Tolkien Gateway

The Road to Middle-earth

From Tolkien Gateway

The Road to Middle-earth
Image:The Road to Middle-earth - Revised and Expanded Edition.jpg
Author: Tom Shippey
Publication information:
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Released: June 24, 2003
Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
ISBN 0618257608
Purchase

[edit] From the publisher

The Road to Middle-earth, Tom Shippey's classic work, now revised in paperback, explores J.R.R. Tolkien's creativity and the sources of his inspiration. Shippey shows in detail how Tolkien's professional background led him to write The Hobbit and how he created a timeless charm for millions of readers. Examining the foundation of Tolkien's most popular work, The Lord of the Rings, Shippey also discusses the contribution of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales to Tolkien's great myth cycle, showing how Tolkien's more "difficult" books can be fully appreciated. He goes on to examine the remarkable twelve-volume History of Middle-earth, written by Tolkien's son and literary heir Christopher Tolkien, which traces the creative and technical processes by which Middle-earth evolved.