An illustrated journey into the life and imagination of one of the world's best-loved authors, Tolkien's Worlds provides a unique exploration of the relationship between the real and the fantastical and is an essential companion for anyone who wants to follow in Tolkien's footsteps.

How the First World War influenced the author of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy: “Very much the best book about J.R.R. Tolkien that has yet been written.” —A. N. Wilson As Europe plunged into World War I, J. R. R. Tolkien was a student at Oxford and part of a cohort of literary-minded friends who had wide-ranging conversations in their Tea Club and Barrovian Society. After finishing his degree, Tolkien experienced the horrors of the Great War as a signal officer in the Battle of the Somme, where two of those school friends died. All the while, he was hard at work on an original mythology that would become the basis of his literary masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In this biographical study, drawn in part from Tolkien’s personal wartime papers, John Garth traces the development of the author’s work during this critical period. He shows how the deaths of two comrades compelled Tolkien to pursue the dream they had shared, and argues that the young man used his imagination not to escape from reality—but to transform the cataclysm of his generation. While Tolkien’s contemporaries surrendered to disillusionment, he kept enchantment alive, reshaping an entire literary tradition into a form that resonates to this day. “Garth’s fine study should have a major audience among serious students of Tolkien.” —Publishers Weekly “A highly intelligent book . . . Garth displays impressive skills both as researcher and writer.” —Max Hastings, author of The Secret War “Somewhere, I think, Tolkien is nodding in appreciation.” —San Jose Mercury News “A labour of love in which journalist Garth combines a newsman’s nose for a good story with a scholar’s scrupulous attention to detail . . . Brilliantly argued.” —Daily Mail (UK) “Gripping from start to finish and offers important new insights.” —Library Journal “Insight into how a writer turned academia into art, how deeply friendship supports and wounds us, and how the death and disillusionment that characterized World War I inspired Tolkien’s lush saga.” —Detroit Free Press

The Master of the Rings takes a look at the man himself, where he came from, what influenced his writing, and what themes unite his major works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Ages 12+

Middle Earth, Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo: The places and characters that sprang from the mind of J.R.R. Tolkien will live forever in the imaginations of millions of readers. In Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards, Michael Stanton, a scholar of science fiction and fantasy literature, offers an extraordinary encounter with The Lord of the Rings. Believing that there is no epic of contemporary literature to match The Lord of the Rings, Stanton delves critically into the richness of the story. He explores the intricacies of its dialogue and illuminates the idiosyncratic nature of it characters. He looks at places, dreams, notions of time and history. Eschewing academic jargon, Stanton provides an intriguing look at Tolkien's fantasyscape that ultimately shows how all of these parts meld into a singularly compelling work of art that lives and breathes. For those who have read and loved The Lord of the Rings, Stanton embarks on an exploration of Tolkien's genius, painting a rich and wonderful critical portrait of the world he created, a portrait that no one who truly hopes to understand Tolkien's vision will want to be without.

Tolkien's works have inspired artists for generations and have given rise to myriad interpretations of the rich and magical worlds he created. The Illustrated World of Tolkien gathers together artworks and essays from expert illustrators, painters and etchers, and fascinating and scholarly writing from renowned Tolkien expert David Day, and is an exquisite reference guide for any fan of Tolkien's work, Tolkien's world and the imaginative brilliance his vision inspired.

Each painting is accompanied by a page of text drawn from the work that inspired it, describing the scene the artist has chosen to illustrate.

One wonders whether there really is a need for another volume of essays on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Clearly there is. Especially when the volume takes new directions, employs new approaches, focuses on different texts, or reviews and then challenges received wisdom. This volume intends to do all that. The entries on sources and analogues in The Lord of the Rings, a favorite topic, are still able to take new directions. The analyses of Tolkien’s literary art, less common in Tolkien criticism, focus on character—especially that of Tom Bombadil—in which two different conclusions are reached. But characterization is also seen in the light of different literary techniques, motifs, and symbols. A unique contribution examines the place of linguistics in Tolkien’s literary art, employing Gricean concepts in an analysis of The Lay of the Children of Húrin. And a quite timely essay presents a new interpretation of Tolkien’s attitude toward the environment, especially in the character of Tom Bombadil. In sum, this volume covers new ground, and treads some well-worn paths; but here the well-worn path takes a new turn, taking not only scholars but general readers further into the complex and provocative world of Middle-earth, and beyond.

A novel of magic, birds, lost letters and love. Sydney, 1929: three people find themselves washed up on the steps of Miss Du Maurier's bohemian boarding house in a once grand terrace in Newtown. Ari is a young Jewish man, a pogrom orphan, who lives under the stern rule of his rabbi uncle, but dreams his father is Houdini. Upon his hand he bears a forbidden mark - a tattoo - and has a secret ambition to be a magician. Finding an injured parrot one day on the street, Ari is unsure of how to care for it, until he meets young runaway Lily, a glimmering girl after his own abracadabra heart. Together they form a magical act, but their lives take a strange twist when wild card Billy, a charming and dangerous drifter twisted by the war, can no longer harbour secret desires of his own. The Bird's Child is a feat of sleight-of-hand. Birds speak, keys appear from nowhere, boxes spill secrets and the dead talk. this is a magical, stunningly original, irresistible novel - both an achingly beautiful love story and a slowly unfurling mystery of belonging. 'A wonderful, strange, glittering book, full of astounding imagination, glorious really.' Edward Carey, author of Heap House 'A shimmering dream of haunted pasts. A silver girl. Abandoned boys. All the magic of the stage. The Bird's Child is a delight.' Essie Fox, author of The Somnambulist The Bird's Child is entirely original, its familiar Sydney settings set asparkle and rendered dreamlike by Sandra Leigh Price's lyrical and lovely writing. This is a magical fable that penetrates to deep emotional truths.' Geraldine Brooks 'This debut novel brings 1920s Sydney to life through a fairytale lens, highlighting the city's romance, its magic and its mystery ... It is the Australian setting that sets this quirky historical romance apart from others of its genre. Price's dream-like portrayal of a bygone Sydney - with its vaudeville shows and opium dens, lyrebirds and swagmen - establishes a unique mood that transforms the local into the exotic, making The Bird's Child a memorable tale.' Australian Book Review 'Gritty yet enchanting ... often deliciously sumptuous and erotically charged ... unusual, imaginative' Newtown Review of Books 'Skilfully written and richly imagined' Sydney Morning Herald

Best known for his epic Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in British-occupied South Africa. His early life was full of action and adventure. Tolkien spent his childhood roaming the British countryside with his family and could read and write by age four. He was naturally gifted with languages and used this skill as a signals officer in World War I as well as in his fantasy writing. By creating alternate universes and inventing languages in his work he demonstrated that imaginary realms were not just for children. Fondly remembered as the “Father of High Fantasy,” Tolkien’s books have inspired blockbuster movies and legions of fans.