They are the most popular and accomplished musical artists of this century. But for more than three decades, the secrets behind the Beatles' unparalleld artistic evolution were beyond reach - sealed in a locked room at London's Abbey Road Studios.

In this comprehensive and brilliantly rendered book, the only "outsider" to gain access to these invaluable musical archives provides a new, fascinating look at the music and artistry of the Beatles, revealing how four untrained musicians merged their collective genius into a single creative force, how they came together to paint pictures with sound...and how, album by album, the Beatles transformed the landscape of popular music forever.

Combining literary analysis and investigative reporting with page-turning story-telling and musical explication, author Mark Hertsgaard has written the first serious biography of the music of the Beatles.