Return of Martin Guerre
£11.58
Jolly Good Stuff - With style, wit and authority, Davis takes a fascinating court case from the late middle ages and using original sources and her own opinion, paints a vivid picture of life in early Reformation era Languedoc. Its hard not to empathise with the characters she introduces us to, and in the end we don t know whether to cheer at the return of the eponymous Martin Guerre, or to jeer. Read it and see, and make up your own mind.The book rips along at a fair pace, and that leads me to the only quibble I have, and the only reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 - the book is too short. Much much more could have been made of the material, and the core thesis could easily have bourne a study twice, or perhaps even three times, the actual length without ever becoming stale or boring, as it is, it feels a bit rushed.All things considered though, this is a learned work on a fascinating subject, and a brilliantly written addition to the field of social history.