"Irresistible…The Beatles amplifies and corrects some of what is known about the band's formative years. It shapes a particularly vivid picture of the young, surly John Lennon…It powerfully evokes both the excitement and the price of such a sudden rise…A captivating picture that hasn't been seen bet:ore."

  --Janet Maslin, New York Times

"Masterly.... A deep, serious, and accomplished account worthy of the most important baad in the world A book that, although exceptionally lengthy, is actually the perfect size Spitz expertly captures the sense of time and Flace to frame his story."

  --Tom Sykes, New York Post

It's all here, raw and right--the highs and the lows, the love and the rivalry, the awe and the jealousy, the drugs, the tears, the thrill, the magic never to be repeated in a vast, exuberantly acclaimed book that's as joyous and revelatory as a Beatles record itself.

Prologue

MERCY

1.A Proper Upbringing

2.The Messiah Arrives

3.Muscle and Sinew

4.The Showman

5.A Simple Twist of Fete

6.The Missing Links

7.A Good Little Sideshow

8.The College Band

9.Chalk and Cheese

10.Moondogs and Englishmen

11.Hit the Road:Jac

12.Baptism by Fire

13.A Revelation to Behold

14.Mr.X

15.A Gigantic Leap of Faith

16.The Road to London

17.Do the Right Thing

18.Starr Time

19.A Touch of the Barnum & Bailey

20.Dead Chuffed

MANIA

21.The Jungle Drums

22.Kings of the Jungle

23.So This Is Beatlemania

24.Once Upon a Time in America

25.Tomorrow Never Knows

26.In the Eye of a Hurricane

27.Lennon and McCartney to the Rescue

28.Into the Cosmic Consciousness

MASTERY

29.Just Sort of a Freak Show

30.A Storm in a Teacup

31.A Very Freaky Experience

32.The Summer of Love

33.From Bad to Worse

34.An Additional Act

35.Good-bye to the Boys in the Band!

36.Disturbing the Peace

37.And in the End...

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Discography

Index