Book excerpt: For four hundred years, London taxi drivers have been serving the capital in one form or another. From hackney coaches to Hansom cabs; from taxicabs to black cabs, the vehicles may have evolved but the driver has remained basically the same. But who were the men who drove those cabs? London's taxi drivers are continually voted the best in the world, each one of them having gone through the hardest test, "The Knowledge", but very little is known about those who got us where we are today. This book seeks to remedy that situation. Now, the history of the trade from the driver's perspective is told for the first time. Hundreds of stories, compiled from a variety of sources, give a more intimate point of view than has ever been seen before.Enjoy, but most of all...Be Lucky!