Reviews for The Return of Martin Guerre

The average rating for The Return of Martin Guerre based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-06-15 00:00:00 Louis Prevost [ this region's court documents from this period are lost (hide spoiler)]

Review # 2 was written on 2010-10-12 00:00:00 Toshiio Munekane This would be a great introduction to microhistory for the casual non-fiction reader, as long as that reader knew what they were reading. Microhistorians examine one particular moment in time in great detail, trying to see how that moment can betray larger truths about society and culture at large. Usually these historians are looking for some rare window into the lives of ordinary people, and Davis has a great one here, with the records from a 16th Century trial of a peasant in southern France who was accused of stealing the identity of another peasant and living as 'Martin Guerre' for years. (Davis also consulted on the movie with Gerard Depardieu, which is also really good). She writes this in a narrative, almost novelish way, easy to follow, and this can really be enjoyed by just about anyone. But it would be important for the casual reader to keep her intro in mind; she says that the book is "in part my invention, but held tightly in check by the voices of the past." Because this isn't a movie, but rather a book written by a historian, it could be very easy for a reader to forget about that sentence in the intro, and treat the book as if it was some sort of 'proven' truth. Davis has a great story here, and she has evidence to back a lot of it up, and her story makes logical sense - it definitely could have happened in this way. But nothing is certain. It is important for each reader to decide how much of this story to accept and how much to take with a grain of salt.