Without the determination, magnetism, vision, good manners, respectable clothes and financial security of Brian Epstein, no one would ever have heard of John, Paul, Ringo and George. In Liverpool, in December 1961, Brian Epstein met the Beatles in his small office and signed a management deal. The rest may be history, but it's a history that Epstein created, along with a blueprint for all pop groups ever since. As Paul McCartney once said, 'If anyone was the fifth Beatle it was Brian.' This book tells the story of Epstein's complicated life through the reminiscences of his friends and family. Based on dozens of interviews - with Paul McCartney, George Martin and Marianne Faithfull, among others - plus many of Epstein's personal diaries, this book uncovers the truth behind the enigmatic young man who unintentionally caused a cultural revolution. And in the process destroyed himself.