Barbara Levy (1) (–2005)

Levy's book is a chatty, anecdotal history of the Sanson family, executioners in Paris for seven generations, including the period of the Reign of Terror. While Levy's work is fun and interesting, the research behind it is based entirely on apocryphal memoirs of the Sansons. In other words, these are little more than a collection of urban myths. The real value of the book is in the background information it provides. Levy did a good job on describing the background of executioners and the the conditions they faced.… (more)