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With a Little Help from their Friends: New for 2025, a fun guide to the history and music of the Beatles
The most engaging, surprising and revealing look at the Beatles story you’ll read.
Everyone knows a Beatles tune. But their story goes beyond the omnipresent songs and iconic albums. Theirs is a tale that has become one of the core stories we tell about ourselves as a nation. The Beatles narrative has both shaped and reflected the country we live in today. Four lads from Liverpool have taken a seat alongside Shakespeare as one of our key cultural exports to the world, a world they changed and re-made in their own image in a blaze of creativity. But these four distinct personalities changed the world not in isolation but with more than a little help from their friends.
Like all the best stories there’s an incredible supporting cast, and all the most compelling elements of the great ambition, power, triumph, disaster, heartbreak, tragedy, drama, intrigue, lust…and of course, love.
Split into 3 sections, Before The Beatles, With the Beatles and Beyond the Beatles, bestselling writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie tells the epic tale of the people who made the band who made Britain, and along the way adds his own experiences, encounters and conversations that show the Beatles like you’ve never seen them before.
Everyone knows a Beatles tune. But their story goes beyond the omnipresent songs and iconic albums. Theirs is a tale that has become one of the core stories we tell about ourselves as a nation. The Beatles narrative has both shaped and reflected the country we live in today. Four lads from Liverpool have taken a seat alongside Shakespeare as one of our key cultural exports to the world, a world they changed and re-made in their own image in a blaze of creativity. But these four distinct personalities changed the world not in isolation but with more than a little help from their friends.
Like all the best stories there’s an incredible supporting cast, and all the most compelling elements of the great ambition, power, triumph, disaster, heartbreak, tragedy, drama, intrigue, lust…and of course, love.
Split into 3 sections, Before The Beatles, With the Beatles and Beyond the Beatles, bestselling writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie tells the epic tale of the people who made the band who made Britain, and along the way adds his own experiences, encounters and conversations that show the Beatles like you’ve never seen them before.
358 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 5, 2025
12 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Stuart Maconie
31 books186 followersStuart Maconie is a TV and radio presenter, journalist, columnist and author.
He is the UK’s best-selling travel writer of non-TV tie-in books and his Pies and Prejudice was one of 2008’s top selling paperbacks. His work has been compared with Bill Bryson, Alan Bennett and John Peel and described by The Times as a 'National Treasure'.
He co-hosts the Radcliffe and Maconie Show on BBC Radio 2 every Monday – Thursday evening, as well as The Freak Zone on 6Music on Sunday afternoons, and has written and presented dozens of other shows on BBC Radio. His TV work includes presenting the BBC's On Trial shows, Pop on Trial and Style on Trial, as well as Stuart Maconie’s TV Towns, a popular gazeteer of major British cities and their roles in modern cultural life for ITV 4 and The Cinema Show/The DVD Collection on BBC 4.
As well as a popping up in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, and on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Stuart was a favourite on hit TV series such as the BBC's I love the 1970s' , I love the 1980s , and is now in variously Grumpy... . His other books include the acclaimed official biographies of both Blur and James. He can name GQ Man of the Year and Sony Awards Radio Broadcaster of the Year amongst his accolades. He has regular columns in The Radio Times and Country Walking and writes for WORD magazine and The Mirror.
He is the UK’s best-selling travel writer of non-TV tie-in books and his Pies and Prejudice was one of 2008’s top selling paperbacks. His work has been compared with Bill Bryson, Alan Bennett and John Peel and described by The Times as a 'National Treasure'.
He co-hosts the Radcliffe and Maconie Show on BBC Radio 2 every Monday – Thursday evening, as well as The Freak Zone on 6Music on Sunday afternoons, and has written and presented dozens of other shows on BBC Radio. His TV work includes presenting the BBC's On Trial shows, Pop on Trial and Style on Trial, as well as Stuart Maconie’s TV Towns, a popular gazeteer of major British cities and their roles in modern cultural life for ITV 4 and The Cinema Show/The DVD Collection on BBC 4.
As well as a popping up in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, and on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Stuart was a favourite on hit TV series such as the BBC's I love the 1970s' , I love the 1980s , and is now in variously Grumpy... . His other books include the acclaimed official biographies of both Blur and James. He can name GQ Man of the Year and Sony Awards Radio Broadcaster of the Year amongst his accolades. He has regular columns in The Radio Times and Country Walking and writes for WORD magazine and The Mirror.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 6, 2025
This book comprises 2 or 3 pages on the friends and family who influenced and supported The Beatles through their career. Some chapters were more interesting than others. Stuart is such a good writer, and his love of the band, and Paul in particular warms my heart. I particularly enjoyed the prologue and Part 3; his musings on their influence on us, now and then. I would have loved some photos, especially those Stuart described in the text.
