Tolkien: A Biography

by Michael White

A comprehensive, authoritative, in depth and entertaining biography of one of the greatest and most influential fantasy authors in modern time, J.R.R. Tolkien.

In this informed an entertaining account, renowned biographer Michael White delves into the little-known life of one of the most treasured and enduring authors of our time, J.R.R. Tolkien.

In absorbing and revealing detail, White describes Tolkien's life — from his childhood years and the tragic early death of his parents; his burgeoning romance with Edith Brett; fighting on the front lines in WWI; his many years as an Oxford academic, where the idea of the Hobbit struck him while marking a term paper; to his friendship with C.S. Lewis and the founding of the group "The Inklings"; and why The Lord of the Rings became the most influential book in the late sixties counter-culture, one of the most respected and most-read trilogies ever written, and the center of a major film phenomenon.

With 16 pages of black and white photos.

Author Biography: Michael White has been a science editor of British GQ, a columnist for the Sunday Express in London and, in a previous incarnation, he was a member of the Thompson Twins (1982).

Between 1984 and 1991 he was a science lecturer at d'Overbroeck's College in Oxford before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of more than twenty books.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, Historical, British Literature

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Michael White was a British writer who was based in Perth, Australia. He studied at King's College London (1977–1982) and was a chemistry lecturer at d'Overbroeck's College, Oxford (1984–1991).
He was a science editor of British GQ, a columnist for the Sunday Express in London and, 'in a previous incarnation', he was a member of Colour Me Pop. Colour Me Pop featured on the "Europe in the Year Zero" EP in 1982 with Yazoo and Sudeten Creche and he was then a member of the group The Thompson Twins (1982). He moved to Australia in 2002 and was made an Honorary Research Fellow at Curtin University in 2005.
He was the author of thirty-five books: these include Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science; Leonardo: The First Scientist; Tolkien: A Biography; and C. S. Lewis: The Boy Who Chronicled Narnia. His first novel Equinox – thriller, an occult mystery reached the Top Ten in the bestseller list in the UK and has been translated into 35 languages. His non-fiction production included the biography Galileo: Antichrist. Novels following Equinox include The Medici Secret, The Borgia Ring and The Art of Murder.
White wrote under two further names, Tom West and Sam Fisher. He used the latter pseudonym to publish the E-Force trilogy, State of Emergency, Aftershock, and Nano.
A further novel by White, The Venetian Detective, features characters including Galileo and Elizabeth.
White wrote a biography of Isaac Newton, The Last Sorcerer. He was both short-listed and long-listed for the Aventis prize. Rivals was short-listed in 2002, and The Fruits of War long-listed in 2006. He was also nominated for the Ned Kelly Prize for First Novel (for Equinox in 2007).

Reviews

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over 100 million copies of the Lord of the Rings and 60 million copies of the Hobbit have been sold around the world. Each of these books have been translated into 30 languages including Serbo-Croat, Icelandic, Hebrew and Russian.
Tolkien's works were a major component of 1960's hippie culture, and hundreds of Tolkien societies have flourished all over the world. With the release of the smash hit Lord of the Rings movie series, a new wave of Tolkienmania has swept the world, and a welcome development too. With the blurring of moral values we have seen in recent years, we need an influence that makes the distinction between good and evil, that shows that the forces of evil threatening the free world, do not have to win.

In this work, Michael White delves into hte life of the creator of Middle Earth, his birth in Bloemfontein, South Africa, the idyllic childhood in Sarehole, England ,and his mother's conversion to Catholic Church, and the tragic early death of his parents. Tolkien's Catholic faith would be a major part of his entire life.
The book covers the development of Tolkien's thought and literary tastes, his romance with Edith Bratt, who was to be his wife for over 50 years, his action in the British Army during the First World War, and his academic career, his long years as an Oxford Don and Professor of Anglo-Saxon.
It also covers the process behind the creation of Tolkien's most famous works, the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion, and his lifelong creation, the world of Middle Earth and the Undying Lands.
It also tells of his membership of the club the Inklings, which met for many years, in the pub, the Eagle and Child.
The book tells much of Tolkien's character and of the acclaim and criticism of Tolkien's work, including the recent malicious libel against 'Tolkien the racist', 'Tolkien the sexist' and 'Tolkien the fascist' , by narrow minded politically correct bigots.
Ultimately the massive following of Tolkien's works and the spin-offs they have inspired, speak for themselves.
Long live the spirit of JRR Tolkien.

