Early Tolkien Criticism
I purchased "Tolkien and the Critics: Essays on J.R.R.Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'" after I had read "Understanding The Lord of the Rings" by the same authors. The first one was published in the late 1960s, in the beginning years of Tolkien criticism, when scholars and essayists were just starting to figure things out about Tolkien's sources, his inspirations for the world he created. Remember, only "The Hobbit", and "The Lord of the Rings" had been widely published at that time. The essays in the later one were more highly polished versions of the earlier essays, with the exception of one or two new authors. Anyone desiring more information about Tolkien's work would do well to pick up either one of these books. They are rich with facts, with ideas, with details that will satisfy anyone with any interest in Tolkien and his writing at all.
