Prepare yourself for a journey with four typical Liverpool lads that will stretch from 1945 through 1962in 804 pages. You will get the usual information that you have known all along. The kind of tidbitsthat gave you glances into each player's life. You have also heard most of the people's names in thisbook and their relationship to one another and to the Beatles. It is those intimate connections thatMark Lewisohn finds and fills in the gaps and chronicles the growth of the pre-fab four. It is fairto say he connects more dots than any prior author.What the author does in 'Volume 1' is fill in a lot of gaps between all the knowledge we had of theBeatles and their rise to fame. You will receive more intimate knowledge of their families, friends,schooling, and especially how rock and roll essentially saved them from the usual Liverpudlian descentinto hard labor or unemployment. Rock and Roll was what inspired each of them to be the collectivetopper-most of the popper-most.There are many instances where Lewisohn will question the authenticity of an incident or provide morethan one perspective of an incident. It appears he has done his home work in detail. You will followthe fab four, throughout different band iterations, as they attempt to play their music and begin towrite a few songs of their own.The one thing that I did like were the quotes the author collected from friends and hangers-on thatliterally witnessed the growth of the group from a rag tag collection of whom-ever would be availableto play a gig, to the cohesive unit they eventually became. There were rotating personnel early onuntil John, Paul and George, essentially, always showed up to play almost every date that was booked.Those 3 formed the early nucleus of the pre-Beatles that showed intense wit and camaraderie betweenthem.It is also interesting to follow Ringo's rise as a professional drummer much before the others becamepros. All four had crossed path multiple times gigging here and there around England. There are somephotos of the them together prior to Ringo becoming a full fledged Beatle.Speaking of drummers, I have read reviews stating Pete Best was castigated by the author. That MarkLewisohn shows how much he didn't like Mr. Best by always showing him in a bad light. I disagree withthose observations. Like a lot of musicians that flowed through the pre-fab group, Best was just a portin the storm. Drummers then and now are hard to find and keep. The basic problem was that Pete Bestcouldn't keep good time. Amateurs and professionals alike commented on it and repeatedly would makesure the drums weren't too intrusive especially when recording.Pete Best was also kept on because his mother was a very good promoter of the group and she had avenue they'd play regularly. They eventually became the house band for that venue, The Casbah. Theproblem with Mr. Best does get sorted out slowly, and sometime painfully, using quotes from the otherswho played, promoted or observed the group. There is no doubt that John, Paul and George did not clickwith Pete as they did with each other. AND visa versa. Pete Best most often went off on his own whenthe others would hang together or get food or drink together. The fab three were just waiting for theright drummer to appear and when he did...well...You will go with them through the nitty gritty (mostly gritty) when they head to Germany and meta-morphinto a cohesive and iconic band. The quotes of the people who saw John, Paul, George and Pete wereabout, how much they had changed, to their greatly increased stage presence. They came back a changedgroup. Yet, they still lacked that something. They were not going anywhere fast and they sensed it. Itwas, and is, called organization and tireless promotion; enter Brian Epstein.It is to say that the 'boys' were very lucky to have been found by Brian Epstein and subsequently GeorgeMartin. The music business can be cutthroat and Mr. Epstein and Mr. Martin appeared to be be very honestand straight forward people that recognized the raw energy the band possessed and more importantly thepotential that resided in their musical talents. Lucky indeed.Essentially what I took away from 'Volume 1' is that their drive, talent, luck and just plain hard work helpedthese typical Liverpool lads become a group that changed the cultural direction of the Western world. Theytook their love of American rock and roll and turned it back on America filtered through their British ears.This is why this is an amazing story that needed to be told more completely.Having Mark Lewisohn fill in the blanks helps you understand how the small steps of their lives made uphuge leaps of progress in the band's musicianship and song writing in only a few years. Every thing you haveread prior to this book has been the Readers Digest version of the Beatles story. Now go and read the fullversion and revel in the wonder and enticing tale of four regular guys who made it to the topper-most. It is afun read indeed.