The Executioner's Knife

Eugene Sue's The Executioner's Knife, also titled Joan of Arc, launches The Mysteries of the People with a sweeping historical novel of faith, class struggle, and political power. Daniel De Leon's translator's preface presents the book as both art and history, praising its materialist defense of Joan as a heroic figure of the people and its exposure of the forces that sought to destroy her memory. The story begins in Domremy, where Jeannette Darc grows up amid peasant labor, church bells, saints, and old legends, her imaginative piety shaping the inner life that will become destiny. As France collapses under English rule, a courier's grim news awakens her patriotic sorrow and her sense of the Dauphin's vulnerability. A godmother steeped in Breton lore foretells that, as one woman ruined France, another may restore it, while tales of Merlin, enchanted objects, and a peasant's triumph over rank and royal caprice deepen the novel's blend of history, folklore, and social defiance. The narrative builds toward Joan's rise at Orléans, where she rallies the city, organizes the assault on the Tournelles, and fights almost alone when French commanders falter. Wounded by an arrow, she remains unbroken, moving toward the martyrdom that will define her legend. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.