Detailed archival research uncovers Tolkien's direct engagement with modern authors and works
Showcases how Tolkien incorporated contemporary themes into Middle Earth
Explores Tolkien's views on technology, women, empire, and race through literary analysis
Provides new insights into the evolution of Tolkien's epic and its modern relevance
Summarized by Shop
Tolkien’s Modern Reading addresses the claim that Tolkien “read very little modern fiction, and took no serious notice of it.” This claim, made by one of his first biographers, has led to the widely accepted view that Tolkien was dismissive of modern culture, and that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are fundamentally medieval and nos