Tell-all books by Beatles insiders have become as numerous and indistinguishable as hairs on a Beatle wig. But Kane's journalist's eye--he was the only American reporter to travel with the group for every stop of their 1964 and 1965 tours--sets this one apart. There had never been a cultural phenomenon to match Beatlemania--and nothing has quite equaled it since--and Kane vividly portrays its familiar trappings, from riotous fans whose screaming drowned out the music to chaotic postconcert escapes. More fascinating are Kane's behind-the-scenes views of "the boys," extracted from many interviews (excerpted on an accompanying CD), that disclose, for example, that Kane managed to insult John Lennon during their initial meeting--and wound up eliciting eloquent criticism of the war in Vietnam. Kane gradually fell for the music, and he provides valuable perspective on the performances, which are often neglected in other Beatles tour accounts. Less successful are Kane's attempted pontifications on the band as a harbinger of '60s dissent. Terrific fly-on-the-wall stuff about a unique pop-cultural event