An Atlas of Tolkien (Tolkien Illustrated Guides)

This is an excellent companion for understanding Tolkien's world. It'll give you a brief overview of just about everything with absolutely gorgeous illustrations. It's an easy read, and easy to go back and re-read certain sections as needed to refresh your memory on certain things. It doesn't go into great depth, but if it did it would be entirely too long. Great intro to Tolkien if you've read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings and you want a little backstory on the world in which they are set.

David Day’s “An Atlas of Tolkien” builds upon the work he began in his “Tolkien Bestiary” to work as a guidebook to J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium. Though Day describes events from “The Silmarillion” through “The Hobbit” and finally “Lord of the Rings,” he does so only as necessary to explain matters of time and space in describing locations. Like his previous work, Day commissioned artists to create paintings illustrating Tolkien’s world. The volume works well as a companion and guide to Tolkien’s work, particularly as a reference for those looking to keep track of events during “The Silmarillion” or to refresh their memories about those events in “Lord of the Rings” which reference “The Silmarillion.” The contributing artists – Ivan Allen, John Blanche, Sally Davies, Michael Foreman, Linda Garland, Melvin Grant, David Kearney, Ian Miller, Andrew Mockett, Lidia Postma, and others – imbue the work with visual references as epic as the texts that inspired them while giving distinctive styles to each of the places and events in question. Day’s “Atlas of Tolkien” succeeds as a guidebook for fans while the binding of this edition gives it the appearance of a work that could exist in-universe.

Was looking for a map to compliment The Silmarillion which has always been an issue to follow characters around Middle Earth throughout the series and especially in the first book. The maps alone are sufficient not to mention an abundance of awesome illustrations and more than adequate descriptions to illuminate the story.

My husband is a tolkien nerd. I love the quality of these books. They have a nice, probably faux leather cover, and good quality material. The only things I dislike about this item is the content. It looks great on a shelf, but most of the content isnt truly based on Tolkien's works, it is made up by David Day. So if that is what you're looking for, fantastic. That's why I gave it three stars, because that wasnt what I personally was looking for, but it wasnt all bad

Arrived on time, good condition, and well packaged.

JRR Tolkien is one of my favorite authors, and David Day seems to know so much about the stories and their origins. I knew much, but not as much as David Day does about the Silmarillion and the famous Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings, and the Lost Tales, and other works of JRR Tolkien. These books have opened my eyes to new ways of seeing Tolkien’s works. David Day has answered so many questions especially about the lay of the land of middle earth. This book is about the land of middle earth and what the sources may have been used.

Amazing. The pictures don't do this book justice. Bought this as a gift for a Tolkien lover, and I cannot wait to give it to him. The cover has a leather like feel and the pages are thick, high quality paper and packed full of color. Gorgeous book.

Arrived fast and in perfect condition