THIS ambitious project was made possible because Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr agreed to re-tell their combined story. The result was The Beatles by The Beatles. The massive project included a TV series and an eight boxed set video set, as well as the magnificent book.
 In addition to Paul, George and Ringo's memories, John Lennon's words are equally represented thanks to painstaking compilation of sources worldwide and with the full co-operation of Yoko Ono Lennon. The Anthology is THE must book for any Beatle fan. The Beatles opened their archives specifically for the project, allowing the release of photographs - many of which they had taken themselves or had been taken of them during their rise to Fab Fame. Paul McCartney told icLiverpool in an exclusive interview: "We decided to write The Anthology because we were there. "Many books have been written about us by people we've never even met. "We decided sooner, rather than later, to do it while we still had our brain cells, but that's not to say we always agreed on remembering various situations, such as when we met Elvis. "The Anthology is "The Beatles' bible", as we called it from the outset." The tome includes snapshots from the respective family collections which take the reader back to the days of blue suburban skies when John, Paul, George and Ringo were just four aspiring musicians growing up in Liverpool. Each Beatle talks in turn about those early years and how they came to join the band that would make them world famous. They tell the astonishing story of life as The Beatles with poignancy and at times great humour. They recall the gigs, the incredible rise to fame and fortune, the events going around them in their heyday all the way through to the inevitable break-up. The Beatles Anthology was initially compiled by the late Liverpool-born Derek Taylor, the Beatles' celebrated Press officer. His words, along with those of one-time road manager Neil Aspinall, now head of Apple, and producer George Martin have been interwoven with the words of The Beatles. There are 1,300 photographs including illustrations and largely unseen material from both Apple and EMI, who also opened their archives for the project. Before its launch on October 5 2000, orders were already estimated at 1 million. It went on to be a best-seller in countries across the world. (Cassell & Co) | 
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