An original telling of the Fab Four's story.

This informative work tells the story of John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr from the band's formative days in Hamburg to the split in 1970. General Editor Brian Southall, a former Press Officer at EMI, has gathered a team of experts – including former Apple Records CEO Tony Bramwell, singer Steve Harley, Sir Tim Rice and producer Chris Thomas – to write about each of the band's record releases, from the simple, bouncy Please Please Me to the heavyweight double album Let It Be.

Contributors include:

• Tony Bramwell: Childhood friend of the Beatles who became CEO of Apple Records.

• Ray Connolly: A British writer who was very close to the Beatles.

• Tristan Fry: A drummer and percussionist, Fry played on Abbey Road.

• Per Gessle: Singer/songwriter, lead singer of Swedish band Gyllene Tider and half of Roxette.

• Graham Gouldman: English singer, songwriter and musician.

• Steve Harley: English singer/songwriter who was frontman of Cockney Rebel.

• Gered Mankowitz: High profile photographer of many famous musicians.

• Diederik Nomden and Bart Van Poppel: Founders and performers in the band The Analogues.

• Sir Tim Rice: English author and lyricist.

• Paul Sexton: Journalist and broadcaster.

• Tom Robinson: English singer/songwriter and presenter.

• Chris Thomas: Co-producer of The White Album and Abbey Road.

• Ken Townsend MBE: Sound engineer who worked at Abbey Road Studios.

• Johnnie Walker MBE: A hugely popular and influential radio DJ.

• Kenneth Womack: Professor of English and Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University, N.J.