[Mª João Monteiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biografia de Tolkien. Ficamos a saber como foi a vida do autor, um pouco da sua personalidade e como foi decorrendo a sua escrita. Não é muito interessante porque a vida de Tolkien também não o terá sido: foi uma vida difícil, sem pai desde os 5 e sem mãe desde a adolescência. Teve de esforçar para conseguir uma bolsa e poder continuar os estudos. Também foi difícil conseguir autorização para casar com Edith e, logo a seguir, veio a primeira guerra, em resultado da qual sofreu da doença das trincheiras.
A sua vida foi a de um académico em Oxford, Leeds e novamente em Oxford. Apesar do êxito de "O Hobbit" ser relativamente cedo, só depois dos 60 publicou a Trilogia do anel, sendo extremamente perfecionista no trabalho de escrita e um pouco ingénuo nas negociações de publicação. Creio que o final da sua vida foi confortável, mas alguém que criou um mundo tão gigantesco deveria ter vivido mais o encantamento que nos deixou.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent overview of the major events of Tolkien's life but nothing particularly insightful. Although it's billed as a critical life, there's nothing here resembling literary criticism. White's idea of a thoughtful response to the accusation that The Lord of the Rings is written for adolescent boys is to say, oh yeah? Well lots of girls read it, too, so there. Which rather misses the point. There are real answers to that accusation, but White doesn't provide them. The copyediting is terrible, and I wish someone would give White and his copyeditor (if the publisher hired one) a lesson in comma splices and the difference between uninterested and disinterested.

[Josep Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched book, although I hated the author's pseudo-psychoanalysis of Tolkien. No, Tolkien wasn't Catholic because some motherless trauma nor all the other claims the author makes. Sometimes people go to the restroom because they need to and not because their subconsciousness tells them to. Besides the Freudian inventions, there was one little problem: no, C.S Lewis didn't have an affair with the woman he lived with during his college years. Humprey Carpenter's research on this matter is much more complete and better overall.

Regardless, it was a good book and had a decent bibliography that gave me more material to read.

[Onírica · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé si será la mejor biografía de Tolkien, pues algunos datos no parecían muy contrastados, semejando más a opiniones personales del autor, pero ha sido un viaje atrayente por lo que sí sabía a verdad. La vida de este hombre, su personalidad y cómo creó sus grandes obras maestras son odiseas llenas de luces y sombras interesantes de conocer.

[Tom Willis · Rating 2 out of 5]

First things first: I am new to the biography game. This is part of my attempt to break into the business. I actually picked up this book probably sometime in high school, but didn't get around to reading it until this summer. Which has probably worked out for the best.

This was a bad biography. I am primarily comparing it to the bio of C. S. Lewis I read last summer by his friend George Sayer, which was a fantastic work. I really felt as if I had got into the mind of Lewis, and this was aided mostly by the numerous direct citations Sayer produced from Lewis himself and those who knew him. In this work Michael White offered the bare minimum of direct quotations from Tolkien and his acquaintances. While Sayer essentially presented his theories about Lewis' interior life and then supplied the evidence supporting it (and, when appropriate, alongside evidence against his theories), White simply makes boldface assertions about Tolkien's likes and dislikes (and, very very occasionally, his motivations). At no point am I sure whether I'm reading his own opinion, or certain fact, or biographical consensus. An easy example, which is not actually about Tolkien, is when White simply states that C. S. Lewis' relationship with his house-mate Mrs Moore was sexual and romantic, calling her his "mistress". Thankfully I had read Sayer's biography already and knew the arguments and evidence both for and against this hypothesis (for it is an hypothesis) and had already formed my own opinion based on the facts. White asserts this "fact" in passing. Having read no other biographies of Tolkien, I have no idea how many similar "facts" about the Professor he likewise asserts.

