George Harrison’s autobiography I Me Mine gives a selective account of events, but a fuller account came in Paul McCartney’s authorised biography Many Years From Now by Barry Miles.įor John Lennon, perhaps the best accounts are two long-form interview transcripts.

Chief among these is The Beatles’ own Anthology, the weighty tome which accompanied the 1990s television series. Then there are the official or semi-official books. Nonetheless, it’s an illuminating read which brings to life many of The Beatles’ best moments, putting them in a social and historic context. Ian Macdonald’s Revolution In The Head is a fascinating chronological guide to The Beatles’ songs, although his interpretations are often more opinionated than impartial, and some of the recording and line-up assertions he made have since been questioned elsewhere. Lewisohn is justly regarded as the world’s foremost Beatles expert. There have been photographic collections, musicological discourses, biographies, autobiographies, hagiographies and hack works.Īmong the greatest Beatles books are Mark Lewisohn’s The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions and The Complete Beatles Chronicle, which documented the group’s activities throughout the 1960s, and Tune In, part one of his biographical series All These Years. Since then millions of words have been written about all aspects of their lives, from the music to their clothes, religion to money. The first was Michael Braun’s Love Me Do – The Beatles’ Progress, a 1964 account which followed the group on tour and recounted their early days. Hundreds, if not thousands, of books have been published about The Beatles.

Beatles biography mark lewisohn