October 13, 2025
Stuart Maconie’s book profiles 100 people who had an influence on the Beatles career in one way or another. Some are well known and others are just a footnote in the Fab Four’s lifetime but all are given roughly equal billing, as they all get a chapter each. They are also listed chronologically in the year that they entered the Beatles sphere.
I’ve read a few Beatles related books over the years and found this one genuinely entertaining. Obviously a lot of the people mentioned here were well known to me but there were others that I had never heard of and I found that their stories were also new to me. It’s one of those books that whets one’s appetite to go a discover more about some of these characters and according to Maconie’s research the majority of the characters mentioned all seem to have published books relating to their involvement with The Beatles !
I am well acquainted with Maconie’s writing as a music journalist and also have enjoyed his radio shows especially with Mark Radcliffe but this is the first of his books that I’ve read but I’m sure it won’t be my last.
I’ve read a few Beatles related books over the years and found this one genuinely entertaining. Obviously a lot of the people mentioned here were well known to me but there were others that I had never heard of and I found that their stories were also new to me. It’s one of those books that whets one’s appetite to go a discover more about some of these characters and according to Maconie’s research the majority of the characters mentioned all seem to have published books relating to their involvement with The Beatles !
I am well acquainted with Maconie’s writing as a music journalist and also have enjoyed his radio shows especially with Mark Radcliffe but this is the first of his books that I’ve read but I’m sure it won’t be my last.
August 15, 2025
Definitely not one of the Beatles biggest fans but certainly not a person who thinks it’s cool not to like them as Stuart Maconie discusses in this book, however this is a brilliant book with all the characters connected with the group getting a mention. Great read
August 16, 2025
Do we really need another book about The Beatles? Do we need yet another addition to the ever-burgeoning - seemingly never-ending - Beatles-Industrial complex? In fairness to Stuart Maconie, these are questions he addresses at the very outset of “With A Little Help From Their Friends”. Well, seeing as Maconie describes The Beatles as “the greatest, the most joyous and transcendent cultural force of the modern world”, then it isn’t a surprise that he might answer those questions with an emphatic ‘Yes’.
Maconie has landed on an intriguing angle for his own contribution to the canon of Beatles books: telling the story of the group through the friends, family members, former-band members, associates, hangers-on and – on occasions – enemies and nemeses who orbited the band during their relatively brief, but superlatively creative existence. “With A Little Help From Their Friends” is essentially based on the principle of ‘It takes a Village’; that while the four Beatles were, collectively, more supernaturally talented than any other entity from the twentieth century, they were aided by an astonishing supporting cast, by “many significant others around them to facilitate their particular genius”.
The one hundred pen portraits of those supporting characters, whilst by their nature quite concise, are rarely less than utterly fascinating. Amongst my favourite excerpts from “With A Little Help From Their Friends” were those profiling the bouncer at the squalid Hamburg club where The Beatles cut their teeth, the head of the Fab Four’s fan club, and the dissolute aristocrat and Guinness heir Tara Browne, whose death inspired “A Day in the Life” (perhaps the pinnacle of The Beatles’ creative output).
It can be easy to overlook how The Beatles is a story blighted by tragedy, not just through the premature death of their manager Brian Epstein, but also through the tale of poor, doomed Stu Sutcliffe that is recounted here. Some of the most entertaining passages of “With A Little Help From Their Friends” are those on the chancers who mercilessly attempted to bleed The Beatles dry, not least the charlatan and glorified-TV repairman ‘Magic’ Alex Mardas, who almost singlehandedly bankrupted the band’s Apple recording division. And if there is one overarching villain in this story, it is that of the avaricious, thuggish manager Allen Klein, whose mendacity probably did more than any other person to rend asunder The Beatles.
Stuart Maconie broadly subscribes to the view (popularised by Ian MacDonald in “Revolution in the Head”) that it was Paul McCartney – rather than John Lennon – who was the true innovator and revolutionary forward-thinker in The Beatles (believing Lennon to be too self-absorbed and too easily taken-in by frauds and the latest quackeries). Maconie also picks up a lot of the threads of John Higgs’ recent treatise on The Beatles – “Love and Let Die” – arguing that the group have over the last half-century plus had a profoundly positive impact on masculinity and social class in Britain.
