Between 1945 and 1963, more than 2.5 million 18-year-olds were called up for National Service. Alf Townsend was one of them, and here he tells his story - the highs and lows of life as a lowly Aircraftman Second Class in the early 1950s. Before national service intervened, Alf was 'heading down the criminal road at top speed', having grown up in a north London slum, where money was short and local villains were revered. Bad Lads is a warts-and-all account of Alf's time in the RAF, when he was transplanted into a completely new world of misfits and officer types, rogues and entertainers, all amusingly described in his own inimitable style.

'Blitz Boy' is a recollection of life in the Blitz and of evacuation to Cornwall. Charismatic author Alf Townsend tells the harrowing and touching tale of what it was like for a young inner-city child to suffer the trials of war at first hand.

Forty years ago Alf Townsend passed The Knowledge - after 14,000 miles on a moped round central London. Since then he has covered millions of miles in his taxi. This book includes a selection of his extraordinary and hilarious tales of everyday life as a cabbie, in which we meet Mr Whippy and Violent Pete, Bread Roll Mick and the Motorway Mouse, Claude the Bastard and the mysterious Mr X. Alf also examines the history of cab-driving in the capital - including the variety of taxis that have been used - and even tries to shed some light on the most ancient and obscure Hackney Carriage laws that are still on the statute book. (Do you know why a taxi is so tall? So a passenger can get on board wearing a top hat: it's true...) Concluding with a look at the seamy side of night work, the rise and rise of the mini-cab, and what the future may hold for the London cabbie, Alf Townsend's book will be entertaining reading for all Londoners, and anyone else who has travelled in the back of a black cab.

Alf Townsend is a London cabbie with nearly fifty years' experience. In his new book, he gathers together for the first time the complete history of London's cabs in wartime - not just in the Second World War when cabs were converted for other uses (firefighting, ambulances, armoured personnel carriers, etc), but also in the First World War, when the cabbies had to endure hundreds of zeppelin attacks by night. With over 90 photographs supporting Alf's usual lively and readable text, this book is sure to reveal a hitherto unknown aspect of the capital in wartime.

In his new book, well-known London cabbie Alf Townsend tells us the complete story of the black cab, from its origins in the seventeenth century to the brand new taxis which now grace the capital's streets. The history and development of the black cab is explored here in Alf's straightforward writing style, alongside ninety colour and black and white images. This is a light-hearted romp through the world of 'the knowledge', the vehicles, the streets of London and the cabbies themselves, and is full of juicy snippets and fascinating quotes which will be of great interest to anyone who loves this London icon.

Tales of being a London cabbie