'The Closest Thing in History' explores the surprising similarities that exist between the biggest band in music – The Beatles – and another Fab Four – the Younger Romantic Poets – Keats, Byron, Leigh Hunt and Shelley – who were responsible for shaking up the cultural zeitgeist in the early nineteenth century.Opening with chapters that lay out some broad similarities between the two groups, the author shows how their respective inspirations – William Wordsworth and Elvis Presley – later turned on their young rivals; how both groups had remarkably similar experiences of artistic inspiration, and why Lord Byron’s rise to fame had much in common with Beatlemania.The middle section then examines the interactions between the Romantics, assessing parallels with The Beatles as the tale proceeds. The scene is then set for the book’s final section, which traces the cultural journey from the Romantics’ time to that of the Beatles, and argues that the popular energy of poetry has largely passed into the new medium of rock ‘n’ roll.Finally, a question to which this book can give a uniquely informed answer: if the two groups really were equivalents, what could the Romantics’ legacy tell us about the Beatles’ historical significance?