If I may make a guess, I would say that White has no real religious affiliation, certainly he is not a Catholic, and probably not an Anglican. This occurs to me for two reasons. He claims (well, he states it as if it is true) that Tolkien's religious fervor found its origin in his childhood, when he witnessed his widowed and newly-converted Catholic mother become ostracized by her Anglican relations and in-laws. It is entirely possible that Tolkien's faith was greatly a reaction against this, but I highly doubt that the man himself would have thought as much, and, although I have finished the book, am still left quite curious as to what he did think (or whether his thoughts on the subject are even recorded!)

The second reason is that, later in the book, when discussing the religious mileau of Tolkien's Middle-earth, White says that the Professor "imposed" various aspects of his Christian faith into his pagan universe. Again, I am left very suspicious as to whether or not Tolkien would agree with his biographer. White make brief mention of Tolkien's theory of mythology and Christianity and faery tale at the inception of his biography, but has apparently forgotten much of this subject by the time he reaches his analysis of the Lord of the Rings. It sounds just as bizarre to me to say that Tolkien "imposed" aspects of Christianity upon his pagan world as it would be to say that Saint Paul "imposed" his experiences of Jesus Christ onto the writings found in the Old Testament. Tolkien believed that the reality of the Triune God of Christianity shone through the pagan world just as much, or at least nearly as much, as it did through the Jewish world. Whether or not folk believed in Him, He still existed and exerted an influence, albeit an influence cloaked and hidden in the poetic or philosophical language of the time. So for elements of Christianity to be discernible in the pre-Christian world of Middle-earth should be no surprise (and certainly no imposition) given the knowledge that Tolkien believed that elements of Christianity were indeed discernible in the pre-Christian world of our Earth.

Moving on to the only part of this book that I enjoyed, I will say that I actually enjoyed reading White write about the Lord of the Rings. This book clearly came from a place of deep, deep love and respect for the book. It would seem that the publication of the Lord of the Rings is an actual miracle, given all the trouble Tolkien had with publishers. It is very easy to compare Tolkien with his cinematic counterpart, George Lucas, who likewise is notoriously cantankerous and tinkered almost obsessively with his works long after their release.

Tolkien is an intensely interesting figure. My interest is not lessened in the slightest given that I have cause to believe I would not enjoy spending time with him at all. I think the next biography I read will another Tolkien. I want to follow this rabbit hole as far as it goes.

[Ana on the Shelves]

I am sure that there are way better Tolkien biographies out there...

[Jim Syler · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book were to be summed up in one word, it would be: Shallow.

That doesn't mean that it's bad, necessarily, just that it is certainly nothing like an in-depth treatment. It bounces between considering Tolkien's life, his personality, and his work, without giving a truly satisfactory account of any of these.

This may be precisely what you want if you want a relatively brief and breezily-written overview of Tolkien, his life, and his work, but if you're looking for fodder for serious study, look elsewhere.

The best bits, in my opinion, are first, the discussion of his relationship with C.S. Lewis, and second, the first half of the last chapter, where he reviews the negative reactions Tolkien's work has received over the years.

But overall, I am disappointed in the work. I caught White in a couple of examples of shoddy scholarship (detailed below), and if I caught two, there are very likely more. In the Introduction, White implies that he will “[Question] Tolkien's inner drives [and try] to identify the man's personal demons.” He does this, I suppose, but it is in little bits interspersed among the larger context of Tolkien's life and work. White invokes Jung in the final words of the book; I think I would have vastly preferred an in-depth character study inside a framework of the chronology of his life and an overview of his work than a short work that gives all three aspects roughly equal time (including an obviously amateurish attempt at literary criticism). Who was this man? What sort of person could write such a masterpiece? White addresses these questions, true, but only in a scattered and disjointed way. I have Carpenter's more definitive biography on order; hopefully that will give me more of what I want.

Final verdict: If you want a fairly brief and easy to read overview of Tolkien's life, work and character, this book might just do the trick. Also, if you have read other biographies and are interested in a less hagiographic (but still respectful) treatment, you may find this valuable. Otherwise I recommend you look elsewhere.


---
I found two instances where White's scholarship leaves something to be desired. Here they are:

P. 13: The author has failed to do his research. The tarantula that bit Tolkien, called a baboon spider in South Africa, has a bite that, while painful, is never fatal. It's unlikely that he was in real danger. http://www.scienceinafrica.com/old/in...

