''The McCartney Legacy'' is a

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

book series about the post-

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

musical career of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, written by music journalist

Allan Kozinn Allan Kozinn (born July 28, 1954) is an American journalist, music critic, and teacher. Kozinn received bachelor's degrees in music and journalism from Syracuse University in 1976. He began freelancing as a critic and music feature writer for ''T ...

and documentarian and writer Adrian Sinclair. Volume 1 of the series, covering the years 1969–1973, was released on 13 December 2022. A second volume, covering 1974–1980, was released on 10 December 2024.https://twitter.com/McCARTNEYLEGACY/status/1770918385724912111 The project was influenced, in part, and inspired by the work of Beatles historian

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, author of '' The Beatles: All These Years'' series. McCartney did not participate in the project but did not discourage others from giving interviews, such as former

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

drummer

Denny Seiwell Denny Seiwell (born July 10, 1943) is an American drummer and a founding member of the rock band Wings. He also drummed for Billy Joel and Liza Minnelli and played in the scores for the films ''Waterworld'', ''Grease 2'', and '' Vertical Lim ...

and filmmaker Sir Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Volume 1 was received favorably in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as a "well-planned encore" to McCartney's 2021 semi-autobiographical work, '' The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present''. The book was also heralded by the British music press, receiving 5/5 from ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'' magazine's Jamie Atkins, 9/10 from ''Uncut'' magazine's Jim Wirth, 8/10 from ''Classic Rock'' magazine's Hugh Fielder, and 4/5 from ''Mojo'' magazine's Tom Doyle. Music scholar

Kenneth Womack Kenneth Womack (born January 24, 1966) is an American writer, literary critic, public speaker, and music historian, particularly focusing on the cultural influence of the Beatles. He is the author of the bestselling ''Solid State: The Story of ...

praised it as "a triumph. Masterful in scope and full of rich detail." In ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'',

Daniel Finkelstein Daniel William Finkelstein, Baron Finkelstein, (born 30 August 1962) is a British journalist, author, political advisor and politician. He is a former executive editor of ''The Times,'' where he remains a weekly political columnist, and has be ...

gave a mixed review, complaining that it was too long and was a substandard "imitator" of Lewisohn's work, while praising the depth of research. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' gave a mixed review, offering that the book was "often compelling", but also "so exhaustive it's almost like swimming through treacle to get to something that little bit more interesting". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' writer

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Blen ...

described the book as a "comprehensive, painstaking, dazzling and definitive chronicle." Lewisohn praised the book as an "accurate biography of a universal explorer."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCartney Legacy, The 2022 non-fiction books Books about the Beatles English non-fiction books Multi-volume biographies