By 1970 The Beatles were in the most challenging phase of their one of a kind career. With declining popularity and relevance, internal squabbles and business problems each weary band member wanted out despite trying to shoulder on as best he could. Before the end of the year the band was over. You Never Give Me Your Money: The Battle for the Soul of The Beatles charts and focuses on the band members' personal and artistic lives together with the business side of the story which enriched the talented foursome and yet threatened to end their personal and musical relationships.

British editor and author Peter Doggett, author of several tomes on Rock music and cultural history and one of the foremost authorities on The Beatles goes into considerable detail on the dense and murky details of the band members' respective stories and the financial and litigatory mess the band and their associates endured. From the problems created by manager Brian Epstein and made worse by his death in 1966 to the group's courtroom drama with Apple Inc. way into the millennium Doggett nails it down. One reads in fascination as The Fab Four create Apple Corps as a hippie business venture to bypass the usual business practices with all the naivete and idealism of the times and the attendant results. Each band member's life story in all their personal and artistic dramas are highlighted revealing their personalities - their interactions with other members of the band and others (both good and bad); their attempts at cultivating their wealth and the times they lost a lot of it; their battles in court, with and against each other; and their attempts to maintain their Rock n' Roll spirit amidst a world of opportunism and monetary temptations. The tale is also an interesting portrait on the four individuals who made it all happen: John Lennon, the archetypal artist with his mercurial personality; Paul McCartney, the focused and mature one who strove to keep the band together and lost them in the process; George Harrison, the insecure and junior partner who neither had the talent nor the personality to back his convictions; and Ringo Starr, the quintessential sideman, talented and self-effacing and who was neither a threat nor an issue with anyone. The direct gaze the book focuses on them is pretty compelling: Lennon's flirtations and difficult experiences with hard drugs and politics and his tumultuous relationship with Yoko Ono onto his murder which kickstarts the book in gut wrenching detail; McCartney's personal and artistic challenges and his path to fortune; Harrison's turbulent relationships with his spirituality and artistic muse together with the personal tragedy that befell him which hastened his passing; and Starr's descent into the wilderness with drugs and alcohol as he struggled to find his way after The Beatles ended and his eventual redemption as one of the survivors and elderly spokesmen of his generation. Doggett gets the word down with seamless, flowing prose in a tone of equal cynicism and justice that sets an account of balance and clear, level-headed objectivity.

One has to remember getting into this tome that this is very much a business story on the band's history with all that comes with it. The dry, matter of fact tone and numbers involved detailing the financial matters can come across as stale and as lifeless as bad memories of Accounting class in High-School and is the complete opposite of the artistic highs the band's recordings a fan reading this enjoys. Doggett may come across as a poker face in some of his assessments on The Beatles' and the band members' artistic efforts and his final assessment on the band's legacy comes across as ludicrous considering he seems to have forgotten the ones responsible for making the music that he idealizes so much.

One of the best and most unique tomes on the most important Rock band in history, You Never Give Me Your Money: The Battle for the Soul of The Beatles is one of the essential reads for fans of the band, music enthusiasts and historians. Perhaps the only book so far to detail the business side of the band's fabled history this is a cautionary tale on the price of wealth and fame and its complicated effects on everyone involved. After reading this, play a classic Beatles recording and bask in the timeless spirit of artistry and quality that emerges and realize why all the tumult, the turbulence, heck, all the god damn hassle that we go through in this puzzling yet interesting thing called life is worth it.