Revealing the horror and heroism Tolkien experienced in World War I, the author argues that Tolkien transformed the cataclysm of his generation while many of his contemporaries surrendered to disillusionment. -- Library Journal A labor of love in which jour. -- Charles Matthews, San Jose Mercury News Gripping from start to finish and offers important new insights. -- Tom Shippey Somewhere, I think, Tolkien is nodding in appreciation. -- Max Hastings It is a strange story that Garth tells, but he tells it clearly and compellingly.
Garth displays impressive skills both as researcher and writer. . .
Wilson A highly intelligent book .
N. -- A.
Tolkien that has yet been written.
Very much the best book about J.
R.
R.
This is the first substantially new biography of Tolkien since 1977, meticulously researched and distilled from his personal wartime papers and a multitude of other sources.
While his contemporaries surrendered to disillusionment, he kept enchantment alive, reshaping an entire literary tradition into a form that resonates to this day.
Tolkien used his mythic imagination not to escape from reality but to reflect and transform the cataclysm of his generation.
John Garth argues that the foundation of tragic experience in the First World War is the key to Middle-earth\'s enduring power.
It shows how, after two of these brilliant young men were killed, Tolkien pursued the dream they had all shared by launching his epic of good and evil.
This biography reveals the horror and heroism that he experienced as a signals officer in the Battle of the Somme and introduces the circle of friends who spurred his mythology to life.
Tolkien and the Great War tells for the first time the full story of how he embarked on the creation of Middle-Earth in his youth as the world around him was plunged into catastrophe.
Tolkien responded to critics who saw The Lord of the Rings as a reaction to the Second World War.
So J.
R.
R.
By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead. . .
Tolkien\'s wartime experiences and their impact on his life and his writing of The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings.
To be caught in youth by 1914 was no less hideous an experience than in 1939 .
Wilson), this award-winning biography explores J.
R.
R.
N.
Tolkien (A. * Tolkien * Now a major motion picture *Acclaimed as the best book about J.
R.
R.
Revealing the horror and heroism Tolkien experienced in World War I, the author argues that Tolkien transformed the cataclysm of his generation while many of his contemporaries surrendered to disillusionment
