J.R.R. TOLKIEN: THE BOOKS, THE FILMS, THE WHOLE CULTURAL PHENOMENON A book exploring the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, Britain"s premier fantasy author, in over 800 pages. Part one of this book focusses on J.R.R. Tolkien"s texts, principally those dealing with his "secondary world" of Middle-earth. Part two explores the 2001-03 Hollywood movies of The Lord of the Rings, with a scene-by-scene analysis of the three films. Part of this book explores the influence of the Tolkien industry, in areas like computer gaming, pop music, merchandizing and cinema. EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION Philip Toynbee declared, in 1961, that Tolkien"s "childish books had passed into a merciful oblivion", a wonderful statement, just a tad inaccurate. In 1997, The Lord of the Rings was voted the top book of the 20th century by readers in a British bookstore"s poll (Waterstone"s). 104 out of 105 stores and 25,000 readers put The Lord of the Rings at the top (1984 was...