An Introduction to the Books
The Lord of the Rings, which is known now as one of the best movie trilogies of all time, was originally a trilogy of books written by the fantastic author J.R.R. Tolkien. The three books bear the same name as their movie counterparts, and were preceeded by the book The Hobbit. The Hobbit, though following a different storyline than Lord of the Rings, is based off of the same basic idea, and several references to it are made in Lord of the Rings. Christopher Lee (Saruman) has read the Lord of the Rings series every year since it's first publication. Personally, I think that even a terrific story like that would get a little boring after 50 years (The Fellowship of the Ring is copyright (c) 1954), but then again, The Lord of the Rings isn't exactly an easy series to read. There is always new things to discover, no matter how many times you read it. And you tend to understand books better after reading them a second, third, or fiftyith time.
Brief, general information about the books
The Fellowship of the Ring: Copyright(c) 1954 (First copyright) Pages: (In the one-volume paperback edition ((c) 1994) movie cover: Gandalf at bag end cover photo) 382 pages
The Two Towers: Copyright (c) 1954 (First copyright) Pages: (In the one volume paperback edition ((c) 1994) movie cover: Gandalf at Bag end cover photo) 328 pages.
The Return of the King: Copyright (c) 1955 (First copyright) Pages: (in the one-volume paperback edition ((c) 1994) movie cover: Gandlaf at Bag End cover photo: 278 pages.
Return of the King is followed by nearly 130 pages of appendices (In the one volume edition mentioned above) and then several pages of maps, whcih I believe appear at the ends of all three books.
General information about the author
J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and many other beloved books, was born in 1892 in England. He studied linguistics of many different languages, and even based Elvish tongues on those of Finland. He became a fellow of both Pembroke College and Merton College, and was a professor at Oxford University until he retired in 1959. He was an expert at early English written traditions, and studied the classics. It is rumored that he wrote the first sentence to The Hobbit on a spare piece of paper from the exam of one of his students. Since his death in 1973, his son, Christopher R. Tolkien has continued the tradition of writing in his family. Christopher has even created some books providing even more background into the land of Middle-earth. J.R.R. Tolkien is by far one of the greatest authors in history, and will forever be remembered.
I don't own Lord of the Rings. The books and movies are property of J.R.R. Tolkien, New Line Cinema,
and all other respective owners. I only run this web site, and make no money whatsoever from this site. All
images are from various parts of the internet, and if I remember where an image is from, I will give credit
to that site.