John Lennon: A Life from Beginning to End

by Hourly History

John Lennon is often known as the rebellious, troubled Beatle as if his disposition was just a bit gloomier than the rest. Lennon did indeed have his struggles in life. He was raised by an austere and controlling aunt and barely knew his own mother and father. As a result, he grew up with a serious need for love, affection, and attention. It was this desire for recognition that would drive Lennon to reach for the stars. Come along as we explore the life and legend of John Lennon, from his troubled childhood in Liverpool to his superstardom with the Beatles and eventual assassination in 1980.

Genres: Biography, Music, History, Nonfiction

42 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 21, 2021

About the author

At Hourly History, we focus on publishing history books that are concise, straightforward and take no longer than one hour to read.

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Reviews

[Apollo Hesiod]

John Lennon: A Life from Beginning to End

It was a good book, wish it was more about Lennon instead of the Beatles. Its still a good read for any music lover.

[Lynn]

John Lennon: Barely a Footnote

There are several short biographies of famous classic rock and roll artists on Kindle, and if you don’t mind getting the footnotes version, this might be for you. The problem with shortened version is that the part that it shortened the most is the part we all care the most about, his music career with the Beatles.

This biography tells us about his troubled childhood and his promiscuous mother, his parents divorce, and his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George ultimately taking control of his care. We also know that despite finding out that his mother never coming to visit despite living nearby, John adored her. John’s mother Julia died being hit by a car as she crossed a dark street at night, and John was devastated.

John’s childhood and his time in school is covered in great detail, and how he met Paul McCartney and how it was John’s friend Pete who asked Paul to join their band. Then we never learn how they meet George Harrison, he just magically appears in one of their bands. We hear about Pete Best, but Ringo never shows up.

I get that this biography wasn’t about the Beatles, it was about John Lennon, but it was really their music that defined them, so I can’t give this biography more than two stars.

[Amudhini]

Beneath the eccentric, witty and complex man was nothing more than a scared, misunderstood and brilliant little boy who just wanted love.

[Jennifer Freedman]

Falls short

Quite superficial and the quality of the writing is very low. Finished reading without feeling like I learned anything new.

[Robert]

I enjoyed this. I think the hourly histories on musicians and actors are better than the ones on political figures and scientists. Probably because it's easier to explain a popular artist's life than to dissect a political career or explain scientific concepts.

Four major things that stood out to me:

(1) Childhood

I really had no idea that Lennon's childhood was so chaotic. I wonder if that had a major impact on his personality as an adult? I tend to think so (but I can't prove it). With a very stable rock solid family situation, I think he would still have been very creative, open minded, outgoing but probably a bit more solid and settled down. Just a bit less dramatic and more level headed.

(2) How music affects people

I was thinking of how the Beatles were so wildly popular at their peak, with crowds screaming and people fainting, and as I tend to be a coldly rational person so it's a good reminder that things like music can sometimes affect people in a way that is really powerful and hard to rationally analyze. I mean here we are 60 years later and not only are we still talking about the Beatles, but we still have really strong feelings about them.

(3) Life Cut Short

Lennon died when he was 40. I am now in my mid 40s. Reading about people who died "young" (any age before 80 is young I think) hits harder now. Being the person that he was he would probably have done a lot of interesting stuff and continued experimenting and innovating. And of course on a personal level he would have done a lot of living. He would only have been 83 as of today, a perfectly respectable age, with a lot left to give.

Trivia: I didn't know that the Beatles stopped touring after the "More popular than Jesus" comment. That comment was typical Lennon. Loud mouthed, unnecessary, but very much like him.

Reading this made me want to read a bit more about how music changed from the 50 to the 60s. The reasons why it changed and what it meant from a musical and business and cultural point of view. I know this was the age of rock and roll, and youth culture etc. and overall a big change from the prewar era, but I don't know much about the details.

[Terri]

I learned a lot about John Lennon's early life in this short biography. John's childhood was heartbreaking. I knew previously that he was mostly raised by his aunt but I had no idea that at age five John was forced to choose between his mother and father. I also did not understand before reading this book that one of the bonds between Paul McCartney and John Lennon was the fact that their mothers had both died at an early age. Another thing I learned is John's first born son was named Julian because John's deceased mother was Julia. This biography deals briefly about how the Beatles met but the book mostly skims over the Beatle years of fame. John's later years and death is only a brief summary.

[Bonnie Gleckler Clark]

You think you know a great deal about the Beatles, but…

There’s much more to come, especially with regard to John Lennon. My sister-in-law had the good fortune to see the Beatles live in New York when they hit the US, I believe it was 1965. But long before that, as a high school teenager I found their music exciting to listen to. I must admit some of it was quite simple and therefore easy to understand. However, I must tell you that my favorite album was probably “Sergeant peppers lonely hearts club band“.
I need a little of John Lennon’s life, but now though not an expert, I feel like I understand where he came from and how he got to be where he got to be.

[William C. Sneed]

The Unique Life of John Lennon

There is always something new to learn about the life of John Lennon and his charismatic life style revealed through his music. This book tells the rest of the story.

[David Parker]

Gone but not Forgotten

I’ve just recently red the biographies of the three: John, Paul and George. It interesting how unknown artists most from lower economic class are able to transcend social barriers and become a part of pseudo aristocracy.

[coli james campbell]

A1GREAT

Just asmall point John would have sat th11+£xam if he passed hewould gtao grammar school he failed so he would go to secodry modern school like everyone who failed t11+ bureaenjoyed the book things I did not know if

[Kimberly]

Empty Garden, hey hey Johnny

He was a musical genius but was a complete @$$hole as a person, when he wanted to be. Unfaithful to girlfriends, wives, son, friends. He didn't deserve to be shot to death. It's still sad to think about.

[Crystal]

John Lennon

Another concise overview of a person or event. Hourly history jumps in and gets to the point. They don’t overly focus on the facts that are widely known, but give a glimpse of the happenings behind the curtain.

[Neera Kapahi]

I am a fan of the Beatles music and found the biography of a John Lennon very interesting. It is remarkable how as a youngster he seemed to drift along aimlessly and later became one of the most famous musicians of his time.

[Bro Kenneth]

Thiz book is a great summary

I have previously read other books about the life of John Lennon and find that this a fine summary of that material.

[tom bush]

Lennon

Good book but it was way too short need more info on john Lennon and his talented bandages the end.

[George Polansky]

A brief biography of John Lennon . A good place to start.

[Guy]

Interesting.
Thanks for a casual walk through life of a Beetle

[Robin Dix]

Good information but the book seemed quite rushed towards the end.

[Aliki]

really interesting and discovered alot about the life and the complex character of this fascinating man

[Michael W. Gray Gray]

Lackluster retelling

There’s nothing new here it’s mostly a retelling of things that have been reported on before. The telling of the early years is more hearsay then facts.

[PIETER]

This book filled in a lot that I didn't know about John Lennon and the Beatles. I particularly liked the attention paid to the earliest formation of the band before Beatlemania became a thing.

[Autumn Kearney]

Sadly, someone so talented, rich, and famous can be so unhappy for most of his brief life. He seemed happy at the end. I hope that he truly was in a peaceful state.

[Tess Ailshire]

This was fine as far as Lennon's life up to a point. After a certain point, it treats Lennon as if everyone knows his story and therefore there's no point to telling it.

Is there not enough reference material to paraphrase and put forth? I doubt that, though the effort for the latter part of his life would have actually taken work.