Excellent biography of the world's most celebrated pop band, through 1977, when all four members were still living. ( )

Hunter Davies' authorised 1968 biography of the group, bookended with a 2002 introduction and his 1985 postscript. I found the introduction very insightful, revealing the writing process behind the original biography, plus what was taken out and why, but Davies' firsthand account of the Beatles makes this perhaps the definitive version of all the many books out there. Nothing stays the same, of course - the introduction mentions Paul McCartney's marriage to Heather Mills, wishing them many happy years together, which some library wit has highlighted with an exclamation mark - but for new fans of an old group, like myself, Davies' informative and entertaining bio is a safe introduction. I was surprised to read about Stu Sutcliffe's death, and felt sorry for Pete Best, so by the time Ringo made up the final Fab Four, I already had a different impression of the group, but background details like this are probably trivia for true fans. No matter. I learned a lot, picked Paul and then Ringo as my favourite Beatle, and now love their music even more, so all in all a successful biography! ( )

It's hard to convey to youngsters the incredible intensity of beatlemania. I'm not aware of anything like it since, unless Obama keeps on keepin' on. At any rate, Davies' book was the first to gather together a mountain of fun fan facts and put them all between two covers. This is the "authorized" biography, so it's definitely rated PG. Others have mined deeper, and should probably be preferred. However, the final chapter of the original edition (published 1968) is so totally wistful! The group was still together; John was just breaking up with Cynthia; George was with Patti and Paul was with Jane. They still went over to each other's houses. All was well with the world. ( )