First I have to declare an interest in having been a London Licensed Black Cabbie, but for this review, I'll set aside any animosity, real or imagined, I might feel for private hire drivers.
After she stopped driving Professor Finnegan found herself frequently using local drivers around Milton Keynes. Talking to the drivers she realised, as an anthropologist, there was a wealth of information in delving into their lives and their shared experiences of driving the public. Her conversations with drivers were fascinating, not least as many of them shared the same experiences of London Black Cab Drivers: drunks, non-payers, the distressed, those just plain rude and the occasional punter that changes your mind. As you would expect from an academic, this meticulously researched book discovers their quite remarkable life stories, with many having achieved high levels of education, some undertaking perilous journeys to arrive in England and many with a good knowledge of the topography of the region. Among her conclusions are that cabbies - all cabbies - due to their interaction with customers become philosophers of our times. Quite an accolade. Immersing herself in cabbies' culture she sprinkles the book with sayings, my favourite: Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.