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The History Of Middle-Earth, Part Two: Monumental Epic Fantasy – The Complete Lord of the Rings Creation in Four Volumes with Lost Stories and Rare Illustrations
This new hardcover edition brings together volumes VI–IX of The History of Middle-earth—The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and Sauron Defeated—into one volume. Together these books give a fascinating and complete account of the writing of The Lord of the Rings, and provide the reader with numerous additional scenes, together with rare maps and illustrations, which never made it into the final book, including the epilogue in its entirety.
J.R.R. Tolkien is famous the world over for his unique literary creation, exemplified in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. What is less well known, however, is that he also produced a vast amount of further material that greatly expands upon the mythology and numerous stories of Middle-earth, and which gives added life to the thousand-year war between the Elves and the evil spirit Morgoth, and his terrifying lieutenant, Sauron.
It was to this enormous task of literary construction that Tolkien’s youngest son and literary heir, Christopher, applied himself to produce the monumental and endlessly fascinating series of twelve volumes, The History of Middle-earth.
J.R.R. Tolkien is famous the world over for his unique literary creation, exemplified in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. What is less well known, however, is that he also produced a vast amount of further material that greatly expands upon the mythology and numerous stories of Middle-earth, and which gives added life to the thousand-year war between the Elves and the evil spirit Morgoth, and his terrifying lieutenant, Sauron.
It was to this enormous task of literary construction that Tolkien’s youngest son and literary heir, Christopher, applied himself to produce the monumental and endlessly fascinating series of twelve volumes, The History of Middle-earth.
2032 pages, Hardcover
Published October 6, 2020
4 people are currently reading
374 people want to read
About the author
J.R.R. Tolkien
797 books77.9k followersJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.
Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.
Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.
Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.
Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 14, 2025
My view about Tolkien and his world-building epic endeavour is already explored in my review of The Lord of the Rings (in https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
So, what about The History of Middle Earth?
It’s not a narrative or even a historical account in the literal sense. It’s a compilation of additional information. It goes deeper than any of the books regarding detail and explanations. Aims to answer some obscure doubts and gives us precious unpublished material: Tolkien’s notes, alternative writing excerpts that didn’t end up in the books, and even some different narrative paths.
Christopher Tolkien collected all this material after his father’s death from his personal notes.
Obviously, the target audience is made up of the most dedicated fans.
It doesn’t make much sense to read the whole HoME from beginning to end, as we wouldn’t read an encyclopedia, but of course, it may feel right to some.
Besides all the information I found here, this work gave me a better notion of the scope and depth of Tolkien’s creation. We all perceive it, as I explained in my review of LOTR. But with the History of Middle Earth, we get a whole other level of proof.
This edition in 3 volumes includes the 12 books that form the body of HoME, each corresponding to a specific era or theme of his world:
- The Book of Lost Tales 1
- The Book of Lost Tales 2
- The Lays of Beleriand
- The Shaping of Middle-Earth
- The Lost Road and Other Writings
- The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1)
- The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2)
- The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3)
- Sauron Defeated (includes The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4)
- Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion v.1)
- The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion v.2)
- The Peoples of Middle-Earth
So, what about The History of Middle Earth?
It’s not a narrative or even a historical account in the literal sense. It’s a compilation of additional information. It goes deeper than any of the books regarding detail and explanations. Aims to answer some obscure doubts and gives us precious unpublished material: Tolkien’s notes, alternative writing excerpts that didn’t end up in the books, and even some different narrative paths.
Christopher Tolkien collected all this material after his father’s death from his personal notes.
Obviously, the target audience is made up of the most dedicated fans.
It doesn’t make much sense to read the whole HoME from beginning to end, as we wouldn’t read an encyclopedia, but of course, it may feel right to some.
Besides all the information I found here, this work gave me a better notion of the scope and depth of Tolkien’s creation. We all perceive it, as I explained in my review of LOTR. But with the History of Middle Earth, we get a whole other level of proof.
This edition in 3 volumes includes the 12 books that form the body of HoME, each corresponding to a specific era or theme of his world:
- The Book of Lost Tales 1
- The Book of Lost Tales 2
- The Lays of Beleriand
- The Shaping of Middle-Earth
- The Lost Road and Other Writings
- The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1)
- The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2)
- The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3)
- Sauron Defeated (includes The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4)
- Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion v.1)
- The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion v.2)
- The Peoples of Middle-Earth
Displaying 1 of 1 review