There and Back Again: The Map of the Hobbit

by Brian Sibley, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Howe (Illustrator)

This beautiful colour version of Tolkien's map of Wilderland, lovingly re-created by artist John Howe, will take you to all the places Bilbo the Hobbit travelled through on his great adventure. Trace Bilbo's epic journey through the Forest of Mirkwood to the Enchanted River and the Elvenking's Halls. Travel through the desolation of Smaug to the heart of the Lonely Mountain, wherein lives the huge and evil dragon. Visit Rivendell, home of the Elves, in a hidden valley beyond the edge of the Wild.

The Map of The Hobbit comes with an illustrated explanatory booklet by Brian Sibley, creator of the highly successful radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings and is a companion map to The Map of Tolkien's Middle-Earth.

Genres: Fantasy, Maps, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Reference, Art

23 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Brian Sibley is an English writer, broadcaster, and award-winning dramatist.

The author of over 100 hours of radio drama and hundreds of documentaries and features for the BBC, he is best known for his acclaimed 1981 radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, co-written with Michael Bakewell, as well as dramatizations of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, and Richard Adams’s Watership Down.

Sibley has also written numerous original plays for radio, presented popular BBC programmes including Kaleidoscope and Talking Pictures, and produced documentaries on figures ranging from Lewis Carroll and Ray Bradbury to Julie Andrews and Walt Disney.

His contributions to broadcasting have earned him accolades such as the Sony Radio Award and the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Adaptation.

In print, Sibley is the author of many acclaimed film “making of” books, including Harry Potter: Film Wizardry, The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, and Peter Jackson: A Filmmaker’s Journey, as well as companion volumes for The Hobbit films, The Golden Compass, and Disney classics. His literary works range from Shadowlands to children’s books like The Frightful Food Feud and Osric the Extraordinary Owl, with stories appearing in official Winnie-the-Pooh collections.

A noted Disney historian, Sibley has contributed essays to The Walt Disney Film Archives and recorded DVD commentaries for classic films. He is the editor of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Númenor, winner of the Tolkien Society’s Best Book award in 2023.

Sibley has served as President and Chair of The Lewis Carroll Society and is an honorary member of The Magic Circle, the Tolkien Society, and The Children’s Books History Society.

Reviews

[Dollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really a wonderful little companion book to The Hobbit. The text has some background on the story and is actually like a little Cliff Notes of The Hobbit. It tells all about the story and quite a bit about it that I didn’t know. The accompanying map is beautiful. It has the map of Bilbo’s journey bordered by the dragon, Smaug, and on the bottom is a depiction of Bilbo with his unexpected party of dwarves, singing the tune, “We must away, ere break of day, to find our lost, forgotten gold!”

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slight but pretty map of the parts of The Hobbit that are set in the environs of the Lonely Mountain. What struck me most was the sheer size of Mirkwood - I've seen it on other maps (for example the one that Tolkien drew) but didn't really appreciate the scale until this. Odd that Hobbiton is not included; one would think that a map of the book would include the start and ending place. Attached to the map is a booklet of places and a short introduction to the story. Again it's fairly slight, but it's not really the main attraction here - not when there's a brightly coloured map to look at instead.

[Emmett Latham]

the map of the whole middle earth spoiller aleart thorin dies at the end of battle of the five armies

[Irwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting visual aid for the creatively rich Tolkien's The Hobbit. Looking forward to see the movie. And then actually read the whole work. This small book describes how Tolkien draw the maps before and while writing the story. He argues that for such a complicated story like this, one should not wait to draw the map until after the story is completely written.

[Jacqui · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly disappointing. A convoluted synopsis of The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings books interspersed with stories about how Tolkien made the maps of Middle Earth. The accompanying map could have saved it, but it didn't.

[The Glassed And The Furious · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice, compact little book about Middle Earth. You get to kno wmore about Middle Earth and the voyage Bilbo undertakes in the Hobbit. THe map is a sweet visual aid. I'd recommend it to all Tolkien fans who want to have a better understanding and background knowledge of Middle Earth.

[Scott Block · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun visual tool of Tolkien's Middle Earth

[Hilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a small but sweet book about Middle earth
You get to know interesting things, you get a map over the road the dwarves and Bilbo are travelling as well.

[Johnny B. Rempit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought it for the map that comes with the book.

[Youssef · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little insight to the world that J.R.R Tolkien created and how it came to be. It's kinda making me want to read the lord of the rings.

[Sabrina Wannet · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you loved The hobbit and the lord of the rings, then this is a book that gives a clear story about The Maps and about the hobbiton. When you loved the other stories then you should read this book.