But, more importantly, “With A Little Help From Their Friends” is a blissfully exuberant book. By telling the story of The Beatles through the characters surrounding them, you get a sense of how thrilling it must have felt to be in their slipstream as they wove one of the most compelling, magical stories of our last century. This is a wonderful, warm bath of a book, and Maconie can rest assured that it more than justifies its existence in that canon of books on The Beatles.
Maconie has landed on an intriguing angle for his own contribution to the canon of Beatles books: telling the story of the group through the friends, family members, former-band members, associates, hangers-on and – on occasions – enemies and nemeses who orbited the band during their relatively brief, but superlatively creative existence. “With A Little Help From Their Friends” is essentially based on the principle of ‘It takes a Village’; that while the four Beatles were, collectively, more supernaturally talented than any other entity from the twentieth century, they were aided by an astonishing supporting cast, by “many significant others around them to facilitate their particular genius”.
The one hundred pen portraits of those supporting characters, whilst by their nature quite concise, are rarely less than utterly fascinating. Amongst my favourite excerpts from “With A Little Help From Their Friends” were those profiling the bouncer at the squalid Hamburg club where The Beatles cut their teeth, the head of the Fab Four’s fan club, and the dissolute aristocrat and Guinness heir Tara Browne, whose death inspired “A Day in the Life” (perhaps the pinnacle of The Beatles’ creative output).
It can be easy to overlook how The Beatles is a story blighted by tragedy, not just through the premature death of their manager Brian Epstein, but also through the tale of poor, doomed Stu Sutcliffe that is recounted here. Some of the most entertaining passages of “With A Little Help From Their Friends” are those on the chancers who mercilessly attempted to bleed The Beatles dry, not least the charlatan and glorified-TV repairman ‘Magic’ Alex Mardas, who almost singlehandedly bankrupted the band’s Apple recording division. And if there is one overarching villain in this story, it is that of the avaricious, thuggish manager Allen Klein, whose mendacity probably did more than any other person to rend asunder The Beatles.
Stuart Maconie broadly subscribes to the view (popularised by Ian MacDonald in “Revolution in the Head”) that it was Paul McCartney – rather than John Lennon – who was the true innovator and revolutionary forward-thinker in The Beatles (believing Lennon to be too self-absorbed and too easily taken-in by frauds and the latest quackeries). Maconie also picks up a lot of the threads of John Higgs’ recent treatise on The Beatles – “Love and Let Die” – arguing that the group have over the last half-century plus had a profoundly positive impact on masculinity and social class in Britain.
But, more importantly, “With A Little Help From Their Friends” is a blissfully exuberant book. By telling the story of The Beatles through the characters surrounding them, you get a sense of how thrilling it must have felt to be in their slipstream as they wove one of the most compelling, magical stories of our last century. This is a wonderful, warm bath of a book, and Maconie can rest assured that it more than justifies its existence in that canon of books on The Beatles.
August 15, 2025
This is on the whole an interesting read that takes a bit of a different approach in looking at the history of The Beatles. It looks at 100 different characters who had some sort of input or influence into them.
Set out in chronological order each chapter focuses on one particular person who had varying degrees of influence on some or all of The Beatles some quite minor others had quite a significant input.
It starts off with family members parents, siblings etc. And moves through the years some names will be familiar like Linda McCartney, Yoko Ono, Brian Epstein, George Martin others less well known. And it looks at a number of those who received the title of the 5th Beatle.
Although the chapters are in chronological order you could dip on and out at random, and none of them are very long and each one could be read in a few minutes. In fact some just seem to be getting going when they finish.
Stuart Maconie is an engaging writer and he knows his stuff. He clearly loves The Beatles. I've enjoyed his radio shows and his writing for a number of years (although his previous book was quite a let down). Here he brings some fascinating insights. Though those who are familiar with his work (either as a broadcaster or writer) will recognise some well used ideas or phrases. He can come across as slightly smug at times. I've lost count of the number of times he's complained about people using the word "iconic" in the wrong way while pointing out he's using it correctly (I think he make the observation about it twice). Writing about Bob Dylan he says "Dylan could be snide, superior and frankly tin eared about The Beatles charm and appeal." Well Maconie can be a little like that himself considering his dislike of Dylan (which is fair enough) but there does seem to be more than a little affectation about his always saying how much he dislikes his music at any given opportunity. (Something he accuses others of elsewhere via Blurs Graham Coxen).
All that being said it's still an interesting read. Not least because I discovered that one of the session musicians on "When I'm 64," went on to play saxophone for Doctor Teeth in The Muppets Electric Mayham Band. Now, that's a fact that you just feel a little better for knowing!
Maybe as Maconie himself questions there may not be a need for another Beatles book. But he does approach them in a fresh way and it makes an interesting and entertaining read.
