Paul, John, Ringo, George. Four lads from Liverpool whose music changed the world and whose achievements became key to how we describe ourselves as a nation.

Yet their meteoric rise and subsequent stardom was by no means won in isolation. Rather, as bestselling writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie reveals, it came with invaluable help from their friends. Those global icons we know so well are seen for the first time through the eyes of people we don’t.

Maconie shares 100 incredible stories about the characters who shaped the Beatles. From roadies to cabbies, muses to mavericks, photographers to hairdressers, he reveals a cast of characters who were there ‘Before’, ‘With’ and ‘Beyond’ the band’s phenomenal success.

Adding his own lifetime’s experiences of musical encounters and conversations, Maconie takes you behind the familiar narrative to show you the Beatles as you’ve never seen them before.

‘Witty and observant’.

The Times