Few attempts have been made to arrive at a sober assessment of Tolkien's achievement as a literary artist, and even fewer to define a place for him in twentieth-century literature. This book is a comprehensive and discriminating introduction to Tolkien's work which also aims to redress these deficiencies in earlier criticism. Two chapters are devoted to The Lord of the Rings: a third explores the bewildering profusion of shorter works; the last considers the significance of Tolkien's life and career in the century of modernism.
