I agree that Spitz comes off as a pompous ass in public and in interviews and his mistakes in his book, though minor, were foolish to make, but Bobber is way way way way off on this book...
As an earlier poster stated, his research and detail of the early Beatles was interesting and often fascinating while he broke new angles and information...
Jema...I've just completed my 33rd Beatles book in the past three or four years and here's what I would recommend...
Geoff Emerick's "Here There and Everywhere." --he whines a lot and can be overly sensitive, but he was in the recording studio when it all happened and he didn't hold anything back as he didn't particularly like the Beatles personally...
Spitz' The Beatles...horrible name and lots of mistakes (though minor) but great detail into the early Beatles. Definitely one of the best...
Anthology...the Beatles tell their story, but though they're usually brutally honest, they won't tell you the good stuff.
Tony Bramwell's 'Magical Mystery Tours."--Bramwell was there nearly everywhere and he tells everything, home and on the road.
Doggett's, "You Never Give Me Your Money"...Somehow, the author takes the subject of the Beatles' breakup and the money involved after the breakup in the ugly 70s and makes it easy to read. Very detailed, too.
Seamann's "The Final Days of John Lennon." ...He undoes Yoko's brainwashing to Beatle fans and tells what Lennon was really like...He needed lots of help.
Miles' , "Many Years Ago." ...Based on McCartney interviews. Paul seemed to be brutally honest in this.
Anything by Mark Lewisohn...Usually reference-based books...Amazingly good stuff, always.
Cynthia Lennon's books...Whatever they're called. They were both quite good.
Goldman's 'The Lives of John Lennon.' ...Lennonists hate this book, but I have the feeling there's a whole lotta fact here. Hard to put down, either way.
AVOID
May Pang's book...A couple of interesting chapters on John's lost weekend (and, god was he pathetic along with Ringo), but she's a dimwit and thinks we have interest in her life...
Larry Kane's Ticket to Ride....repeats itself over and over. You can tell he's a Ted Baxter type broadcaster...like the movie 'Ground Hog Day," which was too bad since he had excellent access to the group.
Allan Williams' book....Williams was just goofy.
Anything recommended by Yoko Ono....She couldn't stand Lennon and now all she wants to do is prop him up to save her income.