George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle

Philip Norman's revealing portrait of George Harrison, the most enigmatic and often overlooked Beatle, offers a fully realised account of a complex individual. As The Times noted in their Book of the Year selection, Harrison was both spiritual yet peevish, brilliantly talented yet perpetually in the shadow of the Lennon/McCartney axis. Norman, the acclaimed author behind the million-selling Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation and the bestselling John Lennon: The Life, charts the intriguing contradictions of Harrison's life, as highlighted by the Daily Mail.

Despite recognition as one of his era's finest guitarists, Harrison grappled with feelings of inferiority, particularly in his early years. Often the target of his bandmates' humour due to his working-class background, he typically had only one or two of his numerous compositions included on each Beatles album. Norman now examines Harrison through the lens of his many self-contradictions.

Though viewed as a lesser talent compared to songwriting giants John Lennon and Paul McCartney, he penned masterpieces such as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun," and his solo debut album, All Things Must Pass, achieved enormous success, frequently appearing on lists of the greatest rock albums. Contemporary music critics now place him alongside Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, and Jimmy Page in the pantheon of Sixties guitar gods.

Harrison, a man who railed against materialism, ironically wrote the first pop song protesting income tax. He dedicated years to lovingly restoring his Friar Park estate as a spiritual pursuit, yet swiftly mortgaged the property to aid a film project widely condemned as sacrilegious: Monty Python's Life of Brian. Capable of fierce jealousy, Harrison nonetheless maintained his friendship with Eric Clapton, even growing closer after Clapton fell in love with and ultimately left with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd.

Unprecedented in its scope and featuring numerous colour photographs, this rich biography captures George Harrison in all his multifaceted glory: devoted friend, loyal son, master guitar-player, brilliant songwriter, cocaine addict, serial philanderer, global philanthropist, student of Indian mysticism, self-deprecating comedian, and ultimately, an iconic artist and a man beloved by millions.