Tolkien and the Peril of War

by Robert S. Blackham

How the Great War impacted Tolkien's life and work

 

J.R.R. Tolkien’s experiences of the Battle of the Somme forever imprinted on his mind, and became a dramatic source of inspiration for The Lord of the Rings . This absorbing book charts Tolkien's life from 1914 to 1918, using old postcards, maps, and photographs to paint a picture of the places and times that relate to one of the leading authors of the 20th century. Tolkien joined the army in 1915 and trained in Bedford and Brocton Camp on Cannock Chase while his wife lived in the village of Great Haywood, close to the camp. A number of the places in and around Great Haywood were destined to appear in his later works. In 1916 Tolkien learned of the death of two of his school friends in the bloody Battle of the Somme. He contracted Trench Fever in late October 1916 and returned to Birmingham, his hometown, by hospital ship and train. The final part of the book covers his time in England, an era in which he was blighted by illness. Richly illustrated, this fascinating volume is an essential purchase for Tolkien-lovers everywhere.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this was a disappointment.

The bare bones of Tolkien's wartime experience are outlined here, but other than the plain facts about where he was at what time and what happened to him and his unit, there's not much depth. After serving as a communications officer at the front during the Battle of the Somme and shortly afterwards, he got sick and was convalescing, mostly in England, for the remainder of the war.

The book is largely filled with period photographs and sketches of the scenes described. There are more photos of Tolkien's brother than there are of him. The multitude of pages of photos means the length of the text is sparse. What text there is, is filled with qualifiers about what Tolkien might have thought, and possible connections between what he saw and what's in his writing. There are way too many “perhaps”, “maybe”, “it could be”, “possibly”, and hedging of that kind.

I'm guessing that the one page bibliography in the back has references to better books than this one to describe Tolkien's experiences in the Great War (as it was known at the time).

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

For something that was "Tolkien and the Peril of War" I guess I expected a bit more to it. There were a lot of pictures (really too many, and not all contextualized to the narrative) and it seemed like there wasn't that much time that he actually spent in France on or near the front lines. Not that it lessens his experience but I suppose I expected more of his experience of war and less of his experience training and hopping around convalescent homes after he got Trench Fever. Interjected in that was a lot of author input (guessing how he/others felt about this, maybe this was the inspiration of this part of LOTR, it must have been like this...) Coming from a history background I found it annoying but perhaps it's a minor point. I think I just expected it to be better than it was. Wouldn't recommend.

[Kendall Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

While a somewhat informative book on Tolkien's experiences during the war, it is less about examining the effects of the war on Tolkien's writings and how they are evident in his work than a general biography, only some of which is about Tolkien's time at war, with a few passages from Lord of the Rings pasted in here and there. The book is full of unnecessary and at times barely relevant pictures, as well as strange interjections about Tolkien's thoughts on inconsequential things, such as a statue perhaps reminding him of his time at Oxford and an aspect of the military camp that he disliked. The author spends more time explaining general details and processes of the war than is strictly necessary than Tolkien's writings, either during or influenced by the war. This, on top of a bland and meandering writing style, leaves the reader uninterested and weary with about the same amount of useful knowledge as could be obtained in far less time than it takes to make it to the end of the book.