Karen Wynn Fonstad's THE ATLAS OF MIDDLE-EARTH is an essential volume that will enchant all Tolkien fans. Here is the definitive guide to the geography of Middle-earth, from its founding in the Elder Days through the Third Age, including the journeys of Bilbo, Frodo, and the Fellowship of the Ring. Authentic and updated -- nearly one third of the maps are new, and the text is fully revised -- the atlas illuminates the enchanted world created in THE SILMARILLION, THE HOBBIT, and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Hundreds of two-color maps and diagrams survey the journeys of the principal characters day by day -- including all the battles and key locations of the First, Second, and Third Ages. Plans and descriptions of castles, buildings, and distinctive landforms are given, along with thematic maps describing the climate, vegetation, languages, and population distribution of Middle-earth throughout its history. An extensive appendix and an index help readers correlate the maps with Tolkien's novels.

J.R.R. Tolkien is famous for his unique literary creation, exemplified in "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Silmarillion". He also produced a vast amount of further material that expands upon the stories that were published, and which gives added life to the tales of the hobbits, Gandalf and the quest of the Fellowship as told in "The Lord of the Rings". It was to this task of literary construction that Tolkien's youngest son and literary heir, Christopher, applied himself to, producing the series of twelve books, "The Complete History of Middle-Earth". This hardback edition brings together volumes six to nine of "The History of Middle-earth": "The Return of the Shadow", "The Treason of Isengard", "The War of the Ring" and "Sauron Defeated". Together these books give a complete account of the writing of "The Lord of the Rings", and provide the reader with numerous additional scenes, together with rare maps and illustrations, which never made it into the final book, including the epilogue in its entirety.