With his richly detailed world of Middle Earth and the epic tales he
told around it, J.R.R. Tolkien invented the modern fantasy novel. For
readers and students getting to grips with this world for the first
time, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Guide for the Perplexed is an essential guide
to the author's life and work.
The book helps readers explore:
- Tolkien's life and times
- Tolkien's mythical world
- The languages of Middle Earth
- The major works - The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
- Posthumously published writings - from The Silmarillion to the
recently discovered The Fall of Gondolin
With reference to adaptations of Tolkien's work including the Peter
Jackson films, notes on Tolkien's sources and surveys of key scholarly
and critical writings, this is an accessible and authoritative guide to
one of the 20th century's greatest and most popular writers.