P. 85: White claims that the oldest surviving works of fantasy are the “Lucianic Satires,” but his scholarship seems to again be lacking; that phrase seems to be reserved for satires by later authors in Lucian's (not Lucien, as White spells it) style. The work White is probably referring to is “True History,” which is often called the first science fiction novel, which makes White’s claim that it is the first work of fantasy as opposed to science fiction problematic.

[K.H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new whatsoever at all here compared to Carpenter's biography - which still stands as probably the best book about Tolkien yet written. This book was obviously commissioned to coincide with the release of the films and the author does little to make this anything more than an overview of Tolkien's life with no real emotion or opinion. The most impressive thing about it, at least the version I read, was the cover.

Fans interested in learning about the man who created Middle-Earth would do best to stick with the aforementioned biography by Humphrey Carpenter, the two books by Tom Shippey (especially The Road to Middle-Earth) and then a good going over of the The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. This book is an unnecessary addition to an already saturated selection of Tolkien related books seemingly aimed at fans of the films rather than people interested in the man behind the books. (Although, in the author's defense, he did point out very rightly that many would be offended by what Jackson would eventually put on the screen.) Simply put, read Carpenter's biography and leave this alone.

[Greta Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

biografija parašyta kaip romanas, kreipiant dėmesį į svarbias Tolkino gyvenimo pasirinkimų dramas ir kaip jos atvedė prie jo bestselerių. Smagu, kad išvengta Tolkino sudievinimo ir užgriebtos ir autoriaus turėtos neigiamos charakterio savybės: perskaičius susidaro gana visapusiškas portretas, leidžiantis atidžiau pažvelgti ir į pačius kūrinius.

[Paulo Célio Júnior · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gostaria muito de dar 5 estrelas nesse, pelo esmero com a edição (marca característica da Darkside). Mas, como aprecio muito mais o conteúdo sobre a forma, esse livro não foi digno da nota máxima. Infelizmente acho que o fato de ser uma biografia fez a nota diminuir, pois, como a maioria das biografias, a leitura é bem maçante.

O ponto positivo é que o autor narra, sem ser muito repetitivo, a trajetória difícil daquele que se tornou um dos principais escritores do século XX. A genialidade de Tolkien é demonstrada em detalhes e conseguimos ver mais uma prova de como os gênios, em muitos casos, são bem excêntricos.

Outras partes interessantes são sobre as amizades de Tolkien, em especial com C.S. Lewis, e sobre a participação dos Tolkiens nas duas grandes guerras.

Recomendo a leitura? Definitivamente não. Mas reconheço o esforço do autor e da editora e, por isso, acho que vale 3 estrelas.

[Bülent Ö. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keyifle okunan bilgilendirici bir kitaptı. Yazarın üslubu ve seçtiği bilgileri birleştiriş biçimi güzeldi. Tolkien'in hayatına dair çok şey öğrendim.

Çocukluğu, gençliği, eğitimi, ailesi, savaş yılları, akademisyen olarak yaşadığı zorluklar, evliliği, parasızlığı, sürekli taşınmak zorunda kalmaları, dostlukları (özellikle C. S. Lewis'le), yazma şevki, titizliği, hırsı ve daha bir çok konu genel hatlarıyla anlatılıyor. Zaten ilginç bir yaşam Tolkien'inki ama Michael White keyif veren ilginç anekdotlar da eklemiş.

Lakin Yüzüklerin Efendisi hayranlarını doyuracak bir biyografi değil; Tolkien'e dair genel bir bilgi edinmek isteyenler içinse biçilmiş kaftan.

Çevirisi usta işi: Dost Körpe.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lack of first hand sources leaves this biography feeling like a list of semi confirmed facts with a side of well meaning guesswork as to Tolkien’s nature.

