The books
Tolkien believes in his world, and in all those who inhabit it. This is, of course no guarantee of greatness-- if Tolkien werenīt a fine writer, it could not make him one-- but it is something without which there is no greatness, in art or in anything else, and I find very little of it in the fiction that purports to tell me about this world we all live in. This failure of belief in the author's part is, I think, what turns so many books that mean to deal with the real things that really happen to the real souls and bodies of real people in the real world into the cramped little stages where varyingly fashionable marionettes jiggle and sing. But I believe that Tolkien has wandered in Middle Earth, which exists nowhere but in himself , and I understad the sadness of the Elves, amd I have seen Mordor.
---from "Tolkienīs Magic Ring" by Peter S. Beagle
Tolkien produced a great deal of literature, both academic and fantastic. His most reknown works are The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The first book, The Hobbit was first published in 1937, becoming popular among college students until the 1970's.
1954 The Fellowship of the Ring