The Coachmen of Nineteenth Century Paris: Service Workers and Class Consciousness

Author: Nicholas Papayanis

Format: Hardback

Number of Pages: 269

Historical writings and art and literature of the period depict the coachmen of nineteenth-century Paris in a variety of ways - from unflinchingly honest to unspeakably rude to utterly criminal. In this captivating book, Nicholas Papayanis sets about to penetrate the popular image of the coachman and present a realistic picture of this frequently maligned segment of the Paris population. Papayanis concentrates on midcentury and thereafter, for from that time more than merely anecdotal material on coachmen is especially abundant. His research encompasses a remarkably broad range of sources, among them previously unexamined coachmen's newspapers, government statistical surveys, records of major cab companies, minutes of coachmen's union meetings, cab company contracts, and the private archives of the largest Parisian cab company of the nineteenth century, which include personnel files and the minutes of the company's executive committee. Rich in detail though the book is, Papayanis has sculpted this treasure of information into a readily grasped form that is a delight to read. The Coachmen of Nineteenth-Century Paris makes an important contribution to the fields of labor, social, urban, and transportation history. It fills a gap in the literature dealing with Paris and its working class, addresses questions concerning class consciousness and collective action against the nontraditional background of the male service worker, and tells the intriguing story of expanding public transportation in Paris.