The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, Volume 1: Chronology [Hardcover]

Christina Scull (Author), Wayne G. Hammond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2006

Designed to be the essential reference works for all readers and students, these volumes present the most thorough analysis possible of Tolkien's work within the important context of his life. The Reader's Guide includes brief but comprehensive alphabetical entries on a wide range of topics, including a who's who of important persons, a guide to places and institutions, details concerning Tolkien's source material, information about the political and social upheavals through which the author lived, the importance of his social circle, his service as an infantryman in World War I -- even information on the critical reaction to his work and the "Tolkien cult." The Chronology details the parallel evolutions of Tolkien's works and his academic and personal life in minute detail. Spanning the entirety of his long life including nearly sixty years of active labor on his Middle-earth creations, and drawing on such contemporary sources as school records, war service files, biographies, correspondence, the letters of his close friend C. S. Lewis, and the diaries of W. H. Lewis, this book will be an invaluable resource for those who wish to gain a complete understanding of Tolkien's status as a giant of twentieth-century literature.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1020 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First American Edition edition (November 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618391029
• ISBN-13: 978-0618391028
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,943,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not a biography, January 4, 2007

By 

Ran Bar Zik (Petah Tiqwa, Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, Volume 1: Chronology (Hardcover)

If you are looking or a biography, you will not find it here. This volume is not like the wonderful biography by Carpenter. It is not coherent book with beginning, middle and summary.
It is a list, tremendous, important and very useful list. Especially for Tolkien scholars or very highly educated enthusiastic.

It is one of a kind chronology; I really think that Tolkien is the only writer that such comprehensive chronology was published about him. This impressive chronology will be extremely useful for the Legendarium researchers. Once and for all you can know the exact point where some story began and when it was ended. It is even more useful for scholars that study Tolkien life or LOTR's Tolkien biographical influences.

Scull and Hammond should be proud of this achievement. All of Tolkien's enthusiastic and scholars should be grateful for their effort.

If you are the average enthusiastic, you should reconsider if you thought about this book. The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, Vol. 2 will be more interesting and useful. If you are having interest in Tolkien's life and character or you have interest in the vast Legendarium, you will be able to value it properly - as the ultimate bibliographical text about Tolkien.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review, March 8, 2007

By 

bibliomaniac (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, Volume 1: Chronology (Hardcover)

This is a well researched compendium of events in Tolkien's life. For anyone who wishes to know more about Tolkien the man and scholar as well as author needs to consult this book.