What should I do to familiarise myself with the Metal Gear Universe? I want to play MGS4. .

I'm not interested in playing the other games in the series, TBH. I have a lot of games on my plate right now. .

I was more interested in a way I could learn the story of Metal Gear Solid WITHOUT playing the games. A novelisation or YouTube longplay perhaps?

If any Metal Gear fans could point me in the right direction, that would be great. :D