'I don't think anyone is writing about The Beatles as well as Ian Leslie is right now.' PETE PAPHIDES

John and Paul were more than friends, collaborators or rivals in the sense we normally understand those terms. They were both exceptionally intense young men who had the fabric of their world ruptured at a young age. They longed to connect - with each other, with audiences. The pop song was a container into which they poured everything they couldn't say; their pain or joy, or both at the same time. The Lennon and McCartney partnership was responsible for 159 of The Beatles' 184 recorded original songs. As their relationship changed, so did the music they made. Even when their relationship deteriorated, their creative partnership flourished - during the last year of The Beatles they were still prolific collaborators. After the break-up, they maintained a dialogue at a distance, in songs full of recrimination, regret, and affection.

There have been millions of words written about The Beatles, but this is the first book to focus on what lay at the heart of this phenomenon: the alchemy of two young men. Ian Leslie explores this volatile, madly creative quasi-marriage and misunderstood story. The result is a wildly enjoyable biography, told through the songs, which will make us see and hear John and Paul afresh.