Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien arguably changed the sort of things we read and write more profoundly than any other twentieth-century writer. When The Lord of the Rings was published, Tolkien was in his early sixties; beneath the outwardly unremarkable life of an Oxford don, his imaginative life was richly nourished by his professional interests. Now in paperback, this is the first biography to deal fully with the wealth of Tolkien's posthumously published material. It sets his writing firmly in the context of his academic life, shows the great personal and professional difficulties he overcame to complete The Lord of the Rings, and charts his ultimately unsuccessful efforts to complete the great cycle of legends that appeared, after his death, as The Silmarillion. Despite the precipitous decline of Tolkien's academic discipline, philology, his imaginative achievement may claim to vindicate his academic career.

Raymond Edwards is a freelance writer. He worked for some years for the Oxford English Dictionary whilst completing doctoral research into medieval manuscripts. Before this he followed the Oxford undergraduate course originally devised by Tolkien. He has written for, amongst others, The Tablet and The Times Literary Supplement. He translated Henry Harclay's Ordinary Questions, and has written short books on various religious and historical subjects. He lives in north London with his wife, children and an improbable number of books.