Few attempts have been made to arrive at a sober assessment of Tolkien's achievement as a literary artist, and even fewer to define for him a place in 20th century literature. This book provides an introduction to Tolkien's work which also aims to redress these deficiencies in earlier criticism. Two chapters are devoted to "The Lord of the Rings", while a third explores the bewildering profusion of shorter works and the last considers the significance of Tolkien's life and career in the century of modernism. This book is designed to be of interest to students of literature and language.

This comprehensive and discriminating account of Tolkien's work has been revised and expanded to take account both of recent developments in scholarship, and of the recent films directed by Peter Jackson. Tracing the development of Tolkien's creative technique over several decades, it explores the bewildering profusion of shorter works, as well as devoting an extended analysis to The Lord of the Rings. Chapters consider Tolkien's contribution to the history of ideas, and review the critical reception of the Lord of the Rings film adaptations and other popular adaptations of his work.

Few attempts have been made to arrive at a sober assessment of Tolkien's achievement as a literary artist, and even fewer to define a place for him in twentieth-century literature. This book is a comprehensive and discriminating introduction to Tolkien's work which also aims to redress these deficiencies in earlier criticism. Two chapters are devoted to The Lord of the Rings: a third explores the bewildering profusion of shorter works; the last considers the significance of Tolkien's life and career in the century of modernism.