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Hello and welcome to the Spectator's Book Club podcast. I'm Sam Leith, the literary editor of The Spectator,

and this week I'm extremely pleased to be joined by Craig Brown, the multi-talented satirist,

reviewer and journalist whose new book is called One, Two, Three, Four, The Beatles in Time.

Craig, welcome. Now, I suppose it's kind of really the first question, is that there's an awful

lot being written about the Beatles. From your bibliography, it's clear you've read it.

What made you think when you embarked on this?

I think there's something new to be done here.

Well, actually, my bibliography is quite large,

but I think there's estimated number of books about the Beatles is 1,000,

and I've barely scratched the surface of them I think I think they've

overtaken sort of Henry VIII and ancient Egypt as the most popular topic I felt that though

there have been lots of good books I mean it's surprisingly high standard of books about the

beetles they tend to be first they tend to be quite po-faced. The good ones tend to be very completest.

So they take you through every moment of their lives.

Their key biographer is called Mark Lewison.

And he's, if you've got the extended version of his first two volumes,

of his yet-to-be completed life of the Beatles,

...