Set out in chronological order each chapter focuses on one particular person who had varying degrees of influence on some or all of The Beatles some quite minor others had quite a significant input.
It starts off with family members parents, siblings etc. And moves through the years some names will be familiar like Linda McCartney, Yoko Ono, Brian Epstein, George Martin others less well known. And it looks at a number of those who received the title of the 5th Beatle.
Although the chapters are in chronological order you could dip on and out at random, and none of them are very long and each one could be read in a few minutes. In fact some just seem to be getting going when they finish.
Stuart Maconie is an engaging writer and he knows his stuff. He clearly loves The Beatles. I've enjoyed his radio shows and his writing for a number of years (although his previous book was quite a let down). Here he brings some fascinating insights. Though those who are familiar with his work (either as a broadcaster or writer) will recognise some well used ideas or phrases. He can come across as slightly smug at times. I've lost count of the number of times he's complained about people using the word "iconic" in the wrong way while pointing out he's using it correctly (I think he make the observation about it twice). Writing about Bob Dylan he says "Dylan could be snide, superior and frankly tin eared about The Beatles charm and appeal." Well Maconie can be a little like that himself considering his dislike of Dylan (which is fair enough) but there does seem to be more than a little affectation about his always saying how much he dislikes his music at any given opportunity. (Something he accuses others of elsewhere via Blurs Graham Coxen).
All that being said it's still an interesting read. Not least because I discovered that one of the session musicians on "When I'm 64," went on to play saxophone for Doctor Teeth in The Muppets Electric Mayham Band. Now, that's a fact that you just feel a little better for knowing!
Maybe as Maconie himself questions there may not be a need for another Beatles book. But he does approach them in a fresh way and it makes an interesting and entertaining read.
October 21, 2025
This is a book not about The Beatles, but about the people around the band that helped to make them. It is a series of vignettes about a long list of characters. One of the book’s weaknesses is that there are too many “friends”, and each individual description too brief. The reader is unable to sink into a narrative, and as a result it becomes a bit relentless as you move from one person to the next. Maconie also tries a bit too hard to introduce characters whose connection to The Beatles is at best tangential. Tariq Ali’s inclusion is a bit of mystery, as is Meta Davies’, the traffic warden who probably wasn’t the inspiration for “Lovely Rita”. But I also wondered why people whose role in The Beatles’ story was obviously large don’t receive more space. Perhaps he felt that Brian Epstein, Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney already had enough words dedicated to their lives in other books.
Although I said the book is not about The Beatles themselves, it is a Beatles book. And there are better ones that have been published recently, Ian Leslie’s and Craig Brown’s spring to mind. Indeed, I suspect that Stuart Maconie would concede that.
Nevertheless, his book is definitely worth reading. He does tell some good stories. Maconie is also passionate about the subject, and that shines though on every page. His love for the band comes through most strongly in the final chapter “Beyond the Beatles”. He makes some extravagant claims for their music. Here are a few examples, firstly quoting Graham Coxon of Blur,
‘Pretending not to get The Beatles is sheer affectation.’
The next two from Maconie himself,
“The Beatles’ canon is popular music’s most extraordinary body of work. For variety, innovation, significance and popularity, nothing and no one can touch it, not Dylan, not Gershwin, not Joni Mitchell, definitely not The Rolling Stones and certainly not bloody Schubert”
“Paul McCartney might be the most musical human being who has ever lived, certainly that we’re aware of.”
I love these quotes. Even if there is a whiff of hyperbole about them, they tell you how much The Beatles mean to Stuart Maconie, and that is why you should read his book.
Although I said the book is not about The Beatles themselves, it is a Beatles book. And there are better ones that have been published recently, Ian Leslie’s and Craig Brown’s spring to mind. Indeed, I suspect that Stuart Maconie would concede that.
Nevertheless, his book is definitely worth reading. He does tell some good stories. Maconie is also passionate about the subject, and that shines though on every page. His love for the band comes through most strongly in the final chapter “Beyond the Beatles”. He makes some extravagant claims for their music. Here are a few examples, firstly quoting Graham Coxon of Blur,
‘Pretending not to get The Beatles is sheer affectation.’
The next two from Maconie himself,
“The Beatles’ canon is popular music’s most extraordinary body of work. For variety, innovation, significance and popularity, nothing and no one can touch it, not Dylan, not Gershwin, not Joni Mitchell, definitely not The Rolling Stones and certainly not bloody Schubert”
“Paul McCartney might be the most musical human being who has ever lived, certainly that we’re aware of.”
I love these quotes. Even if there is a whiff of hyperbole about them, they tell you how much The Beatles mean to Stuart Maconie, and that is why you should read his book.
