Another surprise present from my lovely wife. Before I started reading I thought it would be about slogging through the First Age chapters before getting to the good stuff on the Third Age – with Tolkien I read everything, even the appendixes. However, I was surprised – the First Age chapters were actually very enjoyable and the Third Age parts were not as good. Having said that though, the best story in the book is the background to the Hobbit. I still think it was amazing that the whole future of Middle Earth decided on a chance meeting in Bree. Excellent read. Now I might have to look at the Silmarillion!!