Well before the rest of the world caught up with them, the Beatles were big news in their Liverpool, England hometown. For evidence of that, check out Mersey Beat—The Beginnings of the Beatles, which contains replica pages from 1961–64 issues of that city’s famed Mersey Beat music paper. Its fascinating articles about and advertisements for the group’s earliest concerts combine with prose from fledgling writers John Lennon and Paul McCartney to make the volume a noteworthy addition to the shelf of any Beatlemaniac. Kudos to editor Billy Harry.