July 28, 2025
I’ve read all Stuart’s books and can’t say I remember any that have been less than excellent. Whilst he references pop music often this is probably the first he has written which is exclusively about that very subject. And what does he decide to tackle? Only the group that had spawned more books than any other, the greatest pop group ever. I have read far too many of them over the years but this along with the recent book by Craig Brown is amongst the very best. Of course it’s about them but it’s written from the perspective of 100 people who are part of the story, some are key players, some peripheral. Stuart makes each of them absolutely key to that story, in a way which is thrilling, informative and interesting. I made it last two weeks to read on purpose, I could have finished it in a couple of sittings it is that good.
A triumph then and he’s right about two things, McCartney is without doubt the musical star of the show and Ringo is the most underrated drummer in all of pop music.
A triumph then and he’s right about two things, McCartney is without doubt the musical star of the show and Ringo is the most underrated drummer in all of pop music.
November 3, 2025
Stuart Maconie has written one of the best books I’ve ever read on The Beatles! Saw them on Ed Sullivan, bought all their records growing up in high school, and was blue when they broke up. The Beatles changed popular culture and Stuart has put together a marvelous cast of characters who help shaped the phenomena! His attention to detail and nuance is remarkable! Who knew all these various people helped enrich the story of The Beatles. Better yet, he provides wonderful insight into British history. Highly recommended! What a book!
November 9, 2025
There’s nothing new under the sun and it’s hard to imagine anything new being written about The Beatles. Maconie was honest about his motivations about writing the book - just so he can say that he wrote a book about The Beatles.
I admire the writing craft and skill in coming up with 100 approximately 3 page punchy summaries of each person. The best and more unusual tidbits are definitely in the early years but the book overall is well researched and well written and easy to get through or dip in and out. I wish I’d thought of it!
I admire the writing craft and skill in coming up with 100 approximately 3 page punchy summaries of each person. The best and more unusual tidbits are definitely in the early years but the book overall is well researched and well written and easy to get through or dip in and out. I wish I’d thought of it!
August 31, 2025
This is a very different book on the Beatles discussing over a few pages for each, a long list (100) of people who had something to do with them from the early years to the demise of the actual group.
Some of you know of the Beatles you may know about but others, well. A very different concept and interesting review.
Some of you know of the Beatles you may know about but others, well. A very different concept and interesting review.
June 18, 2025
Decided to go for the audio version. Stuart Maconie’s delivery brings the book to life. It’s a well written, entertaining, and informative amalgamation of Beatles history through the people that surrounded them.
Thoroughly enjoyable.
Thoroughly enjoyable.
June 24, 2025
I've read so many great Beatles books, but this one in particular stands out because it takes a different perspective on their history, taking a look at the people who moved in The Beatles orbit. Fun and entertaining to read.
October 12, 2025
It's a cracker - a knowledgeable book, written with love and insight, with a great eye for detail and it finishes with a moving cri de cour .
I'm not sure I will make the time to watch Peter Jackson's Get Back, but it is on the Long List of "Things To Watch When I'm No' Well".
I'm not sure I will make the time to watch Peter Jackson's Get Back, but it is on the Long List of "Things To Watch When I'm No' Well".
November 16, 2025
Accessible and engaging, a guide to the wider worlds of The Beatles. Thumbnail sketches of 100 people who influenced them, with Maconie adding colour and interesting viewpoints. While it doesn't give the whole story of the band it is a fun and informative book to dip into.
June 15, 2025
Tremendous- well done Stuart. Buy it - read it!
June 19, 2025
Made me fall in love with The Beatles all over again.
June 27, 2025
“…“this is a book about love and joy, just like The Beatles were” writes Maconie as part of his stirring peroration. Nothing to add.
Read
June 27, 2025DNF
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2025
A fabulous book - from start to finish
July 23, 2025
A new slant on how the genius of the Beatles touched the world. A huge variety of characters who interacted with the group, fascinating 👍💥
September 8, 2025
Didnt expect to enjoy this as much as I have. A breezy but well structured group of interesting people.
October 13, 2025
Its TV and Radios Stuart Maconie sharing stories and tidbits about people who helped the Beatles "change the world" written in his usual easy to read and quick paced style.
October 22, 2025
This was fine. If you are a massive Beatles fan you’d probably love it but I found myself getting bored towards the end and speed reading to get on to something else.
July 29, 2025
I am no fan of the vastly overrated boyband known as The Beatles. But Stuart Maconie has written snippets of the people behind their success that propelled them to fame and fortune whimsical yet informative.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews