A closer look
Marc Bloch didn't just write about badasses; he was one. He co-founded the Annales School, totally disrupting the academic echo chamber by arguing that the psychological mentalities and gossip of medieval peasants mattered just as much as the edicts of crusty kings. But his dedication to fighting oppression wasn't just theoretical. When World War II broke out, this middle-aged Jewish academic joined the French Resistance, applying his brilliant analytical mind to surviving the underground until he was captured and executed by the Gestapo. He literally lived and died for the truth.
