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It was mentioned as a book that stuck with one of the hosts from their time as an undergraduate student, and it was later mentioned as being the basis for the movie Sommersby, with Natalie Zemon Davis as a historical consultant.
This book just always stuck with me. The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zeman Davis.
— Episode: The Improbable Story of Martin Guerre
Episode: The Improbable Story of Martin Guerre
It was mentioned as a book that stuck with one of the hosts from their time as an undergraduate student, and it was later mentioned as being the basis for the movie Sommersby, with Natalie Zemon Davis as a historical consultant.
This book just always stuck with me. The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zeman Davis.
It was a great, great book.
She was the consultant on that, the historical consultant on that film.
And part of that book, part of her big contribution, she made tons of contributions to the historical record, turned up a lot of great documents and everything.
But subjectively, her big contribution was completely altering the way people saw Bertrand.
Episode: The Improbable Story of Martin Guerre
It was discussed as being a very impactful book that stuck with one of the podcast hosts from their time as a history undergraduate. It was said to have altered the perception of one of the main characters, Bertrand.
Okay. A hot, sexy undergrad. Boy, were you. In learning my history. Yeah. I can't remember what class. It must have been a European history class. But this book just always stuck with me. The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zeman Davis.
It was assigned as part of the class. It was a great, great book.
And she was so put off by the retelling of this story that she published her book two years afterward.
And part of that book, part of her big contribution, she made tons of contributions to the historical record, turned up a lot of great documents and everything. But subjectively, her big contribution was completely altering the way people saw Bertrand.
Up to this point, she was a loyal, chaste, devoted wife who would end up being duped, you could say, as we'll see very soon. And under Natalie Zemon Davis's reading of her, she was a very shrewd woman who figured out how to navigate within the confines of a male-dominated, middle-aged French society.