The Executioners: A History of the Sanson Family, Public Executioners in France from 1688 to 1847

by Robert Christophe

A history of the Sanson Family, public executioners in France from 1688 to 1847.

Genres: History

205 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Clarissa Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Christophe’s The Executioners is often misread as historical fiction, largely because it is written with narrative continuity. In fact, its introduction makes clear that the book is grounded in disciplined source criticism. Christophe dismantles the unreliable nineteenth-century “Memoirs of the Sansons,” corrects later historians, and reconstructs the history of France’s hereditary executioners by cross-checking archival records, judicial documents, burial registers, and contemporary newspapers.

Where certainty is impossible, he does not invent; he marks the limit and proceeds cautiously. The result is not sensationalism but a sober, sometimes unsettling work of narrative history. Christophe neither excuses nor demonizes his subjects, instead situating them within the legal and social systems they served.

My one reservation is his sparing use of precise dates. While likely a stylistic choice, firmer chronology would occasionally have clarified the broader political context. Still, this is a serious and rewarding book for readers willing to engage with difficult history on its own terms.

[Herb Hastings · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, published in the early 1960's, is an old style narrative history. The author tells you things he can't possibly know. It is more of a novelization of history. It is the story of several generations of the Sansom family, Paris's public executioners. The author does make an interesting and somewhat tragic story out of these people's lives.
Think of it as a page turning entertainment rather than a serious history and you won't be disappointed.

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting read. While I'm sure much of the concrete evidence written about in the book is factual, I'm unsure how much of the conversations and details would be know to us. This book probably teeters on the line of Historical Fiction. However, this did not bother me and made the information more entertaining to digest.

"You've already guillotined some good republicans, but none as devoted as I to the nation." - Dietrich