As dazzling as the decade they dominated, The Beatles almost single-handedly created pop music as we know it. Today, their songs are cited as seminal influences by stars like Oasis, Blur and Kula Shaker. Eloquently giving voice to their time, The Beatles quite simply changed the world. Fully updated to include material from "The Beatles Live at the BBC" and the Anthology series, this acclaimed book goes back to the heart of The Beatles - their records. Drawing on a unique resource of knowledge and experience to 'read' their 241 tracks - chronologically from their first amateur efforts in 1957 to 'Real Love', their final 'reunion' recording in 1995 - Ian MacDonald has created an engrossing classic of popular criticism in which the extraordinary songs of The Beatles remain a central and continually surprising presence.

About the Author

Ian MacDonald was born in 1948. A writer with many interests, he was Assistant Editor of the New Musical Express during 1972-5. He has also worked as a songwriter and record producer, and is the author of The New Shostakovich, The People's Music and The Beatles at No. 1.He died in 2003.

Prizes

This extraordinary work of popular criticism provides the story behind every single Beatles song ever recorded. Unprecedented and unparalleled.

Reviews

"MacDonald's inspired critique has become the work against which all other Beatles books are measured."
--"Observer"
"Arguably the most indispensable Beatles book ever published has just become more indispensable."
--"Uncut"
"A triumph -- compelling, seductive, delightful."
--Nick Hornby