London's taxis, the capital's famous 'black cabs', or 'British cabs' are as much a part of the capital as the red buses, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. This book traces the story of the London taxi from 1897, when the capital's first horseless cab, the electric Bersey, appeared right up to the present day, with the newest zero-emission capable prototypes outlined. The book contains the history of every major model and every known minor make the prototypes that never made it into production, the stories of the people who built, ran and sold taxis, new information about once-famous names in the industry and technical specifications and production figures. Possibly the definitive work on the subject.