The amazing story of the rise of John Lennon's group - The Beatles - to fame and fortune. David Stuart Ryan carried out a great deal of original research into the true background to John, speaking to many of the characters who helped form his intense view of the world. This was backed up with full access to the files of Time magazine. The result is a comprehensive picture of a great artist living at a time of both tumult and awakening. The author spoke to many of the key people for John, including his formidable Aunt Mimi, who brought him up after his mother's marriage hit problems because of the Second World War. There is Liverpool DJ Bob Wooler, who was perhaps the first to recognise the genius of the Beatles, the presciently wrote 'There will never be another band like the Beatles again.' That was while they were still just a Cavern club lunchtime band. Then you'll meet his first manager, Alan Williams, who in a most weird and almost preordained way, arranged for the unknown group to take up a prestige residency in Hamburg, an engagement that was to transform them from a run of the mill provincial group into a world beating combination of individual talents. The seething contradictions of a red light district in early post-war Germany where just about anything went were the forcing ground for an entirely new kind of music. There are many secrets and surprises associated with John Lennon's early troubled life that are hinted at, but never fully revealed, in many of his songs and hits. John Lennon's Secret reveals these to you one by one. Strawberry Fields was a Salvation Army run home for abandoned childrenwhich lay just behind his aunt's house. Feeling himself abandoned, it had many associations for him, it was where he could be himself, no wonder it is the subject of his most outstanding and haunting song. All through this fast moving examination of the life of John Lennon you discover sides to him that are little known, even by those who grew up with him, such as Paul McCartney. There are more revelations about what exactly the relationship was with his musical partner, and the secrets they shared that made them such a formidable team. As the myth of the Beatles continues to thrive and grow, it is time for you to find out what really went on in the formation of a band who captured the wonder and amazement of the whole world. There are more than 20 original photographs in the book to take you behind the scenes and chart the rise of the super group to mega stardom and its ways. Even if you thought you knew the story, prepare for surprises, and smiles, on every page of John Lennon's Secret. This really is the true version of events that shook the musical world. Review from the Mail on Sunday ========================== WHIZZY WORLD OF JOHN LENNON "This weird, wild and generally whizzy examination of Lennon's life, loves, lyrics and old laundry lists is a whole lot of fun. Good photos too." One of the first biographies to appear, still proved to be the most accurate about both John Lennon and the extraordinary phenomenon that was The Beatles.