Tolkien and the Great War.This award-winning biography explores J.R.R. Tolkien’s wartime experiences and their impact on his life and his writing of The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings.

J.R.R. Tolkien responded to critics who described the Lord of the Rings as a reaction to World War 2 by saying, “To be caught in youth by 1914 was no less hideous an experience than in 1939 … by 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead.” This biography explain the horrors and heroism he witnessed during his time as a signals officer at the Battle of the Somme.

Over by Christmas. December 13. See the 2014 Advent calendar on the SC&A website.

Over by Christmas. December 13. See the 2014 Advent calendar on the SC&A website.