Devin McKinney's Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History is a fresh and meticulous study of the Beatles and their impact in the 1960's as well as their enduring appeal. Approaching his subjects through the perspective of a historian, psychologist and sociologist and utilizing both official and unofficial recordings, films and interviews, McKinney offers the reader a thorough, multidimensional view of the Beatles and their times. Though some of the themes in Magic Circles may sometimes be complex, McKinney's enthusiasm for his subject and his inviting writing style make Magic Circles a must-read for both the serious scholar and the casual fan alike. As the Village Voice noted, "With a white-hot prose style and a poet's instinct for metaphor, independent scholar McKinney exhumes, interrogates, and otherwise energizes the Fab Four in all their musical glory and mythic resonance." Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History is one of the more interesting books that has been written on this subject.

Roag Best's The Beatles: The True Beginnings offers an intimate view of the Beatles' earliest days in Liverpool, England. While it is common knowledge that the Beatles were from Liverpool, what is not always known is that John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison had started playing together as early as 1957. Along with Roag's brother, Pete, they were part of a flourishing music scene that originally centered around the Casbah Coffee club that Mona Best (Roag's mother) ran out of her basement. Part photo album, part memoir and part history, True Beginnings recreates the world in which the Beatles got their start -- a world that included bands such as Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, Kingsize Taylor & The Dominoes and The Remo Four. The Beatles: The True Beginnings is an important addition in understanding that world as well as the origins of the Beatles.