Meet the Beatles: A Cultural History of the Band That Shook Youth, Gender, and the World

Here they are—John, Paul, George, Ringo—the band that inspired and changed popular culture forever. In this revealing and provocative new account, Steven D. Stark puts their impact into unique perspective by revealing both the personal details and the larger events that made them into the twentieth century's greatest cultural force.
"They were magic," said their producer George Martin, and most of us would agree. But the band has become so shrouded in cultural mythology that it is difficult today to really understand how or why. This book explains that why—unpacking the legendary band's aura and examining the ways in which the Beatles' own lives were inextricably tied to the cultural, youth, and gender revolutions they helped create and lead during the 1960s.
Based on extensive research and more than a hundred new interviews, Meet the Beatles offers a compelling fresh interpretation of their story, beginning with their childhoods in England and the profound effect on their outlook and music caused by the deaths of Paul's and John's mothers when they were young. It documents their subsequent special bond with women—from their teenage fans to the mothers of their friends to close partners Linda and Yoko. It illustrates the central importance of drugs, both for them and the youthful counterculture they led; why their unusual hairstyles set off a cultural revolution; how the band came to create a new vision of the role of women; and the unique conditions that allowed these four to conquer America faster than any other cultural phenomenon in history. It explains why the group's popularity has never faded—even now, more than four decades after they first hit the charts.
From Liverpool and Hamburg to Ed Sullivan and Shea Stadium, it's all here—from the improbable decision to fire their original drummer and bring Ringo into the band to why they broke up and who was responsible. After reading Meet the Beatles, you'll never think about the Beatles or listen to their songs the same way again. Live the magic once more.

Arts & Photography

Stark, Steven D.

History & Criticism

Dey Street Books

Rob Sheffield, the Rolling Stone columnist and bestselling author of Love Is a Mix Tape, offers an entertaining, unconventional look at the most popular band in history, the Beatles, exploring what they mean today and why they still matter so intensely to a generation that has never known a world without them.
Meet the Beatles is not another biography of the Beatles, or a song-by-song analysis of the best of John and Paul. It isn’t another exposé about how they broke up. It isn’t a history of their gigs or their gear. It is a collection of essays telling the story of what this ubiquitous band means to a generation who grew up with the Beatles music on their parents’ stereos and their faces on T-shirts. What do the Beatles mean today? Why are they more famous and beloved now than ever? And why do they still matter so much to us, nearly fifty years after they broke up?
As he did in his previous books, Love is a Mix Tape, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, and Turn Around Bright Eyes, Sheffield focuses on the emotional connections we make to music. This time, he focuses on the biggest pop culture phenomenon of all time—The Beatles. In his singular voice, he explores what the Beatles mean today, to fans who have learned to love them on their own terms and not just for the sake of nostalgia. 
Meet the Beatles tells the story of how four lads from Liverpool became the world’s biggest pop group, then broke up—but then somehow just kept getting bigger. At this point, their music doesn’t belong to the past—it belongs to right now. This book is a celebration of that music, showing why the Beatles remain the world’s favorite thing—and how they invented the future we’re all living in today.

An intimate portrait of young Elvis Presley's years in Germany as an American GI -- wiht hundreds of rare photographs and revelations from Elvis intimates
In September 1958, U.S. Army Private 53310761, Elvis Presley, sailed for Germany as part of the 3rd Armored Division. just twenty-three years old, he was, arguably, the most famous man on earth.
Nearly thirty years later Andreas Schröer, a German private eye fascinated by Elvis, spent seven years completing the awesome task of reconstructing Elvis's time in Germany. He tracked down Elvis's friends, acquaintances, and admirers-even a previously unknown German girl with whom Elvis had a secret relationship. Their stories, together with more than 270 rare photographs from their personal collections, are presented here.
Private Presley traces the story of Elvis's two years in the army: the trauma of his mother's death just three weeks before he left for Germany; the media circus of his arrival and the constant attention of the press during his stay; his first experiments with drugs; the girls with whom he was and was not involved; his early encounters with his future wife, Priscilla, who was just fourteen when they met; and his triumphant return to America.
Although the life of Elvis Presley was filled with controversy, it is widely acknowledged that his time in Germany was a crucial watershed in his career as well as in his private life. It is also the least documented period of his life, making Private Presley the only accurate study of the rock legend as soldier.

Private Presley: The Missing Years--Elvis in Germany

Biographies & Memoirs

Schroer, Andreas

Arts & Literature

Never look at a grave the same way again 
Admit it: You're fascinated by cemeteries. We all die, and for most of us, a cemetery is our final resting place. But how many people really know what goes on inside, around, and beyond them?
Enter the world of the dead as Katherine Ramsland talks to mortuary assistants, gravediggers, funeral home owners, and more, and find out about:
<ul>
<li>Stitching and cosmetic secrets used on mutilated bodies</li>
<li>Embalmers who do more than just embalm</li>
<li>The rising popularity of cremation art</li>
<li>Ghosts that infest graveyards everywhere</li>
</ul>
If you've ever scoffed at the high price of burying the dead, or ever wondered how your loved ones are handled when they die, or simply stared at tombstones with morbid fascination, then take a trip with Katherine Ramsland and learn about the booming industry -- and strange tales -- that surround cemeteries everywhere.