[Gintarė Visockytė · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lengvai perskaitoma Tolkieno biografija, visiškai žaliems (nieko per daug nežinantiems nei apie autorių, nei apie „Hobito“, „Žiedų valdovo“ sukūrimo aplinkybes), pristatanti pagrindinius šio rašytojo gyvenimo ir kūrybos tarpsnius bei iššūkius, o taip pat leidžianti susipažinti su jo asmenybe plačiau. Viena vertus perskaičiau lengvai ir greitai, sužinojau daug naujų faktų. Pvz. kad „Žiedų valdovą“ autorius rašė beveik 12 metų (1937–1949), o nuo pirmojo rankraščio (pradėto dar prieš Antrajį pasaulinį karą) iki pasirodymo praėjo beveik penkioliką metų. (Nors rež. P. Jacksono filmo trilogija pasirodė prieš dvidešimt metų, knygos yra daug senesnės.) Kadangi teko ilgokai pasiderėti su leidyklomis dėl leidybos sąlygų – autoriaus pageidavimu trilogija turėjo pasirodyti vienos, o ne trijų atskirų kūrinių pavidalu. O turint omenyje, kad Tolkienas buvo didžių didžiausias savo paties kritikas ir uolus savo kūrinių redaktorius (taisęs ir perrašęs kai kurias vietas ne vieną kartą).

Kita vertus, šioje biografijoje nerasite labai daug gilių, netikėtų literatūrologonių įžvalgų. Žinoma, autorius bando apibendrinti, kokie laiko, erdvės ženklai ar personažai „Žiedų valdove“ astovauja krikščionišką simboliką iš pirmo žvilgsnio pagoniškame Viduržemės pasaulyje, kokie kūriniai, mitiniai įvaizdžiai ar pasauliniai įvykiai galėjo turėti įtakos jo atsiradimui, tačiau tokiems apibendrinimams pritrūksta labiau pagrindžiančių, paties Tolkienų citatų, atsivėrimų ir kitų literatūros mokslininkų, kritikų refleksijų. Ko gero, būtent pirmojo – pasirėmimo pirminiais šaltiniais (konkrečiomis kūrinių citatomis ir paties rašytojo minčių, atsiminimų, liudijimų) labiausiai ir pritrūko knygoje. Nors vėlgi, knyga pristatoma kaip biografija, o ne mokslinė literatūrologinė studija. Tačiau jei nieko ar beveik nieko nežinote apie žmogų, sukūrusį garsiausią XX a. fantastinę trilogiją (kurios parduota daugiau nei 150 000 000 egzempliorių), tačiau ne kartą esate matę filmus ar skaitę bent vieną kūrinį, ir jums patiko, pirmai pažinčiai ši biografija galėtų būti kaip tik. Nors manau, kad anglų kalba yra kur kas įžvalgesnių knygų.

[Yvon Arsene · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow is my first reaction after finishing this book.
Michael white is such a good biography writer that he makes the reader live the reality of the story.
Thank you Michael. i have learnt every bit of detail about the life of Tolkien and how he nurtured and developed his writing career. i not only learned world war history from the book but also south africa-british history, world war two, the enlisting of soldiers in the world war, the daily life of the british people in the 20th century and the overall history of fiction writing. i really thought middle age fiction was as old as time but i was really wrong. Tolkien really is the greatest fiction writer of all time. i am really sad that he had to die without knowing how his books really became a success even up to now in 2020 in Rwanda! i am forever his greatest fan. the additional fact that he was very christian made me like him more than i expected.
this books deserves everyone's five star rating. He is such a legend.

[Tim Littleford · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read and seemingly communicates the whole person of Tolkien well. It is sullied by the authors basic misunderstanding of Tolkien's faith and how diffused itself into his writing. The author is confused by how 'pagan' Tolkien's work is because there's no churches in the Lord of the Rings etc. 🤦

[Tomislav Škrljac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vrlo dobar prikaz života jednog velikog pisca. Iako posjeduje očitu dozu pristranosti jednog obožavatelja, ne izbjegava nabrojati loše osobine osobe čiji život prezentira.
Ipak, zadnjih dvadesetak godina života zaslužilo je opširniji osvrt.

[Helene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book in a day and enjoyed it immensely! For a biography, this book is short and struck a good balance focusing on Tolkien himself and not the characters in his life. Admittedly, I would have liked to read more about Edith -his wife - and his children. Perhaps I will pick up a more detailed biography of Tolkien later, but for now this greatly satisfied my curiosity.

[Marcy Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very insightful biography, giving me a better idea of Tolkien, but I feel like some parts could’ve been expanded on.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting biography

[Giulia Elora Danan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le ultime pagine mi hanno commossa.

