The Closest Thing In History By John Webster Asks Who Were The Original Fab Four?

On The Table Read Magazine, “the best entertainment eBook magazine UK“, John Webster’s new book, The Closest Thing In History, explores the surprising parallels between the Beatles and the Younger Romantic Poets, highlighting the enduring impact of these cultural icons.

The Closest Thing In History

In his thought-provoking new book, John Webster draws intriguing parallels between two seemingly disparate cultural forces: The Beatles and the Younger Romantic Poets. By examining the similarities between these influential groups, Webster offers a fresh perspective on the enduring impact of both.

Webster argues that both the Beatles and the Romantic poets were pioneers of their respective eras, galvanizing cultural change and inspiring new generations. He explores how Lord Byron’s early fame foreshadowed Beatlemania, how John Keats faced personal challenges similar to those faced by John Lennon, and even how the poets’ collaborative efforts mirrored the formation of the Beatles’ Apple Corps.

Webster’s insightful analysis challenges the notion that the Beatles were a one-of-a-kind phenomenon. By highlighting the shared characteristics and experiences of these two groups, he suggests that the Romantics’ legacy offers valuable insights into the enduring power of music and literature.

The Closest Thing In History is a must-read for anyone interested in music, poetry, and the cultural forces that shape our world.

John Webster

Growing up with the Beatles and feeling bereft when they split up, I found another source of inspiration in the Romantic poets in the mid-1970s, which eased that sense of loss. The process of getting to know them involved encounters with a wonderful array of scholars and writers, not only knowledgeable about their particular poet but also about their social and political environment. It will be a great pleasure to me if this book can introduce some of these scholars whose fascinating and canny work I am hugely indebted to.

I am also indebted to contemporary internet bloggers and Beatles websites for providing information and insights: an intensive immersion in episodes from Chris Shaw’s ‘I am the Eggpod’ podcast in particular let me into a huge range of perspectives on the Beatles. It was particularly fascinating to hear the different processes by which new generations had encountered the group, giving an insight into the Beatles’ staying power and enduring appeal. And when the cultural historian John Higgs said that the Beatles were a ‘transcendent, culture-shifting’ force he put his finger on the key quality that unites them and distinguishes them from other musicians and poets.

The mass media world we now inhabit can be seen as an exploded diagram of the world of the Romantics, with the Beatles an exploded version of the earlier poets. Much has changed, but should the overall assumption behind this book, an intuition that rock ‘n’ roll has become a vehicle for popular poetic insights become clear, we will be left with the knowledge that Keats’s words – ‘The poetry of earth is never dead’ – still ring true.

-John Webster