A review by regitzexenia
Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth by John Garth

4.0

A very interesting and thorough look on the relationship between the First World War (then known as the Great War, or the War to end all Wars) and the creation of the mythology as well as languages of Middle-Earth. It does start out a bit slow, detailing Tolkien's friendships and schoolyears leasing up to the war, but it later shows why Garth starts there. It's not just the war experiences that spark Tolkien's creativity, rather it provided the final piece of the puzzle alongside his deep love of languages, Mideval myths, his friendships with the TCBS and the need to understand the new world that was left in the wake of the war. I don't think I'll be using this book for my thesis, but I'm not sure because it did provide some interesting and very valid points.