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War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy)

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This is the first book to examine war as a central theme in all of Tolkien's works, and is essential reading for Tolkien scholars. Croft brings together Tolkien's experience of both World Wars and his expertise in ancient heroic literature and shows how they influenced what he wrote. She also details how readers and critics have responded to the role and depictions of war in his writings. Some have disparaged Tolkien as a war-monger and others have praised him as a pacifist. Early Tolkien criticism tended to force The Lord of the Rings into a pattern of allegory for World War II, with the Ruling Ring cast as the atom bomb. More recently commentators have seen Tolkien as one of many authors deeply influenced by their experiences in World War I. This book brings these contradictory strands together to demonstrate Tolkien's "well-thought-out, comprehensive, and realistic philosophy of war."

The seven chapters lead us through Tolkien's life, showing how he developed the beliefs about of war that are fundamental to all his works.
1. Introduction
2. The Great War and Tolkien's Memory
3. World War I Themes in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
4. World War II: "The Young Perish and the Old Linger, Withering"
5. Military Leaders and Leadership
6. "The Dull Backwaters of the Art of Killing": Training, Tactics, Strategy, and Battlefield Communication
7. "War Must Be, While We Defend Our Lives": Philosophy, Pathology and Conclusions

Now every one of us is in the front line of a new war. Croft shows how Tolkien's complex attitude to war is applicable to our present lives: some wars are just wars; true leaders lead from the front; dogged endurance must replace heroic action; and an attitude of mercy can lead to unexpectedly good results.

A number of recent books about Tolkien appear to have been rushed to the marketplace. This one is refreshingly free of typographical errors, and even more important, it has no mistakes about Tolkien's texts.

of Tolkien's use of material from especially the Great War and his adaptation of it in his works. Croft does make one fairly common mistake: she seems to think that "casualties" means "killed." Thus she avers that on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the British Army lost 58,000 men killed. Those killed numbered about 19,000. Total casualties (killed, wounded, and missing) totaled about 58,000.