SOURCE: Wagley, Stephen. “Will the Real Martin Guerre Stand Up?” Commonweal 111, no. 16 (21 September 1984): 510-11.

In the following review of The Return of Martin Guerre, Wagley contends that the book offers an introduction to a new type of history based on the lives of ordinary individuals.

The story of Martin Guerre is a simple one, at least as far as the facts are concerned. In 1548, he deserted his wife, Bertrande de Rols, his family, and the village of Artigat in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Eight years later, a man claiming to be Martin Guerre appeared in Artigat and was acknowledged by Bertrande de Rols as her runaway husband. The Guerre relatives accepted him too, until he demanded an accounting of Martin Guerre's property. A lawsuit followed, and then a criminal prosecution, the Guerres claiming that the man who had returned in 1556 was an impostor named Arnaud du Tilh...