THE SUNDAY TIMES<\/i> AND NEW YORK TIMES <\/i>BESTSELLER
LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION<\/b>
‘A triumph.’ <\/b>Deborah Levy, New Statesman
<\/i>‘Tremendous.’ <\/b>Alwyn Turner, The Times<\/i>
‘Revelatory.’ <\/b>Simon Schama, Financial Times
<\/i>‘The gold standard of Beatles books.’ <\/b>Anthony Quinn, Observer<\/i>
‘As enthralling and astonishing as their music.’ <\/b>Jon Dennis, Sunday Telegraph<\/i>
‘A masterpiece.’ <\/b>Dylan Jones, Evening Standard<\/i><\/p>\n
‘[Ian Leslie] reframes the whole relationship for me . . . He roots it in a kind of love. It’s so moving, so moving. I was crying so much.’ <\/b>Paul Mescal
‘I so loved John and Paul. I found it completely absorbing and painfully moving . . . It has rather turned me into a bit of a Beatles person.’ <\/b>Nigella Lawson
‘The first new Beatles story in decades – and the one that will make your heart burst.’ <\/b>Caitlin Moran
‘The most moving and revelatory book on Lennon and McCartney I have ever read. So joyful, so sad.’ <\/b>Tom Holland<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
We think we know John & Paul. We really don’t.<\/b><\/p>\n
At the centre of The Beatles was the volatile, madly creative chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. This is the story of how two young men merged their souls and multiplied their talents to produce one of the greatest bodies of music in history. It is also a love story, full of longing, laughter, pain and joy.<\/p>\n
‘John & Paul <\/i>is a masterpiece, a classic, and a book that should be read by anyone who wants to really understand how the Beatles worked.’ Dylan Jones, Evening Standard<\/i><\/p>\n
**<\/p>\n
Readers are raving about John & Paul<\/i>:
<\/b>
‘I’ve never been so into a book.’ <\/b>?????
‘A surprising fresh take on this relationship, after so much has been written.’<\/b> ?????
‘The Beatles book I’ve been waiting for.’ <\/b>?????
‘Thoroughly enjoyable, insightful and delightfully written.’ <\/b>?????
‘I can’t listen to another Beatles song in the same way ever again.’<\/b> ?????
‘Such a fantastic book – really insightful and charming.’ <\/b>?????
‘I read this book in more or less one go . . . Incredibly moving.’ <\/b>?????
‘Rekindled my interest in The Beatles. A masterful work.’<\/b> ?????
‘Full of love . . . A very worthwhile addition to the library of even the most jaded Beatles reader.<\/b>‘ ?????
‘I cannot recommend this book highly enough.’<\/b> ?????
‘Excellent. Just buy it.’<\/b> ?????<\/p>\n
**<\/p>\n
Ian Leslie’s book John & Paul <\/i>was a Sunday Times<\/i> Bestseller w\/e 29-03-2025 through w\/e 19-04-2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John and Paul were more than friends, collaborators or rivals in the sense we normally understand those terms. They were both exceptionally intense young men who had the fabric of their world ruptured at a young age. They longed to connect – with each other, with audiences. The pop song was a container into which they poured everything they couldn’t say; their pain or joy, or both at the same time. The Lennon and McCartney partnership was responsible for 159 of The Beatles’ 184 recorded original songs. Even when their relationship deteriorated, their creative partnership flourished – during the last year of The Beatles they were still prolific collaborators. After the break-up, they maintained a dialogue at a distance, in songs full of recrimination, regret, and affection. This book focuses on what lay at the heart of this phenomenon: the alchemy of two young men.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[641],"product_tag":[517,29588,349,3133],"class_list":["post-113828","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-biography","product_tag-biography-arts-entertainment","product_tag-communication-studies","product_tag-social-cultural-history","product_tag-social-group-or-collective-psychology","pa_book_author-leslie-ian","pa_cover-paperback","pa_dewey-782-421660922-edition23","pa_imprint-faber-faber","pa_language-english","pa_pages-8382","pa_publisher-faber-faber","pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","first","instock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"\n