938.