The Beatles' lives and work continue to delight fans and influence musicians half a century since their heyday. Yet their contribution to contemporary culture and their relationship to social change remain controversial topics in need of reappraisal. This collection brings together fourteen leading scholars of The Beatles to examine their origins, output and legacy. Interdisciplinary in its approach and international is its outlook, The Beatles in Perspective: A Carnival of Light showcases the latest research by historians, literary critics, musicologists, sociologists, poets and cultural critics bringing new perspectives on The Beatles and their milieu which will interest academics and fans alike. The book explores the relationship between The Beatles and their times. It situates them in the changing class, gender and ethnic dynamics of postwar Britain, considers them as Liverpudlians and Orientalists and creative pioneers.