Constructing Paris in the Age of Revolution [Hardcover]

Examining the social and political history of workers and entrepreneurs engaged in constructing the French capital from 1763-1815, this book argues that Paris construction was a core sector in which 'archaic' and 'innovative' practices were symbiotically used by guilds, the state, and enterprises to launch the commercial revolution in France.List of illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Parisian Construction at the End of the Ancien R?gime: The Building Trades, The Pre-Industrial Market, And The Guild Debate, 1750-1789 The Revolution and Construction Guilds, 1789-1793 Projecting the Revolution on the Parisian Work Site, 1789-1793 The Building Trades in the Terror and Thermidor, 1793-1795 Reconciling Commerce and Revolution, 1795-1805 Constraining Capital, Containing Labor: State Urban Planning In Paris, 1802-1815 Conclusion and Epilogue Appendix Notes and Bibliography

Shortlisted for the Longman - History Today Book Prize 2010

'Far from destroying corporatism, the late eighteenth century and the Revolution inaugurated a pragmatic compromise between private enterprise and the state that enabled capitalism to flourish. Allan Potofsky's beautifully-researched study of the Paris building trades blends social, economic and cultural history and gives us a whole swathe of new insights into the city's political, social, and ideological transformation from the Old Regime to the nineteenth century.' - David Garrioch, Monash University, Australia

'Allan Potofsky's book will make an important contribution to the history of the French Revolution, the history of Paris and the history of labour. No one but he could have written this book, which is grounded in impressively extensive archival research, yet which wears its archival learning elegantly and lightly.' - Colin Jones, Queen Mary University of London, UK

'This impressive book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the complex storylS%