Cemetery Stories: Haunted Graveyards, Embalming Secrets, and the Life of a Corpse After Death

RAMSLAND, KATHERINE

Reference

NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL MOVIE STARRING MACHINE GUN KELLY, DANIEL WEBBER, DOUGLAS BOOTH, AND IWAN RHEON, DIRECTED BY JEFF TREMAINE.
Celebrate thirty years of the world's most notorious rock band with the deluxe collectors' edition of The Dirt—the outrageous, legendary, no-holds-barred autobiography of Mötley Crüe. Fans have gotten glimpses into the band's crazy world of backstage scandals, celebrity love affairs, rollercoaster drug addictions, and immortal music in Mötley Crüe books like Tommyland and The Heroin Diaries, but now the full spectrum of sin and success by Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, and Mick Mars is an open book in The Dirt. Even fans already familiar with earlier editions of the bestselling exposé will treasure this gorgeous deluxe edition. Joe Levy at Rolling Stone calls The Dirt "without a doubt . . . the most detailed account of the awesome pleasures and perils of rock &amp; roll stardom I have ever read. It is completely compelling and utterly revolting."

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

STRAUSS, NEIL

Nikki Sixx

Tommy Lee

Mötley Crüe

Mick Mars

Vince, Neil

The Bond name is synonymous with high-tech gadgets, beautiful women, deadly spies and action-packed, death defying adventure. There's no one else like James Bond around. There have been nearly twenty films about him, there are more than sixty websites dedicated to him, and it's estimated that more than a quarter of the planet has seen at least one Bond film.
Now, fans can enter the world of 007 like never before, with this meticulously researched guide that examines all the top-secret details of the cinematic Bond missions. Officially endorsed by the Bond film producers, it features fascinating facts and behind-the-scenes stories as well as more than 250 rare production photos, cinema posters and product advertisements.
It's all here: the missions, the gadgets, the vehicles, the legendary villains, the exotic locales and the even more exotic Bond women. You can meet the directors, writers, stuntmen and technicians who have contributed to the success of the series and have stories of their own to tell. Additionally, there is a unique chapter devoted to the legacy of James Bond, with an overview of the thrillers and spoofs inspired by 007 over the years, as well as a fitting tribute to Mr. Bond's literary father, Ian Fleming.

The Essential Bond: The Authorized Guide to the World of 007

Humor & Entertainment

Pfeiffer, Lee

Worrall, Dave

Movies

Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith is available in time for the Aerosmith's 40th Anniversary. It's the New York Times bestselling autobiography by the legendary rock group that lived by the motto "Anything worth doing was worth overdoing." Aerosmith shook the music world out of its '70s doldrums…and made living on the edge an art form. Walk This Way is the complete and candid story of their meteoric rise to fame, their near destruction due to drugs and excess, and their return to the stage as one of America's greatest rock bands. Cowritten by respected rock journalist Stephen Davis, author of the seminal profile of Led Zeppelin, Hammer of the Gods, and with a new afterward from the band, this edition of the memoir to end all rock memoirs is the perfect gift for you and your favorite Aerosmith fan.

Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith

Davis, Stephen

Aerosmith

When Tina Basich grabbed her rented snowboard and headed to the mountains in Lake Tahoe, snowboarding wasn't even considered a sport . . . yet. It was the beginning, and could have easily gone the way of many other sports and become dominated by male-driven competition.
But not with Tina on the scene . . . 
Comments like "You're pretty good . . . for a girl" only pushed her harder to be the best and to prove she was more than just a token player on the slopes. Representing for women everywhere, she became a snowboarding all-star, started her own signature board and clothing lines for women, founded Boarding for Breast Cancer, and followed her heart, which led her on the adventure of a lifetime.
This is her story.

Pretty Good for a Girl: The Autobiography of a Snowboarding Pioneer

Basich, Tina

Gasperini, Kathleen

Community & Culture

Last season, CIA agent Jack Bauer, played by Golden Globe award-winning actor Keifer Sutherland, had us glued to our TVs and cursing the time clock as he uncovered a plot to assassinate presidential nominee, David Palmer. With just 24 hours to identify the killer, Bauer also had to deal with the kidnapping of his wife and daughter and the existence of a mole at the agency. 
 This season he's at it again, helping President David Palmer save Los Angeles from nuclear ravage. 
 Lest you think Jack had some down time between life-altering experiences, check out 24: The House Special Subcommittees Findings at CTU. It's a new book providing a riveting account of Jack's grueling appearance before our government's most inquiring minds during their probe into alleged wrongdoings at CTU that first fateful 24 hour period. The testimony from these closed hearings was leaked to investigative journalist Marc Cerasini, who then ran with it to publisher HarperCollins. 
 With some of the finest reporting seen since Woodward's coverage of the Pentagon Papers, this book contains: 
<ul>
<li> Jack Bauer's complete Grand Jury Testimony </li>
<li>Press statements from President-elect David Palmer </li>
<li>Transcribed debriefings with other key CTU agents </li>
<li> Previously sealed files on Bauer's related undercover act6ivities </li>
<li>The arrest, detainment and transport records for Victor Drazen </li>
<li>Teri Bauer's medical records </li>
<li>Autopsy reports </li>
<li>Campaign finance records </li>
<li>Commentary from the Beltway's most celebrated political pundits </li>
<li>Theories as to how and why key players within CTU turned. </li>
</ul>

24: The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU

Marc Cerasini

alice-alfonsi

Television

Have Board, Will Travel is the most definitive surf/skate/snow book ever published. It's perfect for all boarders, with colour–coded storylines, iconic graphics, and an innovative design for the most interactive read ever. 
 The book covers everything from the best places to ride to brief histories of each sport to lifestyles, personalities, performance, designs, and insider tips. It begins with surfing (half of the content), moves to skateboarding (about a third of the content), then it hits snowboarding (one–fifth of the content), to give the reader an insightful perspective on all of these things – to inform, entertain, and make them want to go out and ride. 
 With a great design, the book is clean, hip and reader–friendly, so you can flip to any page and learn something cool about a sport.

Have Board, Will Travel: The Definitive History of Surf, Skate, and Snow

Brisick, Jamie

Quiksilver

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