| The McCartney Legacy | |
| Author: | Allan Kozinn, Adrian Sinclair |
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Genre: | Biography |
| Pub Date: | 13 December 2022 |
| Media Type: | |
| Pages: | 720 |
| Isbn: | 978-0-063-00072-8 |
| Subject: | Paul McCartney |
The McCartney Legacy is a biographical book series about the post-Beatles musical career of Paul McCartney, written by music journalist Allan Kozinn and documentarian and writer Adrian Sinclair. Volume 1 of the series, covering the years 1969–1973, was released on 13 December 2022. A second volume, covering 1974–1980, is planned for release on 10 December 2024.[1] The project was influenced, in part, and inspired by the work of Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, author of series.[2] [3] McCartney did not participate in the project but did not discourage others from giving interviews, such as former Wings drummer Denny Seiwell[4] and filmmaker Sir Michael Lindsay-Hogg.
Volume 1 was received favorably in The New York Times as a "well-planned encore" to McCartney's 2021 semi-autobiographical work, . The book was also heralded by the British music press, receiving 5/5 from Record Collector magazine's Jamie Atkins, 9/10 from Uncut magazine's Jim Wirth, 8/10 from Classic Rock magazine's Hugh Fielder, and 4/5 from Mojo magazine's Tom Doyle. Music scholar Kenneth Womack praised it as "a triumph. Masterful in scope and full of rich detail."[5] In The Times, Daniel Finkelstein gave a mixed review, complaining that it was too long and was a substandard "imitator" of Lewisohn's work, while praising the depth of research.[6] The Irish Times gave a mixed review, offering that the book was "often compelling", but also "so exhaustive it's almost like swimming through treacle to get to something that little bit more interesting".[7] Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield described the book as a "comprehensive, painstaking, dazzling and definitive chronicle."[8] Lewisohn praised the book as an "accurate biography of a universal explorer."[9]