‘One Two Three Four: The Beatles In Time’ by Craig Brown is not a biography which claims to reveal vast amounts of new information or insight about the most famous rock band of all time. As with his 2017 biography of Princess Margaret, Ma’am Darling, Brown favours an anecdotal format, tackling the band’s history from John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s early childhoods in 1940s Liverpool to the band’s split in 1970 across 150 short chapters rather than a straightforward linear narrative.

This fragmented approach works well for huge subjects like the Royal Family and the Beatles where there is virtually nothing new left to say about them, yet they remain endless sources of fascination. Despite the absence of big revelations, Brown still manages to find some original angles from which to explore the familiar story of the Beatles’ success. He recounts certain events from the more obscure perspectives of those on the sidelines such as Jimmie Nicol, the drummer who briefly stood in for Ringo Starr when he was ill with tonsillitis on tour in 1964, and is now “too forgotten a figure to even feature in roundups of forgotten figures”.

Brown views his chosen subjects with a keen satirical eye as well as fondness (he clearly has a soft spot for Ringo) without taking it all too seriously. An early chapter recounting Brown’s stand-off with officious National Trust tour guides at the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney is extremely funny, as is his scathing depiction of Yoko Ono as someone who “seemed unable to spot a cloud without drawing a moral from it”. There is relatively little musical analysis relating to the more technical aspects of Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting skills. Instead, Brown focuses on the huge cultural impact of the Beatles, particularly for teenagers in Britain and the United States at the peak of the band’s fame. The influence of the Beatles remains hugely important today too. The Liverpudlian economy is heavily dependent on tourism brought to the city by Beatles fans, and as Brown notes drily: “With the benefit of hindsight, it might have been less time-consuming to place plaques on the handful of buildings in Liverpool with no Beatles associations.”

While the frivolous tone may annoy some hardcore Beatles fans, I found ‘One Two Three Four’ to be a very engaging book written in a highly original and very effective format.

A treat for fans of the Beatles. A series of 150 short reminiscences about the boys from Liverpool. A very mixed bag of stories but overall interesting and enjoyable.

While this book may not tell you something you didn't know it is very entertaining and very informative.
Made up of 150 short chapters this book while on the longer side, is not at all boring and is very fast moving.

Brown clearly put a lot of heart and research into this book, so it pained me when I read wrong information in one of the chapters.
In the Chapter regarding the theory of Paul's death, when he was talking about the Sgt. Pepper album cover.
(Granted he is repeating information, but he did not correct it in parenthesis like he did for the LMW license plate.)
He says Paul is wearing a
"Black armband with the letters 'OPD' This is the Canadian acronym for Officially Pronounced Dead"
So maybe "OPD" is a Canadian acronym for officially pronounced dead. I am Canadian and I have never heard that connection, but that's not the point.
The patch McCartney is wearing is an "OPP" patch. The Ontario Provincial Police.
I guess I just thought everyone knew this, so I was a little shocked to see this error published in a book, but maybe I just know that because I live in the Province of Ontario and I see that patch anytime I see a police officer.
Again I know this was not his own information and I have to assume the author does not think Paul died and was replaced. I guess I just thought there would be a correction noted.

There is so much information on the Beatles, and so many books, and this book kind of skims the top of all of them, it covers almost all the topics of interests without getting into too much detail on any of them. So this book is perfect for the ... I don't want to say 'casual fan', but more a fan who is not obsessive and does not need to know every single detail about the Beatles.
It is a very good overview of their career as well as personal lives.
I didn't understand chapter 148 though.

All in all this book was excellent, and I really enjoyed it.
And I have to say the last few pages were magnificent, the last line gave me goosebumps.

You may think you know everything there is to know about The Beatles. Youd be wrong. Craig Brown has found another way of telling their story, or stories. In total, it feels like a beautiful tragedy. Doubly so, when you include the suicide of Brian Epstein. They were so close that it was always going to implode one day. They were so brilliant that you wish they had gone on forever. I never realised until I read this book that John was the posh one and that all the working-class sarcasm was an act. The description of how John left Cynthia by degrees for Yoko is especially sad. The book is also brilliant in engaging with the ones who almost made it: the original drummer, Pete Best and Jimmie Nicol, drummer for ten days.

If you think you know all there is about the Beatles, guess again. There's always something to learn, and this is the perfect vehicle. Snippets, none longer than a few pages, a few pictures (can't really call it "lavishly illustrated," but there are some surprises), and for those of us who remember their first appearance, where they were when they first heard them and knew something was coming, witnessed their run and were shattered at their dissolution, this is pure gold. Best example of the whole being greater than the sum of their parts. Individually they had their strengths and peculiar attractions, but as an entity, they were dynamite.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux for an ARC of ‘150 Glimpses of the Beatles’.
Once again Craig Brown (Ninety Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret) presents the reader with a cornucopia of fun, fact, anecdotes and essays that bring a multi-leveled look at the Fab Four.
Being a lifelong Beatle fan I have read numerous books and this is a must read. The vignettes, friend & associate remembrances and the contributions by Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen and a host of others shine a light on their personalities, their influence on one another and the magic of their effect on fans worldwide. Well known stories and some not so familiar are mixed with humor, lore and cultural fragments that make for an interesting and enthralling biography.
Craig Brown fills the pages with his unique writing style, upbeat, pulsating and alive. To coin a Beatle lyric ‘ a splendid time is guaranteed for all’.

Loved it loved it loved it. I have read all the important Beatles books and this is one of the best and is now one of my favorites. 150 shortish chapters/vignettes telling bits and pieces ( forgive the Dave Clark 5 reference) of the Beatles’ story from their early pre Beatles days in Liverpool through their break up. Bits and pieces of history are intertwined with arcane bits of show business, political , and social history. It’s hard to describe - just read it. So well written, intelligent and interestingI have never read anything like it. Highly Recommended.