[Brian Tooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I loved this book about J.R.R. Tolkien. The author takes you on a journey like Frodo and Sam to get to know Tolkien on a deeper level.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written!

[Willy Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muito bom...

[Geek The World · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Roland Tolkien foi um escritor estupendo, que passou por muito, por diversas dificuldades na publicação dos seus livros.

Graças a deus e a ter uma vida intelectual e social, conhecem muitos autores da altura, o que o leva a imensas tertúlias.

Devido a ter passado por muito, levou com preconceitos da altura, sendo ele mesmo um pouco preconceituoso em certos assuntos, que a o levaram a pensar se toda a sociedade seria assim ou apenas um leque pequeno de pessoas.

Michael White vem assim descrever como foi a vida dele, através da análise de documentos, fotos e outros itens referentes a Tolkien.

[Cody · Rating 1 out of 5]

The subject matter is fascinating, and the Inklings are a favorite topic of mine to read about. But do not read this book. It seems to have gone to print without anyone editing it or proofreading it. There were several instances of clunky writing and even outright errors. One example towards the end of the book that I remember is referring to the actor portraying Elrond as "Hugo Weaver." Not the greatest of typos, but how does this get to the printer with no one noticing?

If you're interested in this topic, I recommend Humphrey Carpenter's "The Inklings" as well as "The Fellowship" by Philip and Carol Zaleski. Carpenter also has his own biography of Tolkien, but I've only read some of it.

[Roxana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading about Tolkien's life was absolutely amaizing and interesting. I learned a lot about the genius who invented a complete other world for his readers.
Loosing his father and then his mother in a very young age, his life wasn't easy. He blame his mother death for the reyect that their family react when her mother decided to became Catholic, that feeling made him a Catholic believer to the point that he made his wife became Catholic in order to marry her.
There is a lot to say about his life and about his ideas, but what I really loved was to learn that he used to write letters to his children for Christmas, writing as he was Santa Claus, he also invented stories for them and those are maybe the very origin from where The Hobbit came.
His amaizing imaginagion, his love for the language and the scandinavian mitology created made it possible for him to créate the wonderful and complete Word where The hobbits and other habitants from Middle Earth lived.
If you loved the Lord of the Ring and other's Tolkien creations you must read this book

[Peter Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last decade has seen an amazing resurgence in interest in J.R.R. Tolkien. His Lord of the Rings books and the Hobbit have been pushed back into the center of the publishing world by Hollywood and Peter Jackson. I love his books. My children love his books. But unlike C.S. Lewis, Tolkien’s life has been a relative mystery to me. I enjoyed reading this short biography. I am not sure how accurate it is because it is the only information I have read on Tolkien. It is not comprehensive. It covers his early life and then spends the majority of the rest of the book looking at Tolkien’s life through the prism of how he wrote his books and the various struggles with publishing, etc. The author spends little time on his teaching and work as a professor. He spends some time on his relationship with Edith, but not much time on his relationship with his children. Still the book seems like a good introduction to Tolkien’s life, especially his creation of Middle-Earth. I enjoyed the section on C.S. Lewis as well. Despite them being linked in the Christian mind they were worlds apart in many ways.

[Harker US Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael White inserts his own interpretations of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as he describes the life of their famed creator, J. R. R. Tolkien. From the death of his parents, to his distressing experiences on the battlefields of the First World War, to his tumultuous relationship with fellow author C. S. Lewis, Tolkien and his life are documented and analyzed in full in this biography. I found the explanation of Tolkien’s writing process, which he called “sub-creation,” particularly fascinating. Unfortunately, the author makes frequent references to his own opinions of certain events in Tolkien’s life, making the entire book seem slightly more subjective than one would expect of a work of nonfiction. Aspiring writers who wish to understand how Tolkien “sub-created” an entire new world may enjoy this biography, but devoted Middle-Earth enthusiasts who want to learn more about the fantasy realm itself may feel slightly disappointed. – Andrew R. ‘17

[Shaleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was most interested in his relationship with C.S. Lewis and this book was very enlightening. I never knew why it took him so long to finish the Lord of the Rings, but the more I found out about his personality, the more it made sense.