This is the history of The Beatles told by the people who really knew them - their childhood playmates, friends, families, rivals, lovers, teachers, fellow musicians - and by John, Paul, George, and Ringo themselves. The book aims to cast new light on the band's history, with revealing accounts of the sexy, rocking, early days in Liverpool and Hamburg; the pivotal recording of "Please Please Me", their first hit; the touring triumphs and burn-outs; and the secrets behind the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". A chorus of distinctive voices tells us how The Beatles helped get The Rolling Stones rolling, why they stopped touring in 1966 at the height of their fame, and what really led to their breakup in 1970. In their prime The Beatles were the greatest band in the history of rock'n'roll - and more. They were a force of nature, a whirlwind of magnetic energy sweeping everything along with them - fashion, film, sex, satire, rock, revolution. Their story is that of an entire generation. Yet, through it all they remained what they were at the start: four blokes, wise-cracking, easily hurt, often in love and trouble, sometimes angry, usually funny, and yet always what they always will be - the greatest rock'n'roll geniuses the world has ever produced. David Pritchard and Alan Lysaght are producers whose fascination with The Beatles began with the band's first success in England. Pritchard, a DJ from Toronto's underground radio days in the late 1960s, runs his own audio recording studio in Toronto. Lysaght is an award-winning radio producer working also on several TV documentaries and programs.