LOTR has a profound effect on all its readers, and has been voted Book of the Century in a worldwide poll. Tolkien creates a whole new world, full of myth, magic and lore. It celebrates the power of friendship, loyalty, courage and produces an unforgettable character - the hero, Frodo Baggins.
Although LOTR is a single novel, it is broken down into three books (with two parts in each) and appendices. The Fellowship of the Ring was first published in the UK on 29th July 1954 as a sequel to the already popular story, 'The Hobbit' (the American edition was not published until 21st October 1954). Then The Two Towers was published in the UK on 11th November 1954 (the American edition was published on 21st April 1955). Finally, The Return of the King was published on 20th October 1955 (the American edition was published on 5th January 1956). These were later put together into one large edition.
All three volumes had many printing errors when they were first released. Many publisher's 'corrected' Tolkien's language, such as changing dwarves to dwarfs. Tolkien himself was outraged at this, in particular the changing of Elvin to Elfin. The original books were not illustrated until 1982 by an artist named Alan Lee, who lately has been working on the current movies to help recreate Tolkien's work.
The books still remain as popular as ever today, and with the release of the trilogy on the big screen, their popularity conintues to grow to a new generation of readers.
