This book, the latest edition in the LIFE Great Photographers series, presents all the best pictures taken by the band's official shooter. In the mid-1960s, when so much was happening and the volume seemed dialled up to 11, the Beatles were the biggest thing on the planet. Their fans wanted to touch the Beatles. Who might help them? Well, one photographer was inside. The young Australian Robert Whitaker had been noticed by Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who hired him. When Beatlemania exploded, Whitaker was along for the wild ride: backstage, in the studio, at the boys' homes. He became their friend and confidante. Bob fashioned many of the iconic Beatles images, and all his pictures were taken in the period that Beatles fans most like to remember. Bob was also a friend of LIFE. In the months before his death in September 2011, he was collaborating with us on this book, his Beatles magnum opus. In these pages are rarely or never published photographs and personal reflections, which add resonance.