Acclaimed as 'the best book about Tolkien', this award-winning biography explore
s J.R.R. Tolkien's wartime experiences and their impact on his life and his writ
ing 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 ! by 1918 all but one of my close fri
ends were dead." So J.R.R.
Tolkien responded to critics who saw The Lord of t
he Rings as a reaction to the Second World War. Tolkien and the Great War tells
for the first time the full story of how he embarked on the creation of Middle-e
arth in his youth as the world around him was plunged into catastrophe. This bio
graphy reveals the horror and heroism that he experienced as a signals officer i
n the Battle of the Somme and introduces the circle of friends who spurred his m
ythology to life.
It shows how, after two of these brilliant young men were k
illed, Tolkien pursued the dream they had all shared by launching his epic of go
od and evil. John Garth argues that the foundation of tragic experience in the F
irst World War is the key to Middle-earth's enduring power. Tolkien used his myt
hic imagination not to escape from reality but to reflect and transform the cata
clysm of his generatuion.
While his contemporaries surrendered to disillusion
ment, he kept enchantment alive, reshaping an entire literary tradition into a f
orm that resonates to this day. This is the first substantially new biography of
Tolkien since 1977, meticulously researched and distilled from his personal war
time papers and a multitude of other sources.
