"There are few writers who can claim the popularity and enduring appeal of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. His celebrated novels have sold in excess of 160 million copies, and are in large part responsible for seeding the entire genre of fantasy fiction." "Now, biographer Michael White looks back over the little-known life of this most treasured of writers. In absorbing and revealing detail, he chronicles Tolkien's childhood years in South Africa and the West Midlands; the tragic early death of his parents; his burgeoning romance with Edith Bratt; his many years as an Oxford academic; his friendship with C.S. Lewis and the founding of the Inklings group."--BOOK JACKET.