This was at the request of the publishers. I could easily have made all four volumes of equal length, but publishers generally
have their way. For instance, with 'Liverpool Bigger Than The Beatles' I was asked to produce 135,000 words, which I did. The book was supposed to be a large book with photos on every page. Due to the recession the publishers told me to cut the book to 95,000 words and it became a paperback with just a handful of pictures. People often complain to me that the Beatles Encyclopedia has no index - but the publishers didn't want want one and cut 40,000 words out of the book anyway - and lost all my colour transparencies of the Beatles. The publishers of my original Mersey Beat book borrowed all my copies. When I asked for them back they said they were in the storeroom. When I went there, half the copies were missing, including Issue no. 13, and I've never been able to collate a full set ever since.