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Born in Bloemfontein in 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned in childhood, brought up in near-poverty and was thwarted in adolescent romance. He served in World War I, returning to become the Merton Professor of English at Oxford University. It was from the protected world of Oxford that he produced his fairy story The Hobbit in 1937, then in 1954 the remarkable book that would transform the land he had created in the Hobbit into a part of a whole world torn by magic and power that rivals the greatest epics of history - The Lord of the Rings.

It may have been a while since Tolkien's books were attracting attention the way they are again now thanks to the feature films of the Lord of the Rings, but this remarkable writer of academically inspired fantasy has never dropped out of popularity. Rowling may be the mistress of child-centred fantasy, but Tolkien invented intelligent sword and sorcery and remains the master.

One small personal observation - if you visit Oxford you'll notice a lot of the pubs (and Tolkien's circle met in a pub) are down narrow little alleys - it almost feels like you're going underground - and I can't help but feel these are the inspiration for the living environment of hobbits.

  The Hobbit -
Written for children, this book introduced a new fantasy figure to the world - the hobbit. Although there are strong fairy tale elements, which Tolkien suppressed in later books, the Hobbit is still the essential precursor to the Lord of the Rings and ought to be on the shelf of any LotR fan.  New 12 December 2001

  The Lord of the Rings -  
A unique work, this long book (around 200,000 words, usually split into three volumes) is THE definitive work of sword and sorcery fantasy and single-handedly dragged what had been something of a pulp fiction backwater into the light of intellectual acceptance. Whether you are a newcomer to Tolkien, meeting his work first through the film, or an old fantasy fan, this is the book that has to be on your shelf. I was stunned to hear someone on the radio refer to this is bad fiction - the characters may sometimes be heavily sketched, but Tolkien was only following an ancient tradition. The particular format of the book we've selected is our favourite, but there are many more options at the Amazon.co.uk Tolkien shop or the Amazon.com Tolkien store. Oh and don't forget the DVD! New 12 December 2001

  The Silmarillion  

When the Lord of the Rings rocketed to huge success in the 60s and 70s, Tolkien was put under pressure to reveal more of the history of Middle Earth. He had many jottings and half formed documents and these were pieced together by Tolkien himself and later by his son Christopher to produce a whole host of Middle Earth extras. None of them were as readable as the Lord of the Rings, but the Silmarillion, which fills in the history of many of the characters of Middle Earth in the manner of a mythical history is the most accessible.   New